From the Publisher
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.
From the Hardcover edition.
From the Jacket
"The mandatory book to read in these treacherous times of
financial crisis.…A thoughtful and intimate biography of the
globe's wisest investor." -Forbes
"Will mesmerize anyone interested in who Mr. Buffett is or how
he got that way." The Snowball tells a fascinating
story."-New York Times
"If the replication of any great achievement first requires
knowledge of how it was done, then The Snowball,
the most detailed glimpse inside Warren Buffett and his world that
we likely will ever get, should become a Bible for capitalists."
-Washington Post
"Anyone who has been watching events unfold in recent
months-which would be everyone-can now appreciate the wisdom of
Buffett....The most authoritative portrait of one of the most
important American investors of our time."-Los Angeles
Times
"Even people who don't care a whit about business will be
intrigued by this portrait… Schroeder, a former insurance-industry
analyst, spent years interviewing Buffett, and the result is a side
of the Oracle of Omaha that has rarely been seen." -Time
Magazine
"Schroeder, a former analyst, has a meat-and-potatoes style
that matches the homespun wisdom of her subject...Now more than
ever, Buffett's emphasis on fundamentals seems like genius. It's
the perfect moment for a great book on an immensely inspiring
capitalist."-People, four stars
"Schroeder, a former investment analyst, is well equipped to
elucidate Buffett's deals…[and] Buffett's life abounds with good
stories." -The New Yorker
"An instructive chronicle of financial success at a moment when
financial failure is on everyone's mind....All you wanted to know
about Warren Buffett-and more."-Wall Street Journal
"You will learn a lot about one of the nation's most compelling and
important men from reading The Snowball."
-Boston Globe
"In The Snowball, novice biographer Alice
Schroeder gives us one of the most detailed, candid life stories
ever published…It is almost impossible to stop reading."
-Christian Science Monitor
"A penetrating and personal look at the Oracle of Omaha…An astute,
and at times riveting, read-especially
now."-BusinessWeek
"Everyone knows that in a deep and liquid capital market like that
of the US, it is just about impossible to beat the stock market
averages over anything more than the short term. But Buffett has
been ahead of the curve for most of the past 50 years, making him
one of the world's richest people. Alice Schroeder's massive
authorized biography, The Snowball, provides some
clues about how he's done it." -Financial Times
"In this startlingly frank account of Buffett's life, Schroeder, a
former managing director at Morgan Stanley-and hand picked by
Buffett to be his biographer-strips away the mystery that has long
cloaked the word's richest man to reveal a life and fortune erected
around lucid and inspired business vision and unimaginable personal
complexity." -Publishers Weekly
"This massive-and highly readable-text (produced with Buffett's
full cooperation) is an unvarnished and well-paced biography that
is essential for all public and academic business collections."
-Library Journal
"For students of the Oracle of Omaha, or even those looking for a
little reassurance during the crisis, Schroeder's book is a
fascinating study of America's most successful investor." -New
York Post
"If you've looked at your 401(k) statement and started to fear
that everyone in financial markets is either greedy, predatory or
incompetent, do yourself a favor. Take $35 out of the mattress and
buy a copy of Alice Schroeder's The Snowball: Warren
Buffett and the Business of Life. At a time like
this, it's a real comfort: Buffet is living proof there's at least
one wholly rational person managing money…an excellent and highly
enjoyable look at the business titan." -Houston
Chronicle
"Ms. Schroeder does a good job of pulling…volunteered disclosures
out of Mr. Buffett but her real contribution is her own investment
expertise which enables her to make the convoluted financing
schemes over the last 50 years understandable to lay readers and
truly instructive to the business information junkie."
-Washington Times
"This is a fast-paced, precisely drawn profile of a man who,
despite his high visibility in the financial world, isn't someone
we've known much about… We do now." -Kansas City
Star
"This massive-and highly readable-text (produced with Buffett's
full cooperation) is an unvarnished and well-paced biography that
is essential for all public and academic business
collections."-LibraryJournal.com
"Top-notch biographies demand thorough research and crisp, finely
honed writing. Schroeder exhibits both.... It's hard to imagine a
more complete account of Buffett's life had he written it
himself."-Buffalo News
"Riveting and encyclopedic.... The overall power of the story
carries "The Snowball" forward. There is much to be learned from
it."-wsj.com
"[A] monumental biography ... Schroeder got the best access yet of
any Buffett biographer ... she deals out marvelously funny and
poignant stories about Buffett and the conglomerate he runs,
Berkshire Hathaway."-Forbes.com
From the Hardcover edition.
About the Author
Author Alice Schroeder was a noted insurance industry analyst and
writer who was a managing director at Morgan Stanley. She first met
Warren Buffett when she published research on Berkshire Hathaway;
her grasp of the subject and insight so impressed him that he
offered her access to his files and to himself. Their friendship
and mutual respect make her ideally positioned to write the
The Snowball.
Ms. Schroeder was born in Texas, and she earned an undergraduate
degree and her MBA at the University of Texas at Austin before
moving east to work in finance. She is a former CPA and lives in
Connecticut with her husband.
From the Hardcover edition.
Trade Paperback
832 Pages, 6.15 x 9.19 x 1.52 in
October 27, 2009
Random House Publishing Group
English
0553384619
9780553384611