Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.”
Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world’s richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term “simple.”
When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.
Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer’s questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett’s legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people’s lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.
The chracters are well described, interesting to become acquainted with -
Katherine Graham, John Gutfreund, Charles Munger, many others. They could have come from a good novel. Buffett himself - leave aside his business career - is an amazing eccentric, e.g., his eating habits, practically limited to beef and ice cream: his choice of clothing, off the rack and ill-fitting
My quarrel with the book is the impenetrable financial dealings described in exhaustive detail without providing enlightenment - to me anyway. Not just the stock picking; the enormous energy and discipline; these are understandable. It is the corporate structuring - companies within companies - that made me dizzy. It would require an additional small treatise to explain them to my satisfaction. (Apparently at one point they were a bit of a mystery to the SEC.)
Still, the basic investment philosophy, rooted in his early studies with Benjamin Graham, can be studied with benefit by any investor. One tenet is "don't lose money" This is definitely not just a truism.
writes,
Alice Schroeder's biography of Warren Buffett, anointed as the world's richest man (but actually probably is second richest next to Bill Gates), is must reading for anyone who wants to gain an appreciation of the world of finance and, specifically, our current economic crisis. Buffett was one of the first to see the dangers of derivatives and their impact on the big banks of America and the world. The book ends in 2004 and so you won't get advice on working through the current crisis but you will get a solid understanding of how we've gotten where we are.
Schroeder, a former Wall Street analyst, does a nice job of revealing the rational side of Warren Buffett, how he thinks, and what makes him tick. As an analyst with Morgan Stanley, Schroeder was assigned to track Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, as an analyst. She points out that Buffett is more in love with acquiring new properties and ventures than in investing himself personally in growing his vast empire through entrepreneurial leadership. The author points out that one of Buffett's early lessons was learning about compounding at age 11. Another early lesson learned from his Quaker parents was to avoid confrontation and a desire to be liked. Schroeder does a wonderful job following the development of Buffett's business knowledge, the success of his many investment partnerships, and how he overcome countless problems after acquiring Berkshire Hathaway.
Some of the lessons shared by Buffett include: Grandstanding never gets anything done;
Customer loyalty is priceless; Commitments are so sacred that they should be rare; Good managers maintain sales growth; Investment diversity is not good if it produces a low probability of drastic change; Avoid investing in complex technology; and, Allies are important so choose them carefully.
Things I have come to appreciate about Buffett after reading Snowball is that he relied a great deal on his network of friends, that Buffett is a great simplifier, that he is brilliant enough that he recorded perfect scores on both SATs, and that as a college student Buffett would read all his textbooks through before the first day of class and at exam time have almost perfect recollection of detail. The author achieved her experience in revealing how Buffett has grown from a tiny snowball to a gigantic snowball that will shake and move the world beyond his lifetime.
By Darin Manis
CEO and Founder
RJ & Makay
www.rjandmakay.com
writes,
I have admired Mr. buffet for some time now. I have read any snippet of information aobut him aviable. Mr Buffet is a rare breed; a man, who is honest at times to a fault. I respect and admire that.
This Biography was all I had hoped for and it provided me with enough of his life story to allow me the opportunity to understand the man within the man.
I highly recommend this reading and I highly recommend that Mr buffet be appointed Secretary of Treasury by our next President!
