Karen Linder - The Women of Berkshire Hathaway: Lessons from Warren Buffetts Female CEOs and Directors

Contents

Copyright 2012 by Karen Linder. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Linder, Karen, 1960

The women of Berkshire Hathaway : lessons from Warren Buffetts female CEOs and directors / Karen Linder.

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-118-18262-8 (cloth); ISBN 978-1-118-22741-1 (ebk);

ISBN 978-1-118-24034-2 (ebk); ISBN 978-1-118-26503-1 (ebk)

1. Berkshire Hathaway Inc.Management. 2. Women chief executive officersUnited States. 3. Women executivesUnited States. 4. Executive abilityUnited States. 5. Success in businessUnited States. I. Title.

HD38.25.U6L56 2012

338.092520973dc23

2012004091

I dedicate this book to my mentors, both male and female, that guided me in building a career and running a business, and to my former students who I hope have learned something from me, either in the classroom or by example.

Foreword

This book is a collection of stories about the women of Berkshire. All are women who my father respects and admiresbecause they are good managers and good people. Ive had the great privilege of knowing all of the women in this book. These are stories for anyone interested in business, management, entrepreneurship, or just plain human drama.

As an only female child with two brothers, I never once heard the message that many girls of my generation heardthat the only career options for me were nurse, teacher, secretary, or, of course, homemaker. I was very lucky that both of my parents were supportive of gender equitylong before it was a widespread movement. In a 2004 Charlie Rose interview, my dad was quoted as saying, Wait until women realize they are the real slaves of the world. He initially said this in the 1960s, making a pretty forward-thinking statement for a man in a time when women were expected to stay home and bake cookies.

My fathers support of womens and girls issues continues to this day. He is the only man invited to the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit. He is a big fan of Girls Incorporateda nonprofit with a mission to inspire all girls to be strong, smart and bold. In his personal life, he surrounds himself with smart peoplewho happen to be mostly womenincluding his bridge partners, many of his closest friends, and one of his doctors. In his business life, a close circle of women function as advisers and confidantesseveral of whom he speaks to on a daily basis.

After reading the book, I realized that two women are missing, both enormously important to Berkshire and my father. The first is Debbie Bosanek, who 37 years ago started at Berkshire when she was 17 years old. She has been my dads assistant for over 18 years. Debbie is the gatekeeper: She screens the mail, keeps his calendar, organizes his travel, and manages the administrative functions in the office, all while the phone is ringing off the hook. She knows everything about him: what and how he thinks about various topics, what he will eat (and, more likely, wont eat), what he will sign, what hell say yes to, and what hell say no to. In all the years Ive known her, Ive never seen her rattled, impatient, or angry. To all of the many people from around the world who call the office each day, Debbie is the voice of Berkshire Hathaway. And there could be no better personman or womanin that job. My dad says that the directors and managers of Berkshiremen and womenlike Debbie better than they like him. He says that there isnt anything she cant do.

The second Woman of Berkshire is the Woman of Berkshire: My mother. My father freely admits that there would be no Berkshire Hathaway if he had married someone else. My dad was a self-described mess when they got married. He credits her with changing his life. Its probably not an exaggeration to say she saved his life. When I told him I was going to do the foreword for this book and talk about Mom, he said again, I learned as much from her as anyone. My mother described her role in my fathers life as the watering can to his flower. That my mother could see my fatheran aspiring but nerdy businessman with low self-esteemas a flower is a testament to her vision and her faith in the human spirit. That my dad allowed himself to be watered is a testament to his ability to recognize that he was safe with her and could trust this woman with his transformation. My dad came into the world as a mathematical genius: He sees the world in odds, percentages, and numbers (and of course dollars). My mother is the one who taught him how to be a human beingto love and be loved. Her influence made him a better man in business and in life. Until the day she died, my dad relied on my mother for advice, counsel, and support in every aspect of his lifeincluding Berkshire Hathaway.

Today this book highlights nine talented women who have helped build Berkshire into the successful company that it is. It is important to recognize their contributions. It is my hopeand that of my fatherthat in the future a book about the women of Berkshire Hathaway will become irrelevant, as the number of women directors and managers grows. And it surely will.

Susie Buffett

Chair of the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Sherwood Foundation

Acknowledgments

Thank you to the womenand one manwho generously agreed to be interviewed for the chapters in this book. You are an inspiration to us all.