What I learned from reading Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein.
In the annals of investing, Warren Buffet stands alone.
Starting from scratch.
Simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Buffett amassed one of the greatest fortunes of the 20th century.
Over decades, Buffett outperformed the stock market by a stunning margin, and without taking undue risks of suffering a single losing year.
This is a feat long proclaimed to be impossible.
By virtue of the steady, superior compounding, Buffett acquired a net worth of billions.
Buffett's career unfolded as a sort of public tutorial on investing and on american business.
Buffet was aware of his role from the very beginning, and he nurtured a curious habit of chronicling his escapades even as he lived them, where finance was so forbiddingly complex, Buffett could explain it like a general store clerk discussing the weather.
His talent sprang from his unrivaled independence of mind and ability to focus on his work and shut out the world.
Yet those same qualities exacted a toll.
Like other prodigies, he paid a price.
Having been raised in a home with more than its share of demons, he lived within an emotional fortress.
The few people who shared his office had no knowledge of the inner man.
Even after decades, even his children could scarcely recall a time when he broke through his surface calm and showed some feeling.
His consuming passion and pleasure is his.
Work, or as he calls it, his canvas.
It is there that he revealed the secrets of his trade and left a self portrait.
That is an excerpt from the introduction of the book that I'm going to talk about today, which is the making of an american capitalist.
And it was written by Roger Lowenstein.
Okay, so I want to jump right into Warren's early life.