The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

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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.

Customer Reviews: Read 98 more reviews...

5 out of 5 stars

The New De Facto Buffett Biography September 29, 2008
173 out of 188 found this review helpful

Alice Schroeder has done a wonderful job parsing the incredibly interesting and complex life of one of the world's true, living legends.

This should become the tome to site for all things Buffett. It is thorough, examining his family history, his father's career, and details of his youthful adventures; which in many instances, went well over the moral line he now teaches people to steer away from. The hardships suffered by close family members of the financial, psychological, and personal variety are honestly portrayed through the biography, as are details of the complex relationships he has had with women throughout his life.

For students of business and investment, the book details clearly the growth of his business knowledge early on and the success of his many investment partnerships. Alice details the countless problems he experienced once owning Berkshire Hathaway and the businesses that were later rolled in to create the present Berkshire. The details of his many acquisitions highlight his unique intelligence, as well as the intellect of his contemporaries, who in-fact were first to discover many of the corporate gems he acquired over the years. His collaboration with other investment managers proved vital to his success, contrary to much of what has been said elsewhere. Lastly, flaws are exposed in his investment acumen numerous times with regard to operations of target companies, and his early judgment in management teams. The very fact that he has been so successful, even given these errors, is testament to his unique abilities as a businessman.

The book highlights Buffett's amazing focus and zest for life. His relationships and personal experiences, which have never been exposed in any detail, have led to the unique character of Warren Buffett. His development into a great human being and quest to create something enduring in Berkshire, the Foundations, and his many "students", is wonderfully explained in this thoroughly enjoyable biography.

5 out of 5 stars

Valuable Insight into an Enigma! September 29, 2008
96 out of 109 found this review helpful

The title of this book refers to Buffett's likening life to a snowball - "the important thing is to find wet snow and a really long hill." Buffett certainly has had that effect with money.

"The Snowball" begins with a Buffett presentation to an elite 1999 group at Sun Valley, suggesting in a humorous manner that the ".com" frenzy was no more than a bubble. Then, its on to learning why his associate Charles Munger (an inseparable partner since 1959) is both the opposite and highly similar to Buffett.

Warren Buffett, we learn comes from a heritage of very thrifty small business owners. His parents initially struggled through the Great Depression, carried initially by grandfather's letting the food bill run at his grocery store, then by the success of his newly opened stock brokerage that focused on conservative investments. Unfortunately, his mother was somewhat unbalanced, directing frequent tirades at Warren and his sister, creating a lifelong need for the approval of women. Calculating the comparative life spans of religious song writers while in church led Warren towards religious skepticism at an early age.

Armed with his father's nostrums and examples, his early business experiences (selling gum, pop, magazines, refurbished golf balls, delivering papers) and stock investment (sold too early, losing most of his potential profit), learning that he didn't like physical work (helping his father and grandfather), an early meeting with the head of Goldman Sachs (Buffett just pumped $5 billion into the firm), and knowledge from Benjamin Graham at Columbia Business School (Harvard turned him down), he went on to become the richest man in the world (had $5,000 by the time he finished high school - equivalent to $53,000 today) in a series of interesting stories within "The Snowball."

Buffett learned a number of important lessons en route to becoming the richest man in the world. 1)Commitments are so sacred that they should be rare; allies are important; grandstanding rarely gets anything done. 2)Customer loyalty is valuable (bought a gas station across from one with established clientele - never did well). 3)GEICO had a sustainable competitive model - lowest costs, protected by limiting clientele to government workers (more likely to be responsible), ability to invest funds prior to use. 4)Looking at management, ability to maintain sales growth (Charlie Munger) are important in addition to financial data emphasis (Benjamin Graham). (This was an important change because the number of statistical bargains had shrunk to virtually nil and tended to be small companies which did not work when large sums of money were involved.) 5)Public often overreacted - eg. American Express hit by Kennedy Assassination + DeAngelis soybean scandal at same time = good opportunity. 6)Diversification was not a good thing, as long as investment analysis had a high probability of correctness and low probability of drastic change. 7)Corollary of #6 was ruling out investing in complex technology or human problems (eg. strike, layoffs, plant closings).

