Having read a handful of investing books, derived Buffet and Munger's philosophy, it was a natural step to start reading from their own words. If you are a true believer, why reading just mass-market texts and not the Bible?

Much thanks to Cunningham who made this possible.

Some chapters in the book (like acquisition and accounting) can sound "foreign" to investors who are not directly involved in the business sector (including me), but it is just the technicalities - the big ideas remain accessible.

The book covers deep insights into economics and business. Buffett's wisdom is not limited to investing, but extends to insights into business operations and economic trends. Overall, reading this book may give you a greater focus on long-term value investing, rational decision-making, risk management, and a deeper understanding of the economy and business. These realizations can have a positive impact on personal financial planning and investment decisions.

Even as a complete novice in this field I managed to gain so much from this book. And to think what a person, studying finances or working with investments, could learn from essays - is just mind-blowing!

Interesting book with many good insights on managing large corporations, investing, and corporate accounting. The only downside is that it's extremely repetitive. All major ideas could have been summarized in 5-10 pages. So, save your time and find and read a good summary online.

"Essays of Warren Buffett" is an extraordinary literary gem that offers a down-to-earth and illuminating perspective into the brilliant minds of Warren Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger. As a novice investor, I found this book to be an invaluable source of knowledge and insights, catering perfectly to individuals like myself who are eager to delve into the world of investing. The expertise and wisdom imparted by these two financial titans make them the ultimate mentors, and I can't help but admire their exceptional acumen. I only wish I had more hours in a day to immerse myself in the wealth of information presented in this remarkable collection of essays. From the fundamental principles of value investing to the intricate strategies employed by Buffett himself, each page holds a treasure trove of practical advice and timeless wisdom. This book serves as an indispensable guide, empowering readers to make informed decisions and navigate the complex world of finance with confidence and clarity.

One of the best pure business books I've read to date. You'll learn as much in this book as in any MBA class if not more and it's impressive how well he's able to synthesize accounting, finance, and strategy into a cohesive whole. What you get out of this book is not only an insight into how Berkshire Hathaway is successful, but also into how Buffett thinks about investment decisions. Below is a list of topics that I learned new things about and this review will allow me to save them for future reference.

1. Strategic capex: The amount of capital expenditure that a business needs to maintain its long term competitive advantages. Different firms require different capex and this should influence the cash flow number used for "intrinsic business value" as he calls it rather than the one-size-fits-all free cash flow that he criticizes.
2. Depreciation is also a substantial and relevant expense in many industries, and Buffett argues that it shouldn't be taken out in an estimation of cash flows in every industry either.
3. Amortization of acquisition goodwill doesn't make any sense given the inflated premiums that are paid these days. This is another item that investors should take care to review when they're assessing true cash flow and income.
4. He decrees option based compensation because it takes executive compensation off the P&L. This could very well be a contributor to the gap between productivity and worker's wages. He also thinks option-based compensation doesn't align managers with shareholders unless they're structured very carefully and he tends not to use them for Berkshire's subsidiaries.
5. He is critical of "revolving door capitalist owners" like private equity funds for how they fundamentally take advantage of and distort corporate ownership.
6. Stock buybacks are only worthwhile if a higher rate of return can't be earned by reinvestment in the business. Propping up share price certainly isn't an adequate reason. He uses similar logic for dividends, but differentiates based on tax treatment. Again, capital that can be reinvested at a high rate of return in the business will lead to earnings growth greater than if it were simply paid back to shareholders. He also thinks cash is helpful for firms on rainy days consistent with a long-term orientation.
7. Buffett doesn't believe firms should manage so that share price is maximized. He thinks they should maximize a subjective intrinsic business value measure demanded by shareholders that is closer in line to true earnings without accounting tricks and less price. He mentions a few times that it's better to be "approximately right than precisely wrong."
8. On this note, he doesn't think good CEOs should "always meet their numbers" because he doesn't think this is how business is actually done.
9. Buffett thinks that higher trading volume on a share isn't indicative of market efficiency on the principle that prudent investors invest for the long term. In this vein, he takes pains and acts to incentivize Berkshire shareholders to stay for the long term. At one point, he makes an analogy to how businesses would be run if they were constantly shuffling owners in a private setting.
10. He posits that advisers like consultants, bankers, and auditors are ultimately hired and fired by managers and the CEO not shareholders, so they likely promote managerial opportunism more than shareholders' best interests.

I couldn’t simply mark this as “read” as I normally do. I had to review it and encourage others to read it.

It’s a more challenging read for those unfamiliar with corporate vernacular, but still highly approachable. I occasionally had to google vocabulary words or research concepts I was unfamiliar with. But Buffet is a business sage who speaks frankly enough that almost everyone benefits from reading these essays, on some level.

Straight from the horses mouth, this book provides context to his methods, beyond the over-simplistic sound bites you often hear. Beyond that, this was by far the most insightful book on “business,” in general, I’ve ever read. I’ll likely read it again.

As a child Buffet was obsessed with entrepreneurship. Only by desiring riches with a state of mind that becomes an obsession will bring riches. Obsession makes it more likely for you to stick to your plans with persistence but probably only few investors will devote their lives to their investment like Buffet did. From this book you will take away many lessons on investment from Warren Buffet which guided him in becoming the most glorified and respected investor of all times. This book also describes how Buffet took control of Berkshire Hathaway. Reading these essays will not make you rich but it will give you some insight into the management and investing world. You may also find interesting the annual letters to shareholders which are published on Berkshire Hathaway site starting from 1965.

I'm as much of an admirer of Buffet as the next investor. So I think his lessons are worthy. However, I'm not sure this is the way to learn them. These essays come from the 10-K's of Berkshire Hathaway. They are mostly therefore geared toward how that company operated around the early 90s to the 2000s. You can learn the basic premise he uses from Graham. Go there. It's more relevant to your search. This is a nice foot note. But not for anybody looking for a broad perspective.

Very impressing!






































Gene Panasenko

This book goes into great detail on the principles that drive Warren Buffett in business, management, and leadership. In almost one out of every four pages, Buffett also refers to his long time partner, Charlie Munger. The humility of self and complexity of thought when he talks about complex finance topics make this a must read for business interested people.

A well organized book of excerpts from Buffet's annual letters to Berkshire's shareholders and various other writings, very inspiring and as always told in Buffet's easy-to-read and humourous way.

It should be a mandatory read for anyone involved with (or aspiring to be in) corporate governance, be it as a high level executive, a CEO, a board member, an auditor or accountant, a (tax) politician or business regulator.

It is a book specifically directed at corporate America (as the title reveals) but there are principles that can be derived from every chapter that should be universally applicable.

After finishing the book my admiration for Buffet & Munger has grown even further. The book gives a terrific insight in Buffet and Munger's investment philosophy as well as their ideas on how to run a corporation, but it's just as much a criticism of the short term and in many cases dishonest behaviour of many corporations and their executives, unhealthy incentive structures, US accounting and taxation standards and much more. It puts forward the case for decency and honesty in business and long term investing and Berkshire's track record shows that this can be very profitable.

Highly recommended. The best book in this category I have read.