David Clark holds degrees in both finance and law, and in the late seventies was the founding member of the original Buffettologists - a small group of early Berkshire shareholders who studied the investment methods of Warren Buffett. He is now recognized as one of the world's leading authorities on the subject and has written extensively on it. He lives in Warren Buffett's hometown, Omaha, Nebraska, and is the Managing Director of a private investment partnership.
David Clarkis an internationally recognized authority on the subject of Buffettology and the managing partner of a private investment group in Omaha, Nebraska.
Mary Buffett is a bestselling author, international speaker, entrepreneur, political and environmental activist. Ms. Buffett appears regularly on television as one of the top finance experts in America. She has been the principal speaker for prestigious organization around the world. Ms. Buffett has worked successfully in a wide range of businesses including extensive work as a consultant to several Fortune 500 companies. She lives in California.
Introduction For twelve years, from 1981 to 1993, I was the daughter-in-law of Warren Buffett, the world's most successful investor and now its greatest philanthropist. Shortly after I married Warren's son Peter, and long before most of the world outside Wall Street had ever heard of Warren, I visited their family home in Omaha. While there, I met a small group of devoted students of the master investor's wisdom who referred to themselves as Buffettologists. One of the Buffettologists, David Clark, kept notebooks filled with Warren's wisdom on investing, which were meticulous and endlessly fascinating to read. David's notebooks were the foundation upon which he and I later shaped the best-selling investment booksBuffettology, The Buffettology Workbook,andThe New Buffettology,now published in ten languages, including Chinese and Russian. Out of all of David's notebooks, my favorite was filled with many of Warren's most profound aphorisms, which were great fun to read because they had a way of really making you think. As I was later to discover, to Buffettologists, these aphorisms were akin to the teachings of a Taoist master in that the more the student contemplates them, the more they reveal. As time progressed, I, too, started to collect aphorisms that Warren would say to us in private family moments and at social gatherings that included many business luminaries. At these gatherings, Warren would sometimes take the floor and answer questions in the manner of a master teacher, rewarding the student's patience with his great wisdom. And the more I heard Warren speak, the more I learned, not only about investing, but about business and life. His aphorisms have a way of staying with you. I often find myself quoting them to make a point or thinking back on them to warn myself not to make a mistake, such as getting swept away in the wild enthusiasm of a bull market. They have even helped teach me what kinds of companies I should focus on and when is the best time to invest in them. Keeping within the Taoist-like spirit that surrounds Warren's teachings, David and I thought that it would be fun to createThe Tao of Warren Buffett,filling it with what we think are Warren's most enlightening aphorisms on investing, business management, choosing a career, and pursuing a successful life. These words have been true friends to us over the years as we've navigated our ways through life, business, and the search for the winning investment. We have incorporated our Buffettologists' interpretations to help provide context and to open the door for further exploration into the aphorisms' more hidden and subtle meanings. It is my hope that this book will enrich your world by making it a more profitable and enjoyable place to invest, work, and live. Mary BuffettJuly 2006 Copyright 2006 by Mary Buffett and David Clark Getting and Staying Rich No. 1"Rule No. 1: Never lose money.Rule No. 2: Never forget rule No. 1." The great secret to getting rich is getting your money to compound for you, and the larger sum you start with, all the better. As an example: $100,000 compounding at 15% for twenty years will grow to $1,636,653 in year twenty, which gives you a profit of $1,536,653. But let's say you lost $90,000 of your initial capital before you even started and could only invest $10,000. Your investment would then only grow to $163,665 in year twenty, for a profit of $153,665. This is a much smaller number. The larger the amount of money you lose, the greater the impact on your ability to earn money in the future. That is something that Warren has never forgotten. It is also the reason why he drove an old VW Beetle long after he was a multimillionaire. A collection of pithy and inspiring sayings from America's favorite businessman that reveal his secrets of success Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application. InThe Tao of Warren Buffett,Mary Buffett -- author of three books on Warren Buffett's investment methods -- joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy. Warren Buffett's investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren's practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor -- large or small -- and models everyone can follow. The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett's own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work. As Warren says: "You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will." "With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year." "No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant." "Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do." The Tao of Warren Buffettinspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.
