Carol Loomis is an editor at Fortune Magazine
who not only brought Warren Buffett to the attention of a wide American investing
audience through her own beautifully written articles in Fortune, but also became
the one person Buffett himself trusted to edit his now-famous annual
shareholder letters, which he writes longhand before getting her input in a
process that takes several months each year.
who not only brought Warren Buffett to the attention of a wide American investing
audience through her own beautifully written articles in Fortune, but also became
the one person Buffett himself trusted to edit his now-famous annual
shareholder letters, which he writes longhand before getting her input in a
process that takes several months each year.
Loomis has also been a close friend, not to
mention a bridge partner, of his for decades, and Buffett thinks so highly of her
integrity that he put the 2006 blockbuster announcement of his $40 billion
charitable gift to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in her hands a month
before the actual press release went out, so Fortune could break the news in a
cover story.
mention a bridge partner, of his for decades, and Buffett thinks so highly of her
integrity that he put the 2006 blockbuster announcement of his $40 billion
charitable gift to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in her hands a month
before the actual press release went out, so Fortune could break the news in a
cover story.
Oh, and she always asks the first question at
the Berkshire shareholder meeting, pulling no punches for her friend in the
process.
the Berkshire shareholder meeting, pulling no punches for her friend in the
process.
So if there were one person you’d like to see
a Buffett book from, it would be Carol Loomis.
a Buffett book from, it would be Carol Loomis.
And although this book isn’t that book—it’s more a Fortune Magazine compilation, edited by Loomis, of pieces about Buffett by many people,
including Loomis—it still has plenty of insights from which any investor,
whether a Buffett fan or not, would benefit.
including Loomis—it still has plenty of insights from which any investor,
whether a Buffett fan or not, would benefit.
The best, not surprisingly, come from those
closest to him…for example, Bill Gates, who, in a 1996 “book review” of Roger
Lowenstein’s excellent Buffett biography describes the intellectual spark that
bonded him to Buffett the first time they ever meet.
closest to him…for example, Bill Gates, who, in a 1996 “book review” of Roger
Lowenstein’s excellent Buffett biography describes the intellectual spark that
bonded him to Buffett the first time they ever meet.
For sure, Gates is not much of a reviewer—he
called Lowenstein’s book “competently written,” which is like calling Copolla’s
The Godfather “competently filmed”—but
he tells us a few very interesting things about Buffett that we haven’t already
heard a million times.
called Lowenstein’s book “competently written,” which is like calling Copolla’s
The Godfather “competently filmed”—but
he tells us a few very interesting things about Buffett that we haven’t already
heard a million times.
And there are just enough of those, from Gates
and others, to make this book worth buying, and reading: the “model in his head
of the whole world” Buffett carries; the dice trick he tried to spring on Gates, who nevertheless figured out the trick; the way he structures incentive pay depending on
what drives each of Berkshire’s CEO’s businesses; and how he—an old-fashioned
knee-jerk liberal Democrat—challenges others to think about the world at large
(not just about investments).
and others, to make this book worth buying, and reading: the “model in his head
of the whole world” Buffett carries; the dice trick he tried to spring on Gates, who nevertheless figured out the trick; the way he structures incentive pay depending on
what drives each of Berkshire’s CEO’s businesses; and how he—an old-fashioned
knee-jerk liberal Democrat—challenges others to think about the world at large
(not just about investments).
As for the Buffett book we’d like to see from
Carol Loomis, it’ll probably never happen, at least in Buffett’s lifetime. But if it were, readers would be treated to
insights on Buffett one can only imagine, with the kind of sentences only Carol
can write—as these first paragraphs of one of her “Tap Dancing” contributions reminds
us:
Carol Loomis, it’ll probably never happen, at least in Buffett’s lifetime. But if it were, readers would be treated to
insights on Buffett one can only imagine, with the kind of sentences only Carol
can write—as these first paragraphs of one of her “Tap Dancing” contributions reminds
us:
Just in from Omaha and making a do-it-yourself
delivery, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett strolled into the downtown
Manhattan offices of Harris Trust on March 5 [1995] and handed two envelopes to
a Harris officer. In Envelope No.1 was
stock worth, gulp, $2.5 billion, Berkshire’s 20 million shares of Capital
Cities/ABC, being delivered to the company’s purchase, Walt Disney Co.
delivery, Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett strolled into the downtown
Manhattan offices of Harris Trust on March 5 [1995] and handed two envelopes to
a Harris officer. In Envelope No.1 was
stock worth, gulp, $2.5 billion, Berkshire’s 20 million shares of Capital
Cities/ABC, being delivered to the company’s purchase, Walt Disney Co.
In
Envelope No. 2, sealed and marked “Do not open until 4:30 P.M. on March 7,”
were Buffett’s wishes—kept secret from even the managements of Disney and Cap
Cities—as to how he wanted Berkshire to be paid for the contents of Envelope
No. 1…”
Envelope No. 2, sealed and marked “Do not open until 4:30 P.M. on March 7,”
were Buffett’s wishes—kept secret from even the managements of Disney and Cap
Cities—as to how he wanted Berkshire to be paid for the contents of Envelope
No. 1…”
Would that “Tap Dancing to Work” was a true
Carol Loomis memoir of her of decades with Warren Buffett…but as collections
go, it’s worth plenty on its own.
Carol Loomis memoir of her of decades with Warren Buffett…but as collections
go, it’s worth plenty on its own.
Jeff Matthews
Author “Secrets in Plain
Sight: Business and Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett”
Sight: Business and Investing Secrets of Warren Buffett”
(eBooks on Investing,
2012) Available now at Amazon.com
2012) Available now at Amazon.com
© 2012 NotMakingThisUp,
LLC
LLC