By Jonathan Stempel of ReutersNEW YORK Warren Buffett was...

By Jonathan Stempel of Reuters
NEW YORK Warren Buffett was awarded total compensation of about $US519,490 in 2009 to run Berkshire Hathaway Inc, a 6 per cent increase mainly reflecting the higher cost of keeping the world's third-richest person safe.
According to Berkshire's proxy filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Buffett's salary was $US100,000, as it has been for more than a quarter century.
Mr Buffett also received $US75,000 in fees for serving as a director of Washington Post Co, a large Berkshire investment.
Compensation also included $US344,490 of personal and home security services, up 9 per cent from $US315,709 a year earlier.
In September 2007, a man carrying a fake gun and wearing dark camouflage paint on his face tried to break into Mr Buffett's ungated home in Omaha, Nebraska. Mr Buffett was home at the time. A security guard at the property disarmed the man.
Among Berkshire's top executives, chief financial officer Marc Hamburg remained the best paid in 2009. His compensation rose 11 per cent to $US874,750, almost all of which was salary.
Berkshire employs roughly 257,000 people, but only 21 at its Omaha headquarters. It is possible that senior employees at some of Berkshire's roughly 80 operating businesses may be paid more, but their compensation is not disclosed in the proxy.
Profit at Berkshire rose 61 per cent last year to $US8.06 billion, largely from paper gains on derivative contracts. Mr Buffett also announced a $US26.5 billion takeover of railroad operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.
Yet many of Berkshire's operating businesses struggled because of the recession and consumer reluctance to spend.
Mr Buffett's compensation is among the lowest among any major US corporate chief executive. His net worth nevertheless is about $US47 billion, Forbes magazine said on Wednesday.
Mr Buffett controls 33.3 per cent of Berkshire's Class A shares and 8.4 per cent of its Class B shares and 24.3 per cent of the combined "economic interest" of those shares, the proxy shows.
The Class A shares closed Thursday up $US203 at $US123,453, while the Class B shares closed up 29 cents at $US82.36.
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