Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into something
remarkable- and Fortune journalist Carol Loomis had a
front-row seat for it all.
When Carol Loomis first mentioned a little-known Omaha hedge
fund manager in a 1966 Fortune article, she didn't dream
that Warren Buffett would one day be considered the world's
greatest investor-nor that she and Buffett would quickly become
close personal friends. As Buffett's fortune and reputation grew
over time, Loomis used her unique insight into Buffett's thinking
to chronicle his work for Fortune, writing and proposing
scores of stories that tracked his many accomplishments-and also
his occasional mistakes.
Now Loomis has collected and updated the best Buffett articles
Fortune published between 1966 and 2012, including
thirteen cover stories and a dozen pieces authored by Buffett
himself. Loomis has provided commentary about each major article
that supplies context and her own informed point of view. Readers
will gain fresh insights into Buffett's investment strategies and
his thinking on management, philanthropy, public policy, and even
parenting. Some of the highlights include:
- The 1966 A. W. Jones story in which Fortune first
mentioned Buffett.
- The first piece Buffett wrote for the magazine, 1977's "How Inf
lation Swindles the Equity Investor."
- Andrew Tobias's 1983 article "Letters from Chairman Buffett,"
the first review of his Berkshire Hathaway shareholder
letters.
- Buffett's stunningly prescient 2003 piece about derivatives,
"Avoiding a Mega-Catastrophe."
- His unconventional thoughts on inheritance and philanthropy,
including his intention to leave his kids "enough money so they
would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could
do nothing."
- Bill Gates's 1996 article describing his early impressions of
Buffett as they struck up their close friendship.
Scores of Buffett books have been written, but none can claim
this work's combination of trust between two friends, the writer's
deep understanding of Buffett's world, and a very long-term
perspective.
