Warren Buffett, MY American Idol

Warren Edward Buffett (b. August 30, 1930, Omaha, Nebraska) is an American investor, businessman and philanthropist.

Buffett has amassed an enormous fortune from astute investments, particularly through the company Berkshire Hathaway, of which he is the largest shareholder and CEO. With an estimated current net worth of around US$52 billion,^[2] he was ranked by Forbes as the third-richest person in the world as of April 2007, behind telecom businessman Carlos Slim Helú^[3].

In June 2006, he has made a commitment to give away his fortune to charity, with 83% of it going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.^[4] The donation amounts to approximately $30 billion. Buffett's donation is said to be the largest in U.S. history. At the time of the announcement the donation was enough to more than double the size of the foundation.

Despite his immense wealth, Buffett is famous for his unpretentious and frugal lifestyle.^[5] When he spent $9.7 million of Berkshire's funds on a corporate jet in 1989, he jokingly named it "The Indefensible" because of his past criticisms of such purchases by other CEOs.[3] He continues to live in the same house in the central Dundee neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska that he bought in 1958 for $31,500^[6] (although he also owned a more expensive home in Laguna Beach, California which he sold in 2004).

His 2006 annual salary of about $100,000^[1] is tiny by the standards of senior executive remuneration in other comparable companies. CEOs in S&P 500 constituent companies averaged about $9 million compensation in 2003.^[7]

Overview

Warren Buffet was born in Omaha, Nebraska to Howard Buffett, a stock broker and United States Representative, and Leila Buffett. Warren Buffett displayed an extremely keen understanding of business and mathematics at a young age, easily doing complex mathematical computations in his head. He was also known as a book worm who displayed an insatiable hunger for knowledge pertaining to business and capital markets. He began working at his father's brokerage at the age of 11, and that same year made his first stock purchase, buying Cities Services shares for $38.25 each. He sold them when the price reached $40, only to see them rocket to $200 a few years later.^[8] This taught him the importance of investing in good companies for the long term. At the age of 14, he spent $1,200 he had saved up from two paper routes^{[citation needed]} to buy 40 acres of farmland which he then rented to tenant farmers. Although an excellent student as a budding entrepreneur he felt college would be a waste. He had already had money coming in from Wilson Coin Op a pinball machine company he had started with a friend, as well as passive income streams coming from a farmer paying rent to him for the use of his farm, and he had saved $5,000 graduating near the top 20 in his class at the age of 16. However he eventually yielded to his father's advice.

Warren attended the prestigious Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania for three years, then transferred to the University of Nebraska. There he began his interest in investing after reading Benjamin Graham's The Intelligent Investor.

He obtained a Master's degree in economics in 1951 at Columbia Business School, studying under Benjamin Graham, alongside other future value investors including Walter Schloss and Irving Kahn. Another influence on Buffett's investment philosophy was the well known investor and writer Philip Fisher. After receiving the only A+ Benjamin Graham ever handed out to a student in his security analysis class, Buffett wanted to work at Graham-Newman but was initially turned down. He went to work at his father's brokerage as a salesman until Graham offered him a position in 1954. Buffett returned to Omaha two years later, when Graham retired.

Buffett established Buffett Associates, Ltd., his first investment partnership, in 1956. It was financed by $100 from Buffett, the general partner, and $105,000 from seven limited partners consisting of Buffett's family and friends.^[9]

Buffett created several additional partnerships which were later consolidated as Buffett Partnership Limited. He ran the partnerships out of his bedroom, adhering closely to Graham's investment approach and compensation structure. These investments made in excess of 30% compounded annually between 1956 to 1969, in a market where 7% to 11% was the norm.

Buffett employed a three-pronged approach:

1. Generals: undervalued securities that possess margin of safety and meet expected return-to-risk characteristics[4]
2. Arbitrages: company events that are not related to broader market changes, such as mergers and acquisitions, liquidation, etc.
3. Controls: build sizable holdings, ally with other shareholders or employ proxies to effect changes in companies

In 1962 Buffett Partnerships began purchasing shares of Berkshire Hathaway, a large manufacturing company in the declining textile industry that was selling for less than its working capital. In 1969, Buffett would dissolve all his partnerships to focus on running Berkshire Hathaway. At the time, Charlie Munger, Berkshire's current Vice Chairman, remarked that purchasing the company was a mistake, due to the failure of the textile industry. Berkshire, however, became one of the largest holding companies in the world, as Buffett redirected the company's excess cash to acquire private businesses and stocks of public companies. At the core of his strategy were insurance companies, due to the large cash reserves they must keep on hand to pay out future claims. Essentially, the insurer does not own the reserve, but may invest it and keep any proceeds.

