Warren Buffett
Investor and Entrepreneur
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- 27,99 €
Publisher Description
Warren Buffett is perhaps the most accomplished investor of all time. The CEO and chair of Berkshire Hathaway has earned admiration for not only his financial feats but also the philosophy behind them. Todd A. Finkle provides striking new insights into Buffett’s career through the lens of entrepreneurship. This book demonstrates that although Buffett is thought of primarily as an investor, one of the secrets to his success has been running Berkshire as an entrepreneur.
Finkle—a Buffett family friend—shares his perspective on Buffett’s early life and business ventures. The book traces the entrepreneurial paths that shaped Buffett’s career, from selling gum door-to-door during childhood to forming Berkshire Hathaway and developing it into a global conglomerate through the imaginative deployment of financial instruments and creative deal making. Finkle considers Buffett’s investment methodology, management strategy, and personal philosophy on building a rewarding life in terms of entrepreneurship. He also zeros in on Buffett’s longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, and his contributions to Berkshire’s success. Finkle draws key lessons from Buffett’s mistakes as well as his successes, using these failures to explore the ways behavioral biases can affect investors and how to overcome them.
By viewing Buffett as an entrepreneur, this book offers readers a fresh take on one of the world’s best-known financial titans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This ho-hum paean to Warren Buffett covers well-trod ground about the investor's life and career. Finkle (Lessons Learned from Leading Entrepreneurs), an entrepreneurship professor at Gonzaga University, begins with Buffett's upbringing as the son of a stockbroker and describes his first moneymaking ventures, including an enterprise that took in money from pinball machines Buffett placed in local stores while he was in high school. Progressing through Buffett's early career, the author discusses the investor's 1965 purchase of textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway, its transformation into a holding company in 1969, and the contributions of right-hand man Charlie Munger, who masterminded successful investments in Geico, Coca-Cola, and Gillette. Finkle outlines Buffett's investment philosophy, which includes valuing legacy companies over startups, holding on to investments "indefinitely," and collecting firsthand knowledge about companies before investing (Buffett invested in American Express in 1963 despite a recent plummet in its stock value because he noticed shoppers were still using the company's credit cards). The biographical background is well-researched, but Finkle's uncritical treatment frequently indulges in hagiography and brings little new to the table about the "Oracle of Omaha." The result is a serviceable if overly adulatory account of Buffett's life.
