Buffett, the Bard of Omaha, is a genuine American folk hero, if folk heroes are allowed to build fortunes worth upward of $15 billion. He's great at homespun metaphor, but behind those catchy phrases is a reservoir of financial acumen that's generally considered the best of his generation. For example, in an essay on CEO stock options, he writes, "Negotiating with one's self seldom produces a barroom brawl." This is his way of saying that an executive who can give himself compensation totally disproportionate to his performance surely will. There are uncountable gems of financial wisdom to be harvested from these essays, taken from the annual reports he writes for Berkshire Hathaway, his holding company. Just to pick one more, here's a now-famous line about those he competes with when making stock-market investments: "What could be more advantageous in an intellectual contest--whether it be chess, bridge, or stock selection--than to have opponents who have been taught that thinking is a waste of energy?"
While Buffett has a policy of seldom commenting on stocks he owns--he feels public pronouncements will only lead to the public's expectation of more public pronouncements, and he likes to keep his cards close to his vest--he loves to discuss the principles behind his investments. These come primarily from Ben Graham, under whom Buffett studied at Columbia University and for whom he worked in the 1950s. First among them is the idea that price is what you pay and value is what you get--and if you're a smart investor, the first will always be less than the second. In that sense, the value of the lessons learned from Buffett's Essays could be far greater than the book's price. --Lou Schuler
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Good content, annoying editing Warren Buffett's insights are invaluable in any context, so this is no exception, hence the high rating. Here are essentially what seems to be some pretty old letters (1980s?) to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway essentially cut and pasted into a book. Useful no doubt, plentiful Buffett words of wisdom: I particularly like the stories and sayings he uses to explain a point in simple 'relatable' terms for the reader. However, there is another reviewer who commented that the book's editing is really... more info
The only authentic Buffett Too many books contain the word Buffett in their title but only this book comes from the annual letters to shareholders. Truly authentic Buffett in his own words is much better just because he dosen't need any interpretation.
Domenico De Salvo
Prominent name, bad book This book tells about company strategy of Berkshire Hathaway and the history of it. Very boring, nothing interesting to learn and badly written. Complicated and confusing, skipping from one story to another and back again to first story.
Waste of money.
Wisdom from the great investor I admire Warren Buffett and love reading what he writes. Not only is he probably the wisest investor ever but he is also very articulate and witty. Some of the chapters, e.g. "An Owner-Based Approach to Corporate Charity", "Berkshire's Recapitalization", "Distribution of the Corporate Tax Burden", etc were not of any interest to me. Excluding such chapters, this slim volume would be even slimmer. However, the book is worth it just for the remainder. His basic investment goal is simple: He tries to... more info
