Buffett

In this summary you will learn

• How Warren Buffett became the world’s greatest investor and richest person
• What his investment philosophy teaches
• How he selects investments

getAbstract rating

Why you should read Buffett

Bill Gates, Sam Walton and John D. Rockefeller became immensely wealthy by developing innovative businesses. Warren Buffett became rich by picking stocks better than anyone else. Forbes recently listed him as the world’s richest man, but he lives in the same Omaha house he bought for $31,500 in 1958. He drives his own car, prepares his own taxes, wears inexpensive suits and does not employ servants beyond an “every other week” housekeeper. Buffett is a simple man with simple tastes. He likes hamburgers, Cherry Cokes and peanuts. Financial journalist Roger Lowenstein does a masterful job of reporting on Buffett’s life and explaining his straightforward, common sense investing approach without speculation, fancy charts or complex technical analysis. Buffett focuses on three basics: tolerable risk, a company’s value and its stock price. If the price is well below the true value, he’s interested. Buffett used this easy-to-understand formula to build his fortune. It must work: When the book went to print, Buffett had a net worth of $64 billion. Using fascinating historical detail and colorful anecdotes, Lowenstein explains how Buffett did it. If you want to know, getAbstract recommends reading this book.

About the Author

Financial journalist Roger Lowenstein worked many years for The Wall Street Journal. He wrote the newspaper’s “Heard on the Street” column from 1989 to 1991.