101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment: Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "Berkshire's historical outperformance has recently been documented by Goldman Sachs, hired by General Re for an opinion on the fairness of a merger with Berkshire..." (more)
Key Phrases: widely respected companies, emotional investing, intelligent investing, Berkshire Hathaway, Wall Street, Warren Buffett (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

One day Robert Miles showed up on The Motley Fool's discussion boards as "simpleinvestor" and began a series of posts entitled "101 Reasons to Own Berkshire Hathaway." The result: 101 Reasons to Own the World's Greatest Investment. If you've ever considered buying shares of BRK.A or BRK.B, then definitely buy this book. If not, then you might want to consider getting a copy anyway, as Miles clearly demonstrates why Berkshire Hathaway is one of the best investments going. --Harry C. Edwards

Review

"People that thought Buffett had lost it last year now think he's brilliant". -- USA Today

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 9, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 047141123X
• ISBN-13: 978-0471411239
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,405,696 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Wiley wilts., May 20, 2001

By	E. Basham "edbash" (Texas USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I first read this book (not knowing at the time that it would be a book) as a series of email articles on the Motley Fool online discussion group. At the time, I appreciated Miles' energy in writing such a long series of articles. Then, as now, occasional thought-provoking nuggets appear within the general background of evangelical enthusiasm. However, there are better books about Berkshire and Buffett.

Spoiling what might have been decent book is the atrocious editing by the publisher, John Wiley. I do not remember ever having read a book that was this poorly edited. While we forgive the mistakes in emails, there is no excuse for a published book to appear with the same sloppiness. Many sentences in the book have to be read repeatedly to decipher what the author is trying to saying.

Like the original email source, Miles holds to a very colloquial style of writing. The problem is that it requires a great amount of effort by the reader to understand what Miles is saying. Commas are randomly strewn among rambling sentences. No apparent effort is made to improve the readability of sentences. Negligence abounds in style and grammar. This book is insulting to the reader, and an embarrassment to Warren Buffett. Don't major publishing houses have grammar checkers (human or otherwise)?

Miles is a businessman with some good opinions and no talent for writing. I do not hold that against him. The mystery is why a prestigious publisher would release a book that had not been edited? Wiley should be embarrassed to be associated with a book of this quality.

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Rosetta Stone of Investing, May 31, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The World's Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons To Own Berkshire Hathaway (Paperback)

Not often does one have the luxury of someone so clearly defining the investment merits of a company and Robert Miles delivers in spades.

Security analysis and the study of investment theory should hopefully culminate in one finding and understanding the greatest vehicles for investment success. Robert Miles has made the investment process that much easier with his illumination of Berkshire Hathaway. I have probably read 90% of the material ever written by Warren Buffett or about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway and this is as comprehensive as it gets. This is not just a book about Berkshire but a personal journey that identifies and understands the key ingredients of a successful investor. Berkshire Hathaway's outstanding long term performance should lay to rest academia's fascination with the efficient market theory. I believe that any stock investment made should be measured against the returns of Berkshire. This will eliminate many investment mistakes, heartaches and be very rewarding financially.

Robert refers to Warren's annual shareholders letters as the only investment book and advice that you will need. They represent the summit of investment thought from the greatest investor who has ever lived. Geico, Washington Post represent Warren's "ideal" of compounding tax free as long as possible. Shareholder's evidently take Warren's long term buy and hold strategy of stock investing to heart as share turnover in the company is a minuscule 3% a year. Ten thousand dollars invested in Berkshire seventeen years ago would be worth over one million dollars now.

Robert Miles openly shares his failures and triumphs of his 30 year journey of stock investing with the decisive point his investment in Berkshire Hathaway. Ultimately, investing is a reflection of one's character developed over the years and Robert understands the traits of a successful investor and vividly portrays them in this book.

Thanks for the great book Bob.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The World's Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons to Own Berkshi, December 18, 1999

By	Eric Hartman-Birge (Alexandria Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The World's Greatest Investment: 101 Reasons To Own Berkshire Hathaway (Paperback)

This is a masterpiece! I have read many books on investing and money management, and this one tops my list. Why? Robert Miles breaks down Berkshire into an understandable analysis which anyone can comprehend. If you're one of the people like me who are fed up with getting ripped off by the fee based, high tax brokerage industry then you owe it to yourself and your heirs to read about Berkshire Hathaway. Mr. Miles explains why Berkshire will continue to outperform and also describes some creative strategies to live off your future wealth without incurring a load of capital gains taxes. This book explains Berkshire better than Warren's annual reports! You'll learn about the "hidden" pool of capital at Geico, why the General Re purchase was a home run, the huge advantage of Berkshire's cost free float, why anytime is the right time to buy, and why Berkshire continually smashes the rip off broker who is "managing" your hard earned capital. Knowledge is peace of mind, and after reading this you'll be smarter than your investment manager about the proper way to build wealth. Rest easy as your investment capital goes on autopilot....Even if you don't decide to buy Berkshire, you'll know the tough questions to ask your broker.