Location:Home » Hedge Funds » General » Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett's Omaha: A Hedge Fund Manager's Dispatches from Inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting
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Avg. Customer Rating:(based on 13 reviews) Sales Rank: 106084 Category: Book
Author:Jeff Matthews Publisher:McGraw-Hill Studio:McGraw-Hill Manufacturer:McGraw-Hill Label:McGraw-Hill Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published) Media: Hardcover Edition: 1 Number Of Items: 1 Pages: 312 Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1 Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1
They come to Omaha by the tens of thousands, flocking to an annual meeting that has become legendary for investors, businesspeople, and fans of one of the most savvy capitalists on the planet. They come to eat steak, buy furniture at a discount, and bask in the brilliance of value investor extraordinaire, Warren Buffet.
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Hedge fund founder, financial blogger, and professional skeptic Jeff Matthews got his own highly-coveted ticket to the Berkshire Hathaway meeting held only for shareholders and their guests--and proceeded to post reports on his blog, offering tempting glimpses into the much-discussed meeting. Now Matthews delivers a full-length account of his adventures at this infamous financial hoedown. In addition to offering a thoroughly entertaining first-hand account of Berkshire Hathaway's meeting, he answers questions investor's are asking, including:
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Does Buffett's famed penny-pinching cripple his companies?.
Why does Buffet--a bridge partner and best friend of Bill Gates--not own any technology stocks?.
How does the extremely rational Buffett square his well-known social progressiveness with his lily-white audience of investors?.
Is Buffet really an "Oracle"?.
What information, insights, and ideas do the meeting's attendees pick up-and how do they put this information to use in their own investments?.
Will Berkshire-Hathaway survive his death? .
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Matthews also applies his financial acumen to harvesting potent lessons from his experiences that you can use as you survey the investment field, from finding how the world?s greatest investor evaluates not only businesses but the people who run them, to the importance of ?just reading and thinking? and the value of having a smart, cynical partner. With the dispatches from this exclusive financial carnival, Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett's Omaha puts you at the forefront of an investor's dream come true.
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"There are very few secrets to be revealed about a man who really doesn?t have many secrets. But this book does take you inside that secret place ? the Mecca of the Midwest. It?s very easy to read and full of classic Buffett-isms ? well worth the pilgrimage for those of us who don?t own any Berkshire Hathaway shares or for anyone who wants to learn more about investing from the man who says the first rule of investing it to, 'read everything.'" --CNBC.COM
What Warren and Charlie try to educate us? December 19, 2008 2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Every year, I read the Q&A of BRK Annual Meeting done by various nice people sharing their experiences in Omaha. To be frank, not all Q&A are that easy to understand without knowing the history and background of those subjects and this book supplements those history, ideas and background for newbie like me. Everyone will surely learn from that and this is so enjoyable.
Sometimes, I have this question come to my mind - `Why Warren and Charlie like to answer questions from different people on different subjects and share their successful ideas and thoughts with the other?'
Having read the Q&A for years and the book, I think what Warren and Charlie try to EDUACATE us their values towards money, life, friends, rationality, thoughts, integrity, giving-away, etc.
Years gone by, we could observe more and more talent value investors appears and found successful, such as Seth Klarman (I treat him as third generation). More and more people invest intelligently, behave more rationally and act positively. Warren and Munger are actually creating a group of rational intelligent people with handful gunpowder (money). To me, I think this group of people will grow larger and eventually change the world in way which leads us to a better world. It is a kind of cult.
Personally, from the Q&A and the book, it gives me the opportunity to stand down, read and think about the heroes/books that Munger introduced - like Benjamin Frank, John Rockefellers (esp. his Dear Father/Dear Son letters), Darwin, Richard Dawkins, etc. They change the way how I think, I behave. Thanks Munger for giving me the opportunity to meet these great men despite the fact that some of them are gone.
IAMNOTMAKINGTHISUP December 6, 2008 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Matthews, author of the well-regarded Blog "JEFFMATTHEWSISNOTMAKINGTHISUP,has written a very personal account of what it's like to attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. His pt of view is one of a brilliant hedge fund mgr/author who shares an appreciation of the intense integrity and social responsibility of Buffet, yet also points out some well known and not so well know contradictions. An easy read, in the sense of effortless prose, yet challenging in the intellectual content of the book. You'll love it.
Buffett Lite November 15, 2008 3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Matthews' book is a chronicle of his visit to a Berkshire Annual Meeting in Omaha. Details include his trying to change his ticket at the airport, the taxi ride into Omaha, dinner recommendations from the concierge, and a number of often snarky observations at the annual meeting site. Spicing up these details are a number of Buffett sayings offered with little background, mostly gleaned from various Berkshire Annual Reports, or those who have worked with Buffett. The supposed highlight of "Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett's Omaha" are answers to already well-covered questions such as "Why does Buffett avoid technology stocks?," and a few attempts at shockers - eg. "Buffett is liberal in his thinking, yet his audience is mostly white."
Suggest instead anything by Mary Buffett (daughter-in-law), or Alice Schroeder's "The Snowball."
What I liked about the book November 10, 2008 0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thought the most interesting element in the book was his criticisms of Buffet. He did it so nicely and yet he did it without holding back his punches. Again and again, he pointed out that Buffet doesn't follow his own advice and that his management philosophy doesn't always work and that he might be robbing the companies he buys by taking all their money and discouraging expansion plans.
Matthews on Buffett November 6, 2008 1 out of 3 found this review helpful
The Graduate Finance Organization at the University of Wisconsin-Madison had the distinct privilege of hosting Mr. Matthews for a discussion of his book. We are a group of MBA students who are passionate about investing. As such, the opportunity to have Jeff on campus to speak with us about the greatest investor in the world was a truly outstanding event.
Mr. Matthews' book imparts all the respect due Mr. Buffett while never losing the healthy skepticism inherent in a successful hedge fund manager. I think this is a unique approach as the book mentions not only Mr. Buffett's investing coups but also some of his less successful ideas.
Matthews also reveals some of Mr. Buffett's human foibles. This tact humanizes Buffett and suggests he may be less "oracular" than the media sometimes portrays. I suspect some who deify Mr. Buffett may be dismayed by some of these details but I found the approach beneficial and welcome.
The book provides a window into the Berkshire-Hathaway annual shareholders meeting and the tens of thousands of people from around the globe who descend upon Omaha on the first weekend in May to take in Mr. Buffett's wisdom, wit and good old-fashioned, mid-western common sense. Mr. Matthews' eloquent yet understandable prose coupled with his dry wit make the book an easy read while still providing fodder for the investor's mind. The book is filled with interesting ideas and insights while adding a sort of pop culture look at the world's greatest allocator of capital, making it attractive to a wide range of readers from those simply curious about The Oracle to the most ardent Buffettologist.
