Worldwide Success

At the age of 77, the richest man in the world is worth an astounding $62 billion.  His name is Warren Buffett.  Also known as the Oracle of Omaha, he is considered the most astute investor in the world.

Even as a child, Buffett has always had an interest in business, and a great vocation for making money.  At age 6, he bought a six-pack of Coca-Cola for 25 cents and then resold each can for 5 cents, achieving a 20% profit margin.  At age 13 he filed his first tax return.  But it was at Berkshire Hathaway that Buffett made his fortune.  The company holds several property and casualty insurance businesses as well as several other businesses that have a sustainable competitive advantage and that are easy to understand.  The businesses achieve consistent profit streams by making everyday products such as paint, brick and carpeting.

As an investor, Buffett has historically preferred to invest his money in brand name American companies that dominate their industry, such as Coca-Cola, American Express and Procter and Gamble.  But in the last few years he has been scouring the globe for deals, and in 2006 he invested $4 billion for an 80% ownership in Iscar Metalworking, a family-owned Israeli toll maker.  Just recently Buffett took a trip to Europe, including stops in Germany, Switzerland, Spain and Italy.  He is looking for deals outside of the USA in order to diversify Berkshire’s revenue stream and exploit global opportunities.

Buffett takes a great deal of care when investing his money.  Known as an astute value investor, he only invests if the market price is below what he considers the company to be worth.   He is known for only buying assets when they are on sale.  Therefore, when he is buying people take notice.  In turbulent markets, a buy signal from Buffett in and indication that it is safe to get in the markets.

But what makes Buffett such an interesting persona is the fact that, despite of his incredible wealth, he is a very down-to-earth guy.  He does not flaunt his wealth, and lives a relatively ordinary life.  For example, Buffett still lives in the same Omaha house he bought in 1958 for $31,500.

Buffett’s relative modest living, simple language, and incredible track record has given him a level of credibility that is the envy of the investment world.  He is considered the rock star of investment, a person whose knowledge and wisdom about money is unparalleled in the modern world.  His name recognition is paralleled to celebrities such as Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt and Oprah Winfrey.  Here is what Marc Friedfertig, author of The Electronic Day Trader has to say about him:

“Outside of Wall Street, if you asked most people to name three great investors, Buffett is likely to be the only one that they can come up with.”

There has been several books written about Buffett, such as Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett, by Andrew Kilpatrick, who has this to say about Buffett and his Berkshire Hathaway:

“Berkshire’s biggest asset is Buffett.  His brain.  His personality.  He is the international face of Berkshire – a walking advertisement.”

The first biography written with his authorization and cooperation will be released in September.  Written by former Morgan Stanley insurance analyst Alice Schroeder, the booked will be titled The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life.

If you had a chance to ask Warren Buffett one question about money or success, what would you ask him?  Tim Ferriss, the author of the highly acclaimed book The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich created such an opportunity for himself by getting into the line of microphones available for questions from the public in the famous annual shareholders meeting at Berkshire Hathaway.  So what did he ask him?  You should really read the post in Tim Ferriss' blog for the full-course meal as he describes in more detail the interesting process of creating such an opportunity and other interesting tidbits of the experience of attending this mega event of capitalism, or what he calls "An MBA in a Weekend".  But if you are curious and short on time here is question that he asked:

“If you were 30 years old and had no dependents but a full-time job that precluded full-time investing, how would you invest your first million dollars, assuming that you can cover 18 months of expenses with other savings? Thank you in advance for being as specific as possible with asset classes and allocation percentage.”

And Buffett’s response:

“I’d put it all in a low-cost index fund that tracks the S&P 500 and get back to work…”

There are many lessons that someone seeking success can learn from Warren Buffett:  Only invest in something you understand; keep it simple; buy on sale; don’t go around showing off your financial success.  And most importantly, make sure you know why you want to become a financial success and share your success with others - Buffett is planning on donating his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

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