I've been following the markets for the better part of 25 years, and over the years I've come across many books, articles, and profiles of Warren Buffett; seen him interviewed countless times on CNBC, even watched a documentary about him on Danish television last week, so I approached Buffett with reasonably low expectations - how much more was there to learn? Quite a bit apparently. This book is as good as the book on his partner Charlie Munger (previously reviewed) was bad. Lowenstein does a great job getting to the root of Buffett's unique approach to investing - his almost monomaniacal obsession with studying companies - and the detrimental impact this pursuit has had on his family. It's an inspirational story though of a great mind and a truly independent thinker - someone almost as comfortable taking on taboo social issues as he is uncovering undervalued companies. And with the book written in the mid-nineties it focuses on Buffett's formative experiences (the Berkshire-Hathaway acquisition, his relationship with Katherine Graham of the Washington Post, and saving Salomon Brothers) many of which I was less familiar with. The book is a bit dated, despite an epilogue added in 2008, as Buffett is difficult to keep up with - now into his eighties, the man who hates change, is still making headlines. Overall I'm pleased to report that Buffett the book is as interesting as Buffett the person.

A very interesting book about a man who does the right thing...pays taxes, takes care of employees, protects employees, not influenced by politics, etc. Mr. Buffet's father was a US Congressman, a Republican while Warren became, and still is a Democrat. His approach to looking for intrinsic value in companies has done him very good over the years. His share price today is north of $350,000. Only a few firms did he chose wrong, one being US Air. He is a remarkable person, now donating 85% of his wealth to the Gates Foundation. This book was a fun read for me!

Cuốn sách kể về hành trình của nhà đầu tư huyền thoại Waren Buffett với đam mê kinh doanh và nhìn đồng tiền sinh sôi từ nhỏ tới khi trở thành nhà đầu tư huyền thoại. Buffett: The making of an American capitalist đi sâu vào những thương vụ đầu tư của Buffett với triết lý tập trung vào giá trị của doanh nghiệp và cam kết gắn bó dài hạn với khoản đầu tư của mình. Xuyên suốt sự nghiệp của ông là hình ảnh con người lý trí, tập trung vào mục tiêu và có thể đơn giản hóa việc đầu tư phức tạp của phố Wall với những câu chuyện hóm hỉnh và các lá thư cho cổ đông của mình.

Từng chút nhận ra được những nét đẹp trong tính cách của Buffet, ngoài ra còn nhiều điểm rất đặc biệt trong tâm hồn ông.
Sách viết dễ hiểu, dẫn chuyện nhiều đoạn khá hài hước. :)

Reading this book in February 2019, I felt the book was a little dated, as it tracks Warren Buffett's life only until the late 90's - which means the two major stock market crashes of the early 21st Century are both not covered in the book.

The tone of the book is in staunch defence, and adulation for the once Richest Man in the World, but does a great job of explaining the importance of his stock market ideology, that of value investing, in contrast with prevailing wisdom in the 90's: the Efficient Market Theory. It also delves deep into his method in identifying competent managers that can efficiently run his acquisitions, and the long leash he grants them to make independent decisions, devoid of micro-management.

Some may find the fact that the book did not go into great details of his personal life a missing chapter for a well rounded biography, but personally, I viewed that as a plus - arguably, one does not read a book about Warren Buffett to understand his views on marriage and parenthood; it is his views on the markets and his investing that I was more keen about.

Given a chance, I'd attempt to find a more recent book that might give me more insights about his thinking in the face of the 2008 Recession and the Dot-Com Bubble burst.

Great Read.

Lowenstein paints a compelling. Buffet perpetually sits on the outside. He sits outside of the Wall Street milieu, outside and above the businesses he owns, outside of his own marriage. His sense of the world is so abstracted and bound by the lens of profit that he can't quite advocate for the causes he believes in.

While this was written as Buffet hit retirement age, there is little indication that Buffet's outlook has altered much. He has continued to work into his 90s and is still politically inert.

Lowenstein points to Buffet's fear of discontinuity and death as a driving force in his life. I see no reason to doubt that.

To my knowledge there are 2 popular biographies of Buffett - Snowball and this one. If you want to know more about the greatest investor's personal life, go for Snowball. If about business, go for this one.

What is fascinating about Buffett is that after learning about him a bit, you rather quickly feel there is little to dig deeper. His principles are simple, his life, even simpler. Here is a man whose sole aim in life was to make money. At the same time, his life was completely unaffected by it. Living in a standard home, driving a normal car to his unassuming office in Omaha, you would not take him for a billionaire.

