I've been a long-time admirer of Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway and one of the world's wealthiest people. He happened to be in Des Moines last week for the grand re-opening of a furniture store owned by one of Berky's companies, which I attended.
(I attended not because I cared about the furniture, or because I thought he might say something profound, or because I'd never seen him in person. Mostly I attended because I thought there might be a chance to have him autograph my copy of his authorized biography "The Snowball." Didn't happen.)
As I watched the proceedings, I was thinking about how most of the people there simply look at him as this super-rich fellow. They have little knowledge or understanding about his charitable work, his sense of humor, or his often Democratic-leaning opinions about investing and government policy.
Rather than try to summarize that here, everyone should read his annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. They can be found at http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html. These letters are not full of technical financial jargon. They are more like witty short stories on investing, capitalism, and America - and how people sometimes manage to gum them up.
Given his credentials, I'd think people would listen to more of what Warren Buffett has to say. In the end I suppose it's to my advantage. Let everyone else listen to talk radio and its blustery hosts with unsubstantiated opinions. In the meantime, I'll be following the opinions and advice of someone who is perhaps America's greatest success story.
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