Warren Buffett
May 12, 2006
Chicago GSB Trip.
Dave Sokol was the "warm up act" ? answered questions for about 30 minutes, then WB answered questions for around 2 hours. Took us to gorat's for steak.
General Notes:
? On July 5, 1991, WB met Bill Gates for the first time and asked him if you could only hire from one school, which one would it be? The answer was IIT. Spoke highly of Ajit Jain, an IIT alumni. Only person besides WB & CM to be listed in personnel risk when they issued class B shares.
? Indian Investmnet is "fashionable". Money follows fashion and results on Wall Street. The US mkt is around 16 trillion, represents 50% of all stocks. Talked aout Korea ? companies trading at 2-3X earnings with good balance sheets. Better values in smaller markets. Capital Flows don't matter.
? ISCAR investment: got a letter last year. "if you don't want to put your business on the market like a piece of meat, we're the ones who get the call" got a letter ? "in certain letters character and talent just jump off the page". Charlie met him and liked his character too. Seller didn't like the price (they never do) but took it.
? Jewelry owner salary 100,000 per year "I don't want to make more than you" Tha'ts the kind of people they hire
? When an entrepreneur has worked their whole life on a business painting ? their fathers painted it, and they care, we're their only call. I tell them, "Your painting, your life's work can hang in the Metropolitan Museum, or you can sell it to a porn shop operator. He'll make the breasts a little bigger, and sooner or later a man in a trenchcoat will show up and buy it from him, change it some more and sell it to som ...