World Famous Comics: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life
By: Alice Schroeder Publisher: Bantam Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Format: Rough-Cut Edge Label: Bantam Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 976 Publication Date: September 29, 2008 Release Date: September 29, 2008
Product Description: Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as “The Oracle of Omaha.”
Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world’s richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term “simple.”
When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.
Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer’s questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates—opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett’s legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people’s lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.
Subject better than the book. The world's most famous investor, Warren Buffet, is a riddle wrapped in an enigma.
The Snowball: Warren Buffet and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder details Buffet's improbable rise from Midwest obscurity to the world's most successful investor.
Although his investment prowess is well known, it is less widely known that Buffet is an odd person.
Read the rest of the review at http://acrinv.blogspot.com/2009/03/curious-case-of-warren-buffet.html
Thoroughly enjoyable and inherently useful I thoroughly enjoyed this book despite the 800 odd pages and minute detail. The biographer came across as extremely respectful yet at the same time with a clear point of view of this significant man. What struck me about his life are his focus, his simplicity and his values. Specifically, the way he orders his life e.g. if he adds an activity to his roster, he takes 1 thing out stood out. Besides that, the way he seeks out intelligent people to interact me and his attitudes and actions in terms of managing wealth are extremely insightful.
This book has a wealth of lessons not just in terms of managing wealth but life in general.
Nothing is a given! Buffett like all us humans has his faults and his positives. This book sieves through various aspects and periods of his life and shows how human the "oracle" really is. His wealth was truly raised in snowball fashion and at times it was susceptible to melting.
Of course we see him as a god now, but the picture of his walking in his home in pajamas and scheming to create a business atmosphere that he could be comfortable with is spectacular. His various follies were overcome by his ability to plow ahead. And this strength was derived from his belief that he could 1. think 2. make money. Otherwise his personal life was as frivolous as any average "Joe".
Fall in-love with Warren.
I know the title is a bit extreme but that's what this book does. If you're looking for an investing book, this is NOT the one. This book lets you into the life of Warren Buffett - his dreams as a child, antics as a teen, adventures in college, family man, business man, and of course investor extraordinaire. This book also lets you in to his way of thinking and introduces you to his many long time friends. There's so much more to Warren than mere investing. Read this book and get to know the man.
The Snowball I bought a used copy of The Snowball, biography of Warren Buffett by Alice Schroeder. The copy arrived promptly and was in new condition. The story is interesting to say the least, and since I grew up in Omaha and was acquainted with Suzy Thompson Buffett at Central High School, I recognized many of the circumstances and the people named in the bibliography who gave intimate details of their lives. I am enjoying the book, however lengthy it is, and it is taking a while to finish, but I am learning a great deal about the ways that investment portfolios are managed.
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