Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist (Paperback)

~ (Author) "Almost from the day that Dr. Pollard awakened him to the world, six pounds strong and five weeks early, Warren Buffett had a thirst for..." (more)
Key Phrases: government desk, letter stock, Wall Street, New York, Blue Chip (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Starting from scratch, simply by picking stocks and companies for investment, Warren Buffett amassed one of the epochal fortunes of the 20th century -- an astounding net worth of $10 billion and counting. That awesome record has made him a cult figure.

This illuminating biography reveals a man whose conscientiousness, integrity, and good humor exist alongside an odd emotional isolation. Buffett also masterfully traces his life: his enormously successful partnership; his early, inspired investments in American Express and Geico; his companionship and investment with Katharine Graham of the Washington Post; his role in the Capital Cities purchase of ABC; his unique relationship with his wife and mistress; and his rescue of the scandal-ridden Salomon Brothers. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

By picking the right stocks and businesses to invest in, plainspoken Nebraskan Warren Buffett became the richest man in the U.S. In this excellent biography, Wall Street Journal reporter Lowenstein details the billionaire stock market wizard's strategy of betting on the long-term growth of a handful of successful companies such as American Express and Berkshire Hathaway. Providing personal glimpses of a very private man, Lowenstein unearths childhood traumas such as the tormenting rages of Buffett's mother and his forced relocation to Washington, D.C., in 1943, where, at 13, he ran away from home (he was found by the police the next day). Buffett's wife, Susan Thompson, a nightclub singer, walked out on him in 1977 and was quickly replaced by his mistress, Latvian-born Astrid Menks. Lowenstein profiles an emotionally guarded, "strangely stunted" Midas obsessed with work and secrecy, who seemingly derives little pleasure from his fabulous wealth. Photos not seen by PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Main Street Books (August 18, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385484917
• ISBN-13: 978-0385484916
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (117 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #66,682 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Financial Biography, December 12, 1999

By	S. Schneider (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Although few readers probably come to this book because it is well-crafted, Roger Lowenstein's prose is superb. This is a great biography. But readers will likely be disappointed if they expect a glimpse of Buffett's investment secrets by perusing Lowenstein's book. Lowenstein never makes the claim that you'll learn to be a better investor by reading BUFFETT. In fact, it appears to be Lowenstein's essential thesis that it is Buffett's firmness of character, as much as his intellectual acumen, which makes him such a fine investor. Whatever one might think of Buffett, it is a rare pleasure to find so well-written and thoughtful a book as Lowenstein's biography amongst the sensationalized and poorly edited biographies of late.

32 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great reading - but only for those interested in business, December 31, 2001

By	Mr Tri I Suseno (Winthrop, WA Australia) - See all my reviews

"Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike", Warren Buffett's teacher, Benjamin Graham, once wrote.

This book is a fantastic biography of Warren Buffett. I think anyone who wants to learn about Warren Buffett or his investment techniques etc should first read this book before anything else (including his essays).

This book is written time-chronogically, from the time around the early 1930s (Buffett was born in August 1930) to around 1994. Here we can observe how Buffett had a great desire to be rich since he was young, but in his teen years, after being involved in several business ventures, he longed for a method which is more consistent in making money.

Meeting Benjamin Graham when he was 19/20 years old solved this longing for Buffett. He became a devoted investor in businesses since then. After working under Graham for several years, Buffett began a partnership (noticed how confident he was, despite his young age, to be successful) when he was 26 years old (in 1956) and achieved a 29.4% compounded annual return in the fund (he dissolved the partnership in 1969). During these 14 years, Buffett learnt which businesses (like those possessing customer franchise - Buffett called these with "Deep moats around the castles") were better than others. He dissolved his partnership in 1969 as he deemed the market to be very overvalued then.

From then on, he used the lessons he had learnt to purchase great businesses at reasonable (or cheap) prices, such as Nebraska Furniture Mart, Washington Post, Cap Cities, etc.

To fully enjoy this book, the reader should stop at certain chapters, and read other - yes, other - related books. For instance, around after I had finished reading chapter 3, 'Graham', I read Ben Graham's 'Intelligent Investor'. Also, when Phil Fisher was mentioned as one of the strongest influencers in Buffett's life, I read his book 'Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits'. The readers can get more insights from reading it this way.

Mr. Lowenstein also took excursions when discussing Buffett to go through discussions about certain business characteristics, to ensure that the readers can fully appreciate Mr. Lowenstein's perceived motivation behind a certain Buffett action etc. Mr. Lowenstein also helped the reader to be more knowledgable about key points about US stockmarket history through interesting dissertations. I found these excursions extremely enlightening.

Mr. Lowenstein's writing style is also very 'flowing' - he changed from one topic to another in a very smooth way. You've got to read it to understand what I'm saying.

Lastly, I just want to say that the readers should have at least a moderate-to-strong knowledge and interest in business (and investing; but business = investing and investing = business) to fully appreciate this book. Enjoy!

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A REVELATION, March 9, 2003

By	"robazzzz" (South Africa) - See all my reviews

For me this was the best of about 6 stock market investment books I bought after selecting from a list of books touted by Morningstar.com as good reading. I read this book straight after reading Ban Grahams book, The Intelligent Investor.

The latter is regarded as essential reading for security analysts, money managers, etc. but I found it relatively heavy going. Seeing Ben Graham was Warren Buffett's inspiration I thought it better to read this first before moving onto Roger Lowenstein's book about Buffett.

Here, I saved the best until last because this book is mind blowing, even though all the principles espoused by the great Ben Graham are detailed in Roger Lowenstein's book. Therein lies the difference - this book is easy to read & Ben's principles, which Warren Buffett endorses, are put in a perspective, which hit you immediately between the eyes-just like a revelation.

The first few chapters I found a bit tedious but once I had past these, the book was riveting. Whilst a biography, it has plenty of "how to" investment information & will certainly make you into a bettor stock market investor. It is the best book one can read if you have not done any investing in stocks yet-merely to avoid the mistakes & bad habits other stock investors have made & I speak for myself.

One understands how Buffet avoided the Dot.com crash & why. Possibly the most interesting thing for me is that Buffet believes that NO ONE can call the market. He says its silly to rely on investment strategies like buying shares on a Monday is better than a Friday & that investing in small caps in December will likely reap you a fortune. And you should watch out for October. Whilst the latter comments are trite, there are huge numbers of books written exclusively about investment cycles & when to make calls - this book puts that technical stuff into perspective & for me this was tremendously thought provoking.

I first read this book in December of 2001 when the tech. stock boom was on the wane. I was a committed "growth" investor until I read this book. I am now unashamedly a "value" investor. This book has completely changed the way I have thought about stock market investments & I am intensely relieved to have come across it before making more baseless investment decisions.

I have read this book three times. I have since read about four other books on Warren Buffett's investment "styles" & this one is still the best.