http://undergroundvalue.blogspot.com/2008/02/notes-from-buffett-meeting-2152008_23.html Austin: Why do you think that despite making your methods publicly available, that relatively few people have been able to emulate your success? Buffett: I asked Graham the same question. Everyone took his class at Columbia Business School. He used current examples, and by the end of the semester you would have a portfolio that wouldâve made you money. Graham lived a life of sharing. He may have had more money hoarding, but lived happier because of it. The moneyâs just a figure in the paper, perhaps he wouldâve died with 86 million instead of 42 million, but it doesnât really matter. 90% of the people that took his class ended up doing something else.
Buffet does not talk about the real secrets on how to make it big in the stock market. He talks about one tiny piece of his machine, and leave the most important thing out. The 2 most important secrets he leaves out are....(I am waiting to read what others know before considering spilling the beans). Buffet if you are reading, you know what I mean buddy. You are one old smart one buddy. Why not say the whole and real story buddy?
I like these parts: Richard Branson is a marketing genius. He came in with Virgin Cola, weâre not sure what the name means, perhaps it turns you back into one What if you could buy 10% of one of your classmates and their future earnings? You wouldnât buy the ones with the highest IQ, the best grades, etc, but the most effective. Everyone took his [Benjamin Graham's] class at Columbia Business School. 90% of the people that took his class ended up doing something else. I was really into charting and technical analysis. I loved it, but didnât make any money from it. Tell me who your heroes are and Iâll tell you how youâll turn out to be. Gates says if I had been born earlier, I wouldâve been some animalâs lunch. I canât run, I canât climb. Iâd be talking about allocating capital and the animal would think, "Those are the kind that taste the best". In 1994 we paid $400 worth of Berkshire stock for a shoe company. The company is now worth 0, but the stock is worth $3.5 billion. I used Moodyâs and S&P manuals as my sources of information. I went through them page by page. On page 1443 of Moodyâs, I found Western Insurance Securities. It had earned $21.66 per share 2 years ago, and earned $29.09 last year. Over the past year the stock was selling for between $3 and $13 per share. Out of school I offered to work for Graham for free and he said I was overpriced. Reminds me of the story of the 60 year old man that got a 25 year old to marry him. When his friends asked how he did it, he replied, "I told her I was 90".