Transcript
Introduction
“In the annals of investing, Warren Buffett stands alone. Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Buffett amassed one of the greatest fortunes of the 20th century. Over decades, Buffett outperformed the stock market by a stunning margin and without taking undue risks of suffering a single losing year. This is a feat long proclaimed to be impossible. By virtue of this steady, superior compounding, Buffett acquired a net worth of billions. Buffett's career unfolded as a sort of public tutorial on investing and on American business.
Buffett was aware of his role from the very beginning, and he nurtured a curious habit of chronicling his escapades even as he lived them. Where finance was so forbiddingly complex, Buffett could explain it, like a general store clerk discussing the weather. His talent sprang from his unrivaled independence of mind and ability to focus on his work and shut out the world, yet those same qualities exacted a toll.
Like other prodigies, he paid a price. Having been raised in a home with more than its share of demons, he lived within an emotional fortress. The few people who shared his office had no knowledge of the inner man, even after decades. Even his children could scarcely recall a time when he broke through his surface calm and showed some feeling. His consuming passion and pleasure is his work, or as he calls it, his canvas. It is there that he revealed the secret of his trade and left a self-portrait.”
That is an excerpt from the introduction of the book that I'm going to talk to you about today, which is Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist, and it was written by Roger Lowenstein. Okay. So I want to jump right into Warren's early life. Jeff Bezos says his great quote where he says, “You don't choose your passions, they choose you.” And we see that this is the case in the life of Warren Buffett as well. First, his family -- this is like a tragedy that happens in his family. They wind up losing all their money. And it says, “On August 13, 1931, two weeks shy of Warren's first birthday, his father returned from work with the news that his bank had closed. It was the defining, faith-shattering scene of the Great Depression. His job was gone, and his savings were lost.”