In 1961, A Chemical Engineer And His Wife Invested $25,000 Each With A Family Friend From Nebraska. The Friend’s Name Was Warren Buffett. When They Died In The 1990s, Their Combined Estates Were Worth More Than $750 Million

7,823.60+0.58%Dow Jones51,740.80+0.91%Nasdaq 10030,928.20+0.38%Russell 20002,809.13+0.43% S&P 5007,823.60+0.58%Dow Jones51,740.80+0.91%Nasdaq 10030,928.20+0.38%Russell 20002,809.13+0.43% S&P 5007,823.60+0.58%Dow Jones51,740.80+0.91%Nasdaq 10030,928.20+0.38%Russell 20002,809.13+0.43% S&P 5007,823.60+0.58%Dow Jones51,740.80+0.91%Nasdaq 10030,928.20+0.38%Russell 20002,809.13+0.43% S&P 5007,823.60+0.58%Dow Jones51,740.80+0.91%Nasdaq 10030,928.20+0.38%Russell 20002,809.13+0.43% S&P 5007,823.60+0.58%Dow Jones51,740.80+0.91%Nasdaq 10030,928.20+0.38%Russell 20002,809.13+0.43% Investing In 1961, A Chemical Engineer And His Wife Invested $25,000 Each With A Family Friend From Nebraska. The Friend’s Name Was Warren Buffett. When They Died In The 1990s, Their Combined Estates Were Worth More Than $750 Million Two ordinary Omaha natives handed a family friend a modest sum in 1961, never touched it, and watched it quietly become something that stunned even the people who knew them.

As Greg Abel succeeds Warren Buffett, an early bet shows what patience built. In 1961, Donald and Mildred Othmer each gave $25,000 to a partnership run by Buffett, an old friend from Omaha.

Donald joined the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn as a chemical engineering instructor in 1932. He headed the department from 1937 to 1961, became a distinguished professor in 1961 and became professor emeritus in 1976. By one account he never officially retired. He had worked at Eastman Kodak (NYSE:KODK), contributed to more than 40 patents and co-edited the Kirk-Othmer Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.

Mildred was a former teacher and buyer for her mother’s dress store in Omaha. Both were Omaha natives with no children. The New York Times reported they “lived comfortably but not ostentatiously and rarely talked about their money.”, according to Reason

Donald died on Nov. 1, 1995, at 91. Mildred died in April 1998 at 90.

When the partnership dissolved in 1970, the couple received about 14,500 shares of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction) at $42 each, worth about $609,000.

When Donald died in 1995, Berkshire traded at just under $30,000 a share. His shares sold for about $210 million. By July 1998, the stock reached $77,000. Mildred held 7,500 shares, worth $578 million.

Combined estates totaled more than $750 million, with sources reporting $780 million to $800 million.

Buffett told the New York Times in 1998 that they “just rode along.” The investment “never changed their lives.” A broad market investment over the same period would have produced $50 million to $100 million.

The gift figures also conflict. Glassman’s column puts the Brooklyn Polytechnic gift at $190 million, while Salon says $175 million. Glassman puts Long Island College Hospital’s gift at $160 million. For Planned Parenthood of New York, Glassman reports $75 million and Salon $65 million. Salon counts $340 million going to Brooklyn institutions in total.

Dividend Power lists about $140 million for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, $125 million for the Chemical Heritage Foundation, $16 million for the Brooklyn Historical Society and $12 million for the Omaha Board of Education.

The wills directed $135 million to Long Island College Hospital as an endowment to be “held in perpetuity.” Administrators drew down the principal repeatedly with court approval. The hospital eventually closed, and nearly all the gift is gone.

Patience, one manager, and one company over three decades produced this.

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares traded at $773,717.54 as of 10:48 AM ET on October 9, 2026, compared with about $77,000 in July 1998. Investors now watch whether Abel extends that run.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

AJ spent 10 years writing about financial markets at The Motley Fool. His coverage centers on technology stocks and the broader macroeconomic trends, from interest rates to geopolitics, that shape where markets are headed next. AJ is drawn to the stories where big-picture economics and individual companies collide.

Warren Buffett’s extraordinary six-decade tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction)(NYSE:BRK-B) comes to a close on Wednesday. The 95-year-old legendary investor announced his retirement earlier this year, marking the end…

Berkshire Hathaway stock is up a stunning 26% this year, while Warren Buffett has been on a selling spree and now has $325 billion in cash.

Warren Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on December 31, 2025, after six decades leading the conglomerate he transformed from a struggling textile mill into a $1 trillion empire. The “Oracle of…

Buffett’s Cash Fortress Sparks Speculation Legendary investor Warren Buffett remains a towering figure in the financial world. Even as he prepares to step away from the day-to-day investment decisions at Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A |…

Warren Buffett’s remarkable success over six decades has turned Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A | BRK-A Price Prediction)(NYSE:BRK-B) into a phenomenon with something close to a cult following. Since assuming the helm of Berkshire in the…

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK.B) might not be the same without the Oracle of Omaha in the corner office. And while the great Warren Buffett has retired, I still think it makes sense for Berkshire shareholders…

Warren Buffett just committed his entire remaining fortune to charity on a hard deadline, but the bombshell was not the $140 billion or the timeline. It was the institution he cut off after nearly…

Many investors may wonder if Warren Buffett is an alien from another planet, someone with a time machine or a crystal ball, or has found a way to conjure up some black magic to…

Warren Buffett just set a firm deadline to hand off every share he owns in Berkshire Hathaway, and the move looks alarming until you understand what is actually driving it.