As for the investing principles, one could grasp them quickly. Find companies that are generating strong cash flow, do not require significant investment in them, and are traded at a low valuation on the market. Could anyone do it? Theoretically, yes. One does not have to be a financial wizard to read the financial statements, understand their content and the implications. But, one has to go through thousands of them, analyze them patiently, assess each company independently, and only pull the trigger occasionally. It is the emotional part which usually gets people. But Buffett is a rational machine, plowing through annual reports and market studies, picking just a few great companies, then betting heavily on them. Perhaps some people can have the discipline for a year or five. Warren, however, has executed with such unrelenting discipline for over 60 years. Having been written off by financial pundits for numerous time (at least twice over my lifetime), he has always proved to be correct in the end.

Buffett will not lead Berkshire for long. This is a travesty. There is no one that has the aura and track record that follows him. He is simply irreplaceable. The investment world will sorely miss him one day, since he is more than once in a generation talent. God bless him.

Anne Holmes recommended this book & gave me her copy. I’m glad she did! This was an enjoyable and insightful read. Lowenstein provides a nice mix of personal and business details of Buffett’s life and career.

I’m a professional Financial Advisor and I enjoyed seeing how Buffett’s investment approach developed and transformed over time - some principals staying the same and some aspects evolving. The personal interactions with other business people and the way he approaches analysis of securities was interesting and applies to much of what I do all day long for my clients. It was fascinating to see the concepts I’ve studied and used be deployed in his fashion.

This book was my first insight into his family life and friendships. His views on philanthropy and generational inheritance make a lot of sense to me. The author also provided many comments from family, friends and business associates which gives us more and varied viewpoints.

Why not give it 5 Stars? Frankly, it was a little too long. Some editing would’ve been good, especially in the more esoteric sections about credit and LBOs. That part was dry.

I’ve enjoyed sharing things that I learned in this book. Most Americans are familiar with Buffet, drink Coke and/or Pepsi, have seen the Geico ads, etc. So it’s fun conversation even for others who haven’t read it.

A wonderful book, beside being a biography it's more about or insights into the personality of Warren Buffett and how he created and developed moats for successfully withstanding the perils in business. Readers will come across his conspicuous talent he had exhibited in negotiating his first deal/acquisition of Geico. Every serious business must read it.
The Oracle of Omaha's trajectory would have been entirely different, than being the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, had he been admitted in HBS. But on the return journey on a train from Harvard to Omaha, he was much bothered how to convince his loving father, than worrying himself about the HBS fiasco.
I read it two times because of the biographer's lucid style in writing

very interesting.

It’s not hard to write an interesting book on the stories of Warren Buffett. This book not only tells his stories well, but also does a fabulous job of diving deep into Buffett’s business analysis for a few key decisions in his career. I learned a ton not only about his life, but also about how to value a business, as well.

1.來自葛拉漢的投資哲學：
別指望能賣個好價錢。有個具吸引力的買進價格，就算賣出價格普通也可以帶來很好的績效
買進有價值的標的、內含保守主義的安全邊際原則，以及在每天市場價格變化下抱持超然的態度
=>只有買在具足夠的安全邊際的價格，面對下跌才能有泰然的態度。

2.思考方式：
蒙格引用卡爾.亞可比的話：反過來想，一定要反過來想。
=>反過來想才能避免落入各式各樣的心理陷阱。

3.公司經營：
巴菲特堅持提醒經營華盛頓郵報的葛蘭姆家族：公司規模並不是目標，股東權益報酬率才是目標。
=>只為了擴大公司規模的投資，不見得對股東有益。

4.貪婪VS恐懼：
購買股票的多數人關心的不是因為一項投資真正有價值，所以買進「持有」，而是在大眾心理因素的影響下、三個月或一年內市場所評估的價值。
福特基金會總裁於1967年投機熱潮時所說：我們有個初步印象是，相較於輕率或過度承擔風險，長期的謹慎帶給我們學院和大學的代價更高。

每次空頭市場時，基金經理人會等待直到前景明朗才會進場。但未來從來就不會明朗，為了一個令人高興的共識意見，你得在股票市場上付出非常高的代價，不確定性確實是價值投資家長期的朋友。


5.蒙格認為巴菲特的方法絕對能學習，然而「請別誤會，我不認為數萬人可以做得跟他一樣好，但比起用別的方法，數十萬人可以做得相當好，甚至好上許多，不過這件事存在雙重性。」
雙重性的一部分是人們常把「簡單」和「容易」混為一談。巴菲特的方法論明確易懂，也就是「簡單」的意思，但簡單並不代表容易執行。衡量可口可樂這樣的公司需要多年經驗累積而成的智慧，但還是有強烈的主觀因素。波克夏有位股東有一次抱怨再也沒有像可口可樂這樣的可許經營公司了，蒙格言辭犀利地訓斥他，「為何事情就得那麼容易，如果來個兩、三次，就能讓你的家人這輩子不愁吃穿?」
=>誤以為原則簡單的價值投資容易執行，絕對是模仿巴菲特的投資方法時，最容易犯的錯。