Under Munger's influence, Buffett's investment approach moved away from a strict adherence to Graham's principles, and he began to focus on high-quality businesses with enduring competitive advantages. He described such advantages as a "moat" that kept rivals at a safe distance, as opposed to commodity businesses, which sell undifferentiated products and face direct competition. A classic example of a wide-moat company is Coca-Cola, because consumers are willing to pay more for a Coke than for a generic beverage with a similar taste. On the other hand, salt is considered a commodity product because consumers generally have no preferences for one brand of salt over another.

Investment in wide-moat businesses has become a hallmark of Berkshire Hathaway, particularly when buying whole companies rather than public stocks. As a result, it now owns a large number of businesses which are dominant players in their respective industries, specialize in various niche markets, or possess other unique characteristics to separate them from their competitors.

Philanthropy

In June 2006, Warren Buffett announced plans to contribute approximately 10 million Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (worth approximately USD 30.7 billion as of June 23 2006; see [5]) making it the largest charitable donation in history. The foundation will receive 5% of the total donation on an annualized basis each July, beginning in 2006. Buffett will also join the board of directors of the Gates Foundation, although he does not plan to be actively involved in running the foundation.

Buffett also announced plans to contribute additional Berkshire stock valued at approximately $6.7 billion to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and to other foundations headed by his three children. This is a significant shift from previous statements Buffett has made, having stated that most of his fortune would pass to his Buffett Foundation. The bulk of the estate of his wife, valued at $2.6 billion, went to that foundation when she died in 2004.[6]

His children will not inherit a significant proportion of his wealth. These actions are consistent with statements he has made in the past indicating his opposition to the transfer of great fortunes from one generation to the next. Buffett once commented, "I want to give my kids enough so that they could feel that they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing"[7] (a quote later used on CSI by Catherine Willows following her receipt of a large amount of money from her birth father, Las Vegas mobster Sam Braun).

The following two quotations from 1995 and 1988, respectively, highlight Warren Buffett's thoughts on his wealth and why he long planned to reallocate it:

"I personally think that society is responsible for a very significant percentage of what I've earned. If you stick me down in the middle of Bangladesh or Peru or someplace, you find out how much this talent is going to produce in the wrong kind of soil... I work in a market system that happens to reward what I do very well - disproportionately well. Mike Tyson, too. If you can knock a guy out in 10 seconds and earn $10 million for it, this world will pay a lot for that. If you can bat .360, this world will pay a lot for that. If you're a marvelous teacher, this world won't pay a lot for it. If you are a terrific nurse, this world will not pay a lot for it. Now, am I going to try to come up with some comparable worth system that somehow (re)distributes that? No, I don't think you can do that. But I do think that when you're treated enormously well by this market system, where in effect the market system showers the ability to buy goods and services on you because of some peculiar talent - maybe your adenoids are a certain way, so you can sing and everybody will pay you enormous sums to be on television or whatever -I think society has a big claim on that." (Lowe 1997:164-165)

"I don't have a problem with guilt about money. The way I see it is that my money represents an enormous number of claim checks on society. It's like I have these little pieces of paper that I can turn into consumption. If I wanted to, I could hire 10,000 people to do nothing but paint my picture every day for the rest of my life. And the GNP would go up. But the utility of the product would be zilch, and I would be keeping those 10,000 people from doing AIDS research, or teaching, or nursing. I don't do that though. I don't use very many of those claim checks. There's nothing material I want very much. And I'm going to give virtually all of those claim checks to charity when my wife and I die." (Lowe 1997:165-166)

Since 2000, Buffett has raised money for the Glide Foundation through online auctions. Bidders have donated up to $620,100 for the chance to have one meal with him.

In September 2006, Buffett auctioned his Lincoln Town Car to support Girls, Inc.[8] The vehicle sold for $73,200 on eBay.[9]

In May 2007, fishermen, tribal leaders and environmental leaders from northwest California went to Omaha to ask Buffett to tear down four dams on the Klamath River. [10] The dams, owned by Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary Pacific Corp., are currently up for relicensing. The dams have had a devastating effect on the Klamath River fisheries. Members of the Hupa, Yurok, and Karuk tribes who depend on these fisheries have been especially hard hit. In September, 2002, low water flows resulting from the dams caused the death of at least 33,000 adult salmonids. As of May 2007, it is unclear what action Buffett will or can take.

Management style

Warren Buffett views himself as a capital allocator above anything else. His primary responsibility is to allocate capital to businesses with good economics and keep their existing management to lead the company.