5 out of 5 stars

Awesom September 29, 2008
28 out of 41 found this review helpful

I've been up all morning/night reading this book. It is probably one of the best books ever written. I like how Alice shows every side of Warren Buffet- and Warren Buffet allows her to embrace his human side- which just goes to further show his genius. Alice has completed a feat that probably makes her one of the top biographers in the world and eligible of any award. What she has done is nearly as impressive as what Warren has done.

Clayton Williams
18 Yrs Old

5 out of 5 stars

Gem, Jewel and Masterpiece! October 1, 2008
22 out of 30 found this review helpful

Hi, My Name is Chong Beng Lim. I am from Malaysia. I have just bought "The Snowball" from the Kinokuniya Bookstore on 29 September 2008. Well, I bought two of them, one I gave it to another good friend of mine.

This review is a tribute to Mr. Buffett for willing to share his secrets with the rest of the world. My great compliments to Ms. Alice Schroeder for doing such a great job. The book is really a gem, a jewel, a masterpiece! I am honoured and privileged to read it.I fervently believe that by reading this book it will instill the life values of Mr.Buffett in every readers!

I have just read about 2 chapters. The reason I am writing this review is that while I was reading this book, I kept shouting, "Gosh! Gosh!" This book is unbelievably incredible! Even two chapters, I feel like I have got my money back!

In fact, I am reading three books: Hot, Fat and Crowded by Thomas L. Friedman; The Snowball; The Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I couldn't help but get hooked by this book as it contains a wealth of valuable advice, a profusion of Warren's Secrets and a breathtaking view of Warren's philosophy.

I have taken down a few key tips from this book:
i)honesty and rationality
ii) failures contribute to rules of success
iii)We cannot use our past experiences to determine the future
iv) The airlines and the auto industry have not contributed to the wellbeing of investors
v)humility
vi)carry your own luggage
vii)respect your father (Warren hangs his father portrait at his office as a permanent feature)

There are some more as the notes are not with me now.

The kaleidoscope of photos of Buffett also gives me an instant snapshot of the life of Mr. Buffett. It was amusing and yet unbelievable when you saw Warren Buffett shaking hand with the little girl, Ariel Hsing who crushed him in a pingpong match on his 75th Birthday!

Remember, you have to pay $2.1 million to have lunch with him! You can't even learn everything from a lunch with him. Thus, I am absolutely convinced that by reading this book, you have earned more than $10 million dollars...as it enriches your mind constantly, it expands your horizons literally and finally when you have read this Snowball, you will grow from a tiny snowball to a gigantic snowball that will shake and move the world!

And, your life will never be the same!

Bon appetit!
Chong Beng Lim

2 out of 5 stars

requires more editing October 25, 2008
20 out of 27 found this review helpful

This review is to balance off the many positive reviews in Amazon:
(and to apply an expression from Berkshire Hathaway's brilliant Vice Chairman, Charlie Munger:
"Invert, always invert".)

~
point #1 on Alice Schroeder's Buffett biography:
When someone asked "what factor did people feel was the most important in getting to where they`d gotten in life" (sic), both Warren Buffett and Bill Gates answered: "focus" (p. 623)

Unfortunately, focus is missing in Schroeder's wordy, rambling 960 page biography. A quarter to a third of the content could have been pruned. This book could have used a few more months of rewriting, with more disciplined editing. Schroeder's book was at least five years in the making, yet With the world financial maelstrom upon us now, one wonders its September 2008 release is merely opportunistic publishing.

point #2: To use a Buffett expression: Schroeder is beyond her "circle of competence" . Schroeder has a finance background. When reading this book, We see can tell she does not have any past experience on writing an extensive in-depth personal biography.

~
In contrast, I would recommend you also read the Buffett biography written by Roger Lowenstein. Although published in 1995, it has a professional writer`s mark of clarity. Regrettably, Buffett gave Lowenstein a chilly reception after its publication. Lowenstein may have unfortunately become shut out from accessing Buffett for a subsequent revision.

In summary, Schroeder`s biography is worth reading, but you should expect to exert much patience and persistence when plowing through it. You will find nuggets in there, if you mentally block out certain sections and read between the lines.

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