The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “The most authoritative portrait of one of the most important American investors of our time.”—Los Angeles Times “Even people who don’t care a whit about business will be intrigued. . . . A side of the Oracle of Omaha that has rarely been seen.”—Time (Five Best Nonfiction Books of the Year) A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The Washington Post; People; Financial Times; Businessweek; Janet Maslin, The New York Times; Publishers Weekly Warren Buffett is one of the most respected men in the world. But the legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir or offered a glimpse into his intensely private life. Here, at last, he gives unprecedented access to his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. This complete biography of the man known everywhere as “the Oracle of Omaha” was written by highly respected former financial analyst and business writer Alice Schroeder with the cooperation of Buffett himself, who gave her thousands of hours of his own time as well as complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—and his files. The result is the fullest exploration of his philosophy of life we will ever have. Here are the principles and ideas that made Buffett astoundingly wealthy, enriched the lives (and bank accounts) of those who adopted them, and created the most fascinating American success story of our time. |
Contents
The Less Flattering Version | 3 |
Creatures of Habit | 23 |
Warren Whats Wrong? | 30 |
The Bathtub Steeplechase | 41 |
Armistice Day | 49 |
A Thousand Ways | 55 |
Inky Fingers | 62 |
True Crime Stories | 80 |
How Not to Run a Public Library | 356 |
And Then What? | 389 |
Pharaoh | 407 |
Rose | 418 |
Call the Tow Truck | 429 |
Rubicon | 436 |
White Nights | 458 |
ThumbSucking and | 473 |
Silent Sales | 88 |
The Rules of the Racetrack | 97 |
The Interview | 113 |
Mount Everest | 126 |
Miss Nebraska | 136 |
Stage Fright | 146 |
GrahamNewman | 159 |
The Side to Play | 170 |
The Omaha Club | 197 |
The Locomotive | 203 |
The Windmill War | 213 |
Folly | 229 |
Dry Tinder | 242 |
What a Worsted Is | 250 |
Jet Jack | 256 |
The Scaffold Sways the Future | 264 |
Easy Safe Profitable and Pleasant | 271 |
The Unwinding | 279 |
Candy Harry | 295 |
The Sun | 306 |
Two Drowned Rats | 316 |
Newshound | 323 |
Spaghetti Western | 332 |
The Giant | 342 |
The Angry Gods | 505 |
The Lottery | 521 |
To Hell with the Bear | 540 |
Chickenfeed | 554 |
PART SIX Claim Checks | 569 |
The Genie | 571 |
Semicolon | 573 |
The Last Kay Party | 582 |
By the Rich for the Rich | 589 |
Oracle | 601 |
Buffetted | 615 |
Winter | 624 |
Frozen Coke | 629 |
The Seventh Fire | 639 |
Claim Checks | 654 |
The Crisis | 671 |
The Snowball | 702 |
Notes | 709 |
A Personal Note About Research | 787 |
Photo Credits and Permissions | 789 |
Acknowledgments | 791 |
| 795 | |
| 807 | |
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Common terms and phrases
American Express asked Astrid bank began Ben Graham Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire's Bill Blue Chip Blue Chip Stamps bonds bought Boys Town Buffett and Munger Byrne called capital cash Charlie Munger Coca-Cola deal Deryck Maughan dollars Doris earnings employees father felt firm friends fund gave GEICO going Graham Graham-Newman Gutfreund Howard Howard Buffett Howie idea interest Interview investment investors John Gutfreund Katharine Graham kids knew later Leila letter living looked Meriwether million mother Mozer National Indemnity Nebraska never newspaper Omaha World-Herald partners partnership percent Peter Peter Buffett profits Ruane Salomon says Schloss sell share sold started story Sun Valley Susie Buffett Susie Jr Susie's talk things thought told took trading Wall Street Walter Schloss wanted Warren Buffett Washington Post Wesco wrote York