When Buffett acquires a controlling interest in a business, he makes clear to the owner the following:

• He will not interfere with the running of the company.
• He will be responsible for hiring and setting the compensation of the top executive.
• Capital allocated to the business will have a price tag (a hurdle rate) attached. This process is to motivate owners to send excess capital that does not return more than its cost to Berkshire headquarters rather than investing it at low returns.^{[citation needed]} This cash is then free to be invested in opportunities that offer higher returns.

Buffett's hands-off approach has held strong appeal and created room for his managers to perform as owners and ultimate decision makers of their businesses. This acquisition strategy enabled Buffett to buy companies at fair prices because the sellers wanted room to operate independently after selling.

Besides his skills in managing Berkshire's cash flow, Buffett is skilled in managing the company's balance sheet. Since taking over Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett has weighed every decision against its impact on the balance sheet. As of 2005 he has succeeded in building Berkshire into one of the nine companies that are still rated by Moody's as AAA, the highest credit rating achievable and thus with the lowest cost of debt. Buffett takes comfort in the knowledge that, for the near future, his company will not be one of those shaken by economic or natural catastrophes. He repeated over the years that his catastrophe insurance operation is the only one he knew that can keep the checks clearing during financial turmoil.

Investment approach

Buffett's philosophy on business investing is a modification of the value investing approach of his mentor Benjamin Graham. Graham bought companies because they were cheap compared to their intrinsic value. He was of the belief that as long as the market undervalued them relative to their intrinsic value he was making a solid investment. He reasoned that the market will eventually realize it has undervalued the company and will correct its course regardless of what type of business the company was in. In addition he believes that the business has to have solid economics behind it.

The following are some questions to determine what business to buy, based on the book Buffettology by Mary Buffett:

• Is the company in an industry of good economics, i.e., not an industry competing on price points. Does the company have a consumer monopoly or brand name that commands loyalty? Can any company with an abundance of resources compete successfully with the company?
• Are the Owner Earnings on an upward trend with good and consistent margins?
• Is the debt-to-equity ratio low or is the earnings-to-debt ratio high, i.e. can the company repay debt even in years when earnings are lower than average?
• Does the company have high and consistent Returns on Invested Capital (his version differs from the popular definition)?
• Does the company retain earnings for growth?
• The business should not have high maintenance cost of operations, low capital expenditure or investment cash outflow. This is not the same as investing to expand capacity.
• Does the company reinvest earnings in good business opportunities? Does management have a good track record of profiting from these investments?
• Is the company free to adjust prices for inflation?

Buffett's next concern would be when to buy. He does not hurry to invest in businesses with indiscernible value. He will wait for market corrections or downturns to buy solid businesses at reasonable prices, since stock-market downturns present buying opportunities.

He is known for being conservative when speculation is rampant in the market and being aggressive when others are fearing for their capital. This contrarian strategy is what led Buffett's company through the Internet boom and bust without significant damage, although critics have also noted that it may have led Berkshire to miss out on potential opportunities during the same period.

Then he asks at what price is the business a bargain, and his answer typically is when it provides a higher rate of compounded return relative to other available investment opportunities.

Buffett has coined the term "economic moat," preferring to acquire companies that possess sustainable competitive advantages over their competitors.[11]

Warren Buffett's letters to shareholders are a valuable source in understanding his investment style and outlook.^[10]

Writings

Warren Buffett's writings include his annual reports and various articles. In his article The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville, Buffett refuted the academic position at the time that the market was efficient and beating the S&P500 was "pure chance" by highlighting a number of students of the Graham and Dodds value investing school of thought. In addition to himself, Buffett named: Walter J. Schloss, Tom Knapp Ed Anderson (Tweedy, Brown Inc.), Bill Ruane (Sequoia Fund, Inc.), Charles Munger, Rick Guerin (Pacific Partners, Ltd.), and Stan Permeter (Perlmeter Investments) as having had beaten the S&P500, "year in and year out".

Public stances

Buffett has repeatedly criticized the financial industry for what he considers to be a proliferation of advisors who add no value but are compensated based on the volume of business transactions which they facilitate. He has pointed to the growing volume of stock trades as evidence that an ever-greater proportion of investors' gains are going to brokers and other middle-men.

Buffett emphasized the non-productive aspect of gold in 1998 at Harvard: "It gets dug out of the ground in Africa, or someplace. Then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility. Anyone watching from Mars would be scratching their head."

