Buffett Warren - Being Warren Buffet: life lessons from a cheerful billionaire

With gratitude to my Zaida Yankel and my dad, Bori;
and with hope and love to my boys,
Isaiah, Elon, Noah and Esha.

CONTENTS

HAVE YOU EVER wondered what it is about Warren Buffett that sets him apart? We know so much about the man and his work, yet the essence of his extraordinary success seems to have remained a mystery. What lies at the root of Buffetts remarkable achievements? Is it his involvement in the insurance business; his savvy with numbers; or because he is a value investor? Perhaps its just that he has been investing since he was a kid? Or, is he just lucky? However you look at it, none of these reasons alone reveals the essence of his genius. These factors are helpful pointers, but they are not the whole story. There is something that runs deeper, something more fundamental that underlies his mastery.

As a fairly young investor trying to understand and make sense of the countless investment styles and philosophies out there, something about Buffett and his charming and modest letters felt like home to me. Here was a man who seemed to provide the most obvious, simple and wise advice about some of the most complicated questions that plague any person thinking about investing. Coupled with that, he was enormously successful, humble and reachable. I was spellbound.

Yet, when turning to others in the hope of gleaning some insight into how it was that Buffett could actually do what he did, there seemed to be a dearth of understanding of the structure of the man that made it all possible. Sure, ideas abounded on the kinds of skills necessary to value a company, what kind of company he looked to invest in, or on some of his life experience, but nothing seemed to grapple with the question of what enabled this investment genius to accumulate wealth in the manner that he had. What set him apart? What was the foundation of this success?

Unlike Coca-Cola, Buffett has no heavily guarded secret recipe. He tells other investors exactly what he does and how they could do it. Yet, no one has come even close to matching his success.

Historically, very few investors have become extremely wealthy as investors, not as businessmen. Until now, extraordinary wealth has primarily been amassed through highly specialised life-long involvements in particular businesses or industries think of Rockefeller, Carnegie and Gates. But Buffett is different; he is an investor only in other peoples businesses.

So, what does he have that no one else has ever had? What is so different or special about this man?

Nowhere I looked could I find any real answers.

I was completely intrigued and I needed to understand it. So I set out to interrogate every word this man ever wrote, asking of every sentence: Is this revelatory of his genius as an investor?

Clearly here was a man with a vast intellect and not only the wish to succeed but also the drive and resilience to devote a lifetime to the pursuit. This didnt answer the question, though, because there are plenty of people in the world with far superior intellects and much greater drives to succeed.

What I began to see was that Buffett was obviously a lot more than merely an intellectual giant with an unusual investment style. But I still did not know what it was that made him so special and unusual.

What I came to understand is that Buffett has a magical combination of particular personality qualities that facilitate greatness. His good fortune shouldnt daunt us however; there are things to be learned from it.

It is not only the particular features of his personality but the uniquely choreographed way they come together and relate to each other to produce the perfect essence of what is needed to invest in the way he does. Whats most annoying is that this perfectly choreographed personality isnt choreographed at all.

Personality traits are embedded ways of being that are so formed and set that they seem natural to the individual in whom they reside. They are like deep furrows worn by water down a mountainside where the water habitually and naturally flows. If one tries to change the furrows by digging another channel, it doesnt take much of a storm before the water is running back down its habitual path. Much the same thing happens with the personality, which is the combination of character traits that provide the infrastructure for the way in which one deals with life. Its not what you are as a result of any particular effort, its just who you naturally are. The rain simply has to fall and it will find its usual path. This does not suggest that it is impossible to change; nor does it limit people to the exact personalities they naturally form. Its merely saying that we all end up with a particular personality that is our default position. And boy did Buffett get lucky!

What follows is a description of the different dimensions of his personality that come together in interesting and unique ways to create the perfect storm.

And what evolved on the path to this answer was a wonderful journey of self-enquiry. Buffett became the vehicle for my own self-understanding; and I hope very much that some of my insights will travel with you on your own journey of exploration.

If, however, you picked up this book in the hope of finding a quick recipe for success, you will be disappointed. The aim of this book is to explore how we can be ourselves and still benefit from an understanding of the essential features that make up Buffetts genius as an investor.

FOR THE RIGHT BUSINESS AND THE RIGHT PEOPLE WE CAN PROVIDE A GOOD HOME. WB

IT MIGHT SEEM a bit odd beginning a book about Warren Buffett and investing with a chapter on love. Making billions of dollars seems a bit more cold and remote than anything that could be explained by an understanding of love. But, for Buffett, everything begins with his relationship with money. It does not end there, however. Buffetts love of money and the way it spills over into the love of those who make it for him are important and unique because they have an impact that significantly contributes to his capacity to accumulate wealth in the way he does.

Buffetts consuming, life-long engagement with money seems more likely to be about love than anything else. The acquisition of money has single-mindedly held his interest for all of his life, no matter how much money he has acquired. Its the only reason he gets involved in businesses. Indeed, much of his waking life is spent in the pursuit of acquiring it. It seems to mesmerise him. He explicitly states that making money holds no prestige or excitement for him. If you compare him with anyone who has an intense life-long interest in something, such as a stamp collector or a wine collector, you will find that they love their collections in similar ways. Buffett doesnt accumulate money for its instrumental value; or for what he could do with it. He seems much less interested in spending it than collecting it. He pursues it just to have more of it.

So what does this all mean and how can we understand this dynamic as a core feature of his investment success? What is love and why is it relevant to investing or, more specifically, to Buffett the investor?