Gems from Warren Buffett – 34 Years of Letters to Shareholders [FREE]

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Gems from Warren Buffett – Wit and Wisdom from 34 Years of Letters to Shareholders [Kindle Edition] Mark Gavagan (Author), Warren Buffett (Author)

Gems from Warren Buffett – Wit and Wisdom from 34 Years of Letters to Shareholders Book Description

A lifetime of Warren Buffett’s wit & wisdom in just 122 pages (print version).This isn’t another investment tutorial or biography on Warren Buffett. Instead, it’s a collection of 240 of his wittiest and most insightful thoughts (“gems”), culled from 34 years of his letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

These gems lighten spirits with their humor, enlighten minds with their wisdom, and provide an interesting view into one of America’s most successful CEOs.

This book captures the essence of Warren Buffett’s iconic letters in an entertaining and digestible format

20% of sales (not just profits) are donated to the GLIDE charity, as part of the agreement to use Warren Buffett’s copyrighted content.

Gems from Warren Buffett – Wit and Wisdom from 34 Years of Letters to Shareholders

Gems from Warren Buffett – Wit and Wisdom from 34 Years of Letters to Shareholders The Corporate Jet

 

While notoriously frugal with shareholder funds, particularly regarding executive perks, Mr. Buffett finds the lure of a private corporate jet – thought by some to be a wasteful extravagance – irresistible. That it is so out of character makes Mr. Buffett’s humorous disclosures all the more entertaining.

 

In 1995, Mr. Buffett became a personal customer of what is today called NetJets, the world’s largest fractional jet ownership company, which gives individuals and businesses the benefits of whole aircraft ownership at a fraction of the cost. A few years later, Berkshire Hathaway acquired the company and thereabout, sold it’s own jet and began relying entirely on NetJets for corporate jet travel.

“Our goal is to do what makes sense for Berkshire’s customers and employees at all times, and never to add the unneeded. (‘But what about the corporate jet?’ you rudely ask. Well, occasionally a man must rise above principle.)”

 

-1987 letter

Readers should understand that Mr. Buffett runs Berkshire in partnership with his longtime friend, Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who is brilliant, shareholder-minded and perhaps even more frugal than Mr. Buffett (he wasn’t a fan of the corporate jet).

 

This snippet from the 2010 letter conveys the tone of their relationship: “If you decide to leave (during the annual shareholder meeting’s Q & A), please do so while Charlie is talking.”

“Naming the plane has not been easy. I initially suggested ‘The Charles T. Munger.’ Charlie countered with ‘The Aberration.’ We finally settled on ‘The Indefensible.’ ”

 

-1989 letter

“My own attitude toward the (new corporate) jet can be summarized by the prayer attributed, apocryphally I’m sure, to  St. Augustine as he contemplated leaving a life of secular pleasures to become a priest. Battling the conflict between intellect and glands, he pled: ‘Help me, Oh Lord, to become chaste – but not yet.’ ”

-1989 letter

* * *

 

“Our entire corporate overhead is less than half the size of our charitable contributions. (Charlie, however, insists that I tell you that $1.4 million of our $4.9 million overhead is attributable to our corporate jet, The Indefensible.)”

 

-1993 letter

* * *

“Were I to die tomorrow, … Berkshire’s earnings would increase by $1 million annually, since Charlie would immediately sell our corporate jet, The Indefensible (ignoring my wish that it be buried with me).”

 

-1990 letter

 

 

(Note: immediately above is Mark Gavagan’s favorite Warren Buffett gem.)

Gems from Warren Buffett – Wit and Wisdom from 34 Years of Letters to Shareholders  Managing the Managers

 

Berkshire Hathaway is a holding company, owning part or all of a diverse array of businesses, including insurance companies, railroads, utilities/energy, manufacturing, services, retailing, finance and financial services.

 

Berkshire’s approach is to invest in companies with great businesses AND great management, then mostly leave them alone.

Also see sample first paragraph (for free)

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