Buffett believes that the U.S. dollar will lose value in the long run. He views the United States' expanding trade deficit as an alarming trend that will devalue the U.S. dollar and U.S. assets. As a result it is putting a larger portion of ownership of U.S. assets in the hands of foreigners. This induced Buffett to enter the foreign currency market for the first time in 2002. However, he substantially reduced his stake in 2005 as changing interest rates increased the costs of holding currency contracts. Buffett continues to be bearish on the dollar, and says he is looking to make acquisitions of companies which derive a substantial portion of their revenues from outside the United States. Buffett invests in PetroChina Company Limited and in a rare move, posted a commentary[12] on Berkshire Hathaway's website why he will not divest from the company despite calls from some activists to do so.

Buffett's speeches are known for mixing serious business discussions with humor. Each year, Buffett presides over Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders' meeting in the Qwest Center in Omaha, Nebraska, an event drawing over 20,000 visitors from both United States and abroad, giving it the nickname "Woodstock of Capitalism". Some have gone so far as to purchase a single stock share just for the chance to ask Buffett a question at the meeting.

Berkshire's annual reports and letters to shareholders, prepared by Buffett, frequently receive coverage by the financial media. Buffett's writings are known for containing literary quotes ranging from the Bible to Mae West, as well as hokey Midwestern advice and numerous jokes. Various websites extol Buffett's virtues while others decry Buffett’s business models or dismiss his investment advice and decisions.

Buffett is strongly in favor of inheritance tax, saying that repealing it would be like "choosing the 2020 Olympic team by picking the eldest sons of the gold-medal winners in the 2000 Olympics".[13]

Buffett has long been a proponent of abortion rights. In 1969, he and Charlie Munger backed Munger's legal firm in defending a doctor convicted of referring a woman to an abortion provider. The doctor's acquittal set an important precedent, preparing the way for Roe v. Wade three years later.^{[citation needed]}

Buffett has been recognized as most responsible for FASB 123 (r), or Stock Option Expensing on the GAAP Income Statement. When asked about the subject at Berkshire Hathaway's 2004 annual meeting, he compared Congress and the SEC's decision to override FASB, who wanted to consider company-issued stock-option compensation as an expense, to a bill that passed in the Indiana house who wanted pi to be changed from 3.14...to 3.20.

On April 9, 2007, CNBC announced that Buffett had extended Berkshire Hathaway's holdings to include shares in: Canadian National Railway Co., Norfolk Southern Corp., CSX Corp., Union Pacific Corp., and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.^[11]

Personal life

Buffett married Susan Thompson in 1952. They had three children, Susie, Howard, and Peter. The couple began living separately in 1977, though they remained married until her death in July 2004. His daughter Susie lives in Omaha and does charitable work through the Susan A. Buffett Foundation and is a national board member of Girls, Inc.

On his 76th birthday Buffett married his longtime companion, Astrid Menks, who had lived with him since his wife's departure. Interestingly, it was Susan Buffett who arranged for the two to meet before she left Omaha to pursue her singing career. All three were close, and holiday cards to friends were signed "Warren, Susie and Astrid" (as per Roger Lowenstein's book, Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist). Susan Buffett briefly discussed this relationship in an interview on the Charlie Rose Show shortly before her death, in a rare glimpse into Buffett's personal life.[15]

Buffett is an avid player of the card game bridge. He has said that he spends 12 hours a week playing bridge.[16] He often plays with Bill Gates.

In 2006, he sponsored a bridge match for the Buffett Cup.[17] In this event, modeled on the Ryder Cup in golf (and held immediately before it and in the same city), a team of twelve bridge players from the United States took on twelve Europeans.

Buffett likes to eat at Gorat's Steak House in Omaha, where he always purchases a T-bone steak (cooked rare), a double order of hash browns, and Cherry Coke. He used to drive a 2001 Lincoln Town Car[18] which he auctioned on eBay to raise money for Girls Inc.[19] He currently drives a Cadillac DTS.[20]

Warren Buffett is currently working on an animated series with DiC Entertainment chief Andy Heyward. According to information presented by Buffett at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on May 6, 2006, the series will feature Buffett and Munger in roles and the series will teach children healthy financial habits for life. Cartoon drawings of Buffett and Munger were displayed throughout the events during the weekend and the special movie before the meeting began was in animation form by Heyward.

One of the reasons he left the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania is that he believed he knew more than the professors.

In December 2006 it was reported that Mr. Buffett does not carry a cell phone, does not have a computer at his desk, and drives his own car.[21] However, in May 2007 Richard Santulli, CEO and Chairman of NetJets, stated on the Nightly Business Report that Mr. Buffett now uses a cell phone, however he still does not use email.^{[citation needed]}

He plays the ukulele.

He has described himself as an agnostic.[22]