maxprogram

I just launched a digital archive of all Buffett's letters to shareholders. I think the Buffett/Berkshire fans here could get a lot of value from it: http://berkshireletters.com All letters from 1965-2022 are there. More importantly, you can search the letters semantically (by meaning, not just keyword). So you could search "what's a moat" and see where Buffett discusses this. This was designed for and tested with the folks at Berkshire -- and Warren himself! -- to search the letters. Future additions could be things like annual meeting transcripts or other documents. Let me know if you have any questions about it or find any issues. Hope everyone enjoys! (Side note -- it's been years since I've posted here. Really glad to see CofBF still thriving!)

It's been many years, but from what I remember the book isn't very well written but does have lots of good info on his early years + methods. A bunch of now (mostly) useless stuff about the Tribune saga, but you can always just read the good chapters :)

See the book "Money Talks, Bullshit Walks" https://www.amazon.com/Money-Talks-Bullsh-Walks-Billionaire-ebook/dp/B002YKOXHU Lots of stuff on his early years

Glad you guys like it :) I actually only recently got my own copy framed. If anyone here has bought the poster through Amazon, would appreciate it if you could leave a short review. There are 2 good ones up there at the moment, but a few more couldn't hurt! (http://www.amazon.com/Years-Berkshire-Hathaway-Wall-Print/dp/0692448438)

One option for Canadian buyers: https://www.shipito.com/ It seems legit but I haven't used it so I can't vouch for the service. If anyone here has tried this (or something like it) with success please let me know so I can be more comfortable recommending it to others.

Just finished talking with someone at Amazon. Apparently, for FBA they will ship to pretty much every country BUT Canada. I don't know why, probably some strange legal agreement. Directly from the FAQ: So unfortunately it looks like Canadian buyers are out of luck. Maybe there's some sort of mail forwarding service I'm unaware of that could be used as an intermediary?

Both the books and the posters are sold through "Fulfillment by Amazon". I just looked into it and at first glance it seems they ship to U.S. only. I am going to call customer support today to see if there is any way to ship international.

Hey everyone, the poster and hardcover shareholders book are now available for purchase on Amazon. Book: http://www.amazon.com/Berkshire-Hathaway-Letters-Shareholders-Buffett/dp/069244842X/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A3ODHOECJIJSTW Wall print: http://www.amazon.com/Years-Berkshire-Hathaway-Wall-Print/dp/0692448438/ref=aag_m_pw_dp?ie=UTF8&m=A3ODHOECJIJSTW For the book, there are ~100 copies at the warehouse now but many more are on the way, so if stock runs out just check back in a few days. Also, below is a chart from a post I just published. It shows the cumulative contribution to book value of selected investments over 50 years. (More details are in the post.) http://static1.squarespace.com/static/552198cde4b0ae29d9efc86b/t/5567a173e4b0dc7d532585dc/1432854903217/BRK-individual-investments?format=1000w

I'll be making the poster & the remaining copies of the book available for purchase online in the next couple weeks. When it's ready I'll let everyone here know.

Is this from captive businesses? How did you account for BRK selling stocks and reusing this in internal businesses? Thanks This just comes from taking the investment portion out of each year's return and then annualizing the number. So not perfect of course but interesting nonetheless. The 9.6% number assumes investments earn nothing. I also estimated the 50 year annualized return if investments were put in 10-year bonds. Final result is 13.5% annual BV growth over 50 years. Interesting to think about but unrealistic as it doesn't account for reinvestment, etc.

Great, I'll post here when both are available online later this month. Yesterday I posted some interesting stats I learned from the research on Twitter for anyone interested: My favorite: Best return from public market investment: GEICO, added 1,570% to BV until purchase in '96, 7,119% including subsequent underwriting gains.

Hi all. This post is a bit promotional but I thought many on this board, especially those attending the meeting this week would find it of interest. A few years ago I worked with Buffett's office to release the "Letters to Shareholders" compilation book, which a lot of people purchased and enjoyed. At the meeting this year there will be a limited-edition hardcover version updated with all 50 letters. Because only 1,000 copies will be printed (due to hardcover cost & lower demand), price will be more expensive but I still think reasonable for fans. What I'm more excited about is the "50 Years of BRK" wall print (36x18") I created that visualizes Berkshire over 50 years. Data was obtained from many sources but primarily from a complete analysis I've done of the full BRK annual reports going back to 1965. The print will be $16 to shareholders at the meeting. I've showed to a handful of people and they all really seem to like it (see this short vid from Guy Spier after I gave Saurabh an early version: https://vimeo.com/123019888) Here is the full blog post with more details: http://www.explorist.io/blog/2015/4/28/berkshire-hathaway-50th-anniversary-print-book There's a lot of other data I couldn't include on the poster b/c of size, but hopefully I'll be able to put it into some other form later on. Some might be used in a WSJ article with their coverage on the meeting later this week.

This is what I was trying to say. If was just "brilliance" however you define it, there would be a lot more Elon Musks in the world. It's a combination of a lot of things. And unfortunately that combination doesn't pop up enough in the world.

Your friends appear to be hipsters or trying to elevate their social status by looking down on someone that everybody else thinks has high social status, or something like that. I think you may be arguing about different things. Musk is obviously incredibly smart -- he couldn't get to where is his on luck or salesmanship alone. But there are also obviously many people (in rockets, cars, etc.) who are much more technically proficient. Even if he is in the 98-99th percentile this of course is true. I think(?) Pretium was trying to say that it's not necessary to be the *most* "brilliant" in the tech area to get to Musk's level. That's why I think Munger's quote is perfect. Musk would be a terrible value investor but then again so are most people. To do what Musk has done you need: brilliance + a lot of money (obtained, in this case, from previous successes & salesmanship) + incredible drive + high risk appetite. I had a friend ask me "Why hasn't Bill Gates done some of the amazing things Elon Musk has?" The answer I don't think has anything to do with brilliance (Gates would easily hold his ground against Musk) but with the ambition & risk appetite (aka mild insanity). Howard Hughes fit this mold perfectly: brilliant, lots of money (originally from inherited tool co), huge ambitions, mild insanity. Like Hughes I think there are future risks with Musk but damn I also hope he keeps it up! (Though I'm not sure I agree that "He's so brilliant I'm sure he is aware of the risk of spreading himself too thin" -- I think his ambitions as Munger aluded to might eventually exceed his ability.)

Full corrected text of the letter: http://www.futureblind.com/2014/08/1976-buffett-letter-about-geico/