GREEN RANKING FOR 2009
Ranking: 1
Worth: £27bn
Green investment: Wind power

Warren Buffett, America’s canniest investor, is the face of modern capitalism at its best. The son of Nebraska politician, Buffett delivered newspapers as a boy and filed his first tax return at the age of 13, claiming a $35 deduction for a bicycle. He took over an ailing textile firm, Berkshire Hathaway, in 1965 and turned it into his investment vehicle for holdings in well known American companies and brands, including Coca-Cola and Dairy Queen. Among the holdings is MidAmerican Energy, a leading wind-energy utility. In August it announced a joint venture with American Electric Power, to invest in grid projects. The initial plans are designed to take advantage of wind development in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. More recently, Buffett invested $230m in a Hong Kong-listed company, BYD, which produces batteries for electric cars. But even the “Sage of Omaha” is not immune to the stock-market turmoil and his fortune has fallen to £27 billion.