A collection of pithy and inspiring sayings from America's favorite businessman that reveal his secrets of success Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application. In "The Tao of Warren Buffett, " Mary Buffett -- author of three books on Warren Buffett's investment methods -- joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy. Warren Buffett's investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren's practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor -- large or small -- and models everyone can follow. The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett's own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work. As Warren says: "You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will." "With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in ayear." "No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant." "Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do." "The Tao of Warren Buffett" inspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.
A collection of pithy and inspiring sayings from America's favorite businessman that reveal his secrets of success Like the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application. In The Tao of Warren Buffett, Mary Buffett -- author of three books on Warren Buffett's investment methods -- joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy. Warren Buffett's investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren's practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor -- large or small -- and models everyone can follow. The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett's own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work. As Warren says: "You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will." "With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year." "No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant." "Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do." The Tao of Warren Buffett inspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.
A collection of pithy and inspiring sayings from America's favorite businessman that reveal his secrets of successLike the sayings of the ancient Chinese philospher Lao-tzu, Warren Buffett's worldly wisdom is deceptively simple and enormously powerful in application. InThe Tao of Warren Buffett,Mary Buffett -- author of three books on Warren Buffett's investment methods -- joins noted Buffettologist and international lecturer David Clark to bring you Warren Buffett's smartest, funniest, and most memorable sayings with an eye toward revealing the life philosophy and the investment strategies that have made Warren Buffett, and the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway, so enormously wealthy.Warren Buffett's investment achievements are unparalleled. He owes his success to hard work, integrity, and that most elusive commodity of all, common sense. The quotations in this book exemplify Warren's practical strategies and provide useful illustrations for every investor -- large or small -- and models everyone can follow. The quotes are culled from a variety of sources, including personal conversations, corporate reports, profiles, and interviews. The authors provide short explanations for each quote and use examples from Buffett's own business transactions whenever possible to illustrate his words at work.As Warren says:"You should invest in a business that even a fool can run, because someday a fool will.""With enough inside information and a million dollars, you can go broke in a year.""No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can't produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.""Our method is very simple. We just try to buy businesses with good-to-superb underlying economics run by honest and able people and buy them at sensible prices. That's all I'm trying to do."The Tao of Warren Buffettinspires, amuses, sharpens the mind, and offers priceless investment savvy that anyone can take to the bank. This irresistibly browsable and entertaining book is destined to become a classic.
"This is destined to be the business world'sLittle Red Bookthat investors and managers will resort to over and over. David Clark and Mary Buffett have again captured the heart, soul, and ethos of Warren Buffett - giving us practical, lasting strategies we can use to improve our financial performance."-- Timothy Vick, Senior Portfolio Manager, The Sanibel Captiva trust Co., and author ofHow to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
"This is destined to be the business world's "Little Red Book" that investors and managers will resort to over and over. David Clark and Mary Buffett have again captured the heart, soul, and ethos of Warren Buffett - giving us practical, lasting strategies we can use to improve our financial performance."-- Timothy Vick, Senior Portfolio Manager, The Sanibel Captiva trust Co., and author of "How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett"
"This is destined to be the business world's Little Red Book that investors and managers will resort to over and over. David Clark and Mary Buffett have again captured the heart, soul, and ethos of Warren Buffett - giving us practical, lasting strategies we can use to improve our financial performance." -- Timothy Vick, Senior Portfolio Manager, The Sanibel Captiva trust Co., and author of How to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
"This is destined to be the business world'sLittle Red Bookthat investors and managers will resort to over and over. David Clark and Mary Buffett have again captured the heart, soul, and ethos of Warren Buffett - giving us practical, lasting strategies we can use to improve our financial performance."-- Timothy Vick, Senior Portfolio Manager, The Sanibel Captiva trust Co., and author ofHow to Pick Stocks Like Warren Buffett
Contents Introduction Getting and Staying Rich Business Warren's Mentors Education The Workplace Analysts, Advisers, Brokers -- Follies to Avoid Why Not to Diversify Discipline, Prudence, and Patience Beware the Folly of Greed When to Sell, When to Leave Mistakes to Beware Of Your Circle of Competence The Price You Pay Long-Term Economic Value Is the Secret to Exploiting Short-Term Stock Market Folly Sources Acknowledgments Index