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Of Permanent Value: The Story of Warren Buffett/2008 Cosmic Edition/2 volumes

Andrew Kilpatrick (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"A heavy read. Literally" --The Wall Street Journal

"A surprisingly lively read." --Midwest Library Review

"The definitive story of Buffett's career." --London Daily Telegraph

Product Description

The book begins: "Out of the primordial ooze of dollars from a struggling textile mill called Berskhire Hathaway, Warren Buffett took some small cash streams from the business and, using investment wizardry honed during his early years working with limited funds, literally "spun" money through mergers and acquisitions. Those financial maneuvers jump-started unequaled returns on capital, which multiplied by the magic of compounding, created today's Berkshire -- an unimaginably large cosmos (and hence the theme of the book). "With the roll of the years, today's Berkshire is a powerhouse generating earnings at a breathtaking pace of $2 billion to $3 billion per calendar quarter with a stock market value of more than $200 billion. "This accomplishment, as it turns out, is of great value to more than Buffett and Berkshire shareholders because Buffett has arranged for his shares to 'go back to society.' This gift outright is the largest philanthropic donation in history. Ever." The book has more than 330 chapters and of the 1,400 photos, more than 100 are in color. Other features include not only a regular index but also a "Cosmic Photo Index" of all 1,400 pictures. The front cover photo shows Buffett in front of a NetJet fuselage (with the cosmos in the background). The back cover features an exclusive photo of the 19 people who work at headquarters at Berkshire, called "the most respected company in the world" by Barron's. Also, the work has seven chapters related to Berkshire's Vice Chairman Charles Munger, interviews with scores of Berkshire shareholders, a chapter about Buffett's trips to Canada, China, and Korea as well as a chapter about Berkshire's multibillion-dollar purchase of Marmon Holdings, a conglomerate of more than 125 "nuts and bolts" businesses. An interview with Buffett's physical fitness trainer is a highlight. The two volume set is contained in a Royal Blue case.
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Product Details

  • Hardcover: 1874 pages
  • Publisher: Andy Kilpatrick Publishing Empire (AKPE) (March 7, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1578644550
  • ISBN-13: 978-1578644551
  • Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 7.4 x 4.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 10.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #668,363 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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First Sentence:
Our of the primordial ooze of dollars from a struggling textile mill called Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett took some small cash streams and, using the investment wizardry honed during his early years working with limited funds, along with plain old stock-picking virtuosity, literally "spun" money through mergers and acquisitions. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
security analysis, deep throat, cloud room, fermanent value, annual meeting weekend, reinsurance division, permanent value, reinsurance coverage, reinsurance policy, reinsurance business, bond insurers
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Warren Buffett, Annual Report, Berkshire Hathaway, New York, Omaha World-Herald, Wall Street, Dairy Queen, World Book, Howard Buffett, Ben Graham, Berkshire Annual Meeting, Freddie Mac, Blue Chip, Buffett Partnership, Fruit of the Loom, Berkshire's Annual Meeting, Nebraska Furniture Mart, National Indemnity, Cap Cities, Bill Gates, San Francisco, New Bedford, United States, American Express, New Jersey
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The best book about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway, April 6, 2008
By Sidarta Tanu (Richmond, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)      
In my opinion, Of Permanent Value 2008 Cosmic Edition by Andy Kilpatrick is the best book about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway (which I also believe it is the thickest book about Warren/Berkhire, and for the better). It also covers important people around/related to Warren Buffett. Simply, this book is a must read for all Warren Buffett fans and all value investor.

First, eventhough this book is very abundant in information (i.e. thick), it is not boring to read. One of the reason is that the chapters are mostly short (and getting directly to the point). If you don't feel like reading the whole book, you can always pick the chapters that interest you. Kudos to Andy Kilpatrick for putting this book together and continue to update the story about the greatest value investor of our time. I also appreciate Andy Kilpatrick's (and Warren Buffett's) sense of humor.

Secondly, this 2008 Cosmic Edition contains several important improvements/updates. Some of the example:
1. Lots of awesome color photos (page 1117-1190, etc)
2. Updates on Warren Buffett/Berkshire Hathaway activity during the year 2007 and early 2008 (Business update, 2007 Annual Shareholder Meeting, Berkshire 60% purchase of $7B business/Marmon Holdings, Warren business trip to Canada, China, South Korea, etc)
3. A photo index on page 1813 (with 1,400+ photos, it is really nice to have an index for the photos)

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I do. I have read this book more than once (including the previous versions). I learn so much from Of Permanent Value, and I learn something new everytime I read it.

Below I added more detail review about the content of the book.

Sincerely,

Sidarta Tanu

=============================================================
Now about the content of the book. You will learn a lot about Warren Buffett and his life, and not only investing topic (investing decisions that he made throughout his career) but his life principles, family, and business in general as well. You will learn about his first job delivering papers when he was 13 (he filed income tax and deducted the bike as business cost), and how he build his first business (pinball machine business), created Buffett partnership, break it up (liquidate), acquire berkshire mills, creating Berkshire Hathaway as investment vehicle, and many other great investment decision/story that he made (Geico, See's Candies, Dairy Queen, General Re, Coca Cola, Salomon, Washington Post, Gillette etc)

Buffett concrete rules for investing are:
1. Never lose money
2. Never forget rule #1

I know it's easier said (what he say above about to never lose money) than done based on my 10 years of invesitng experience , but then again I'm no Warren Buffett.

In my opinion, here are the 5 strategy/skills that Warren Buffett uses (Mr. Buffett, please correct me if I'm wrong):
1. Intrinsic Value
2. Margin of Safety
3. Temperament (discipline and understanding Mr.Market)
4. Circle of Competence (knowing what your circle of competence)
5. Common Sense (which I think is the most important factor and encapsulate everything about Warren Buffett.)

You will learn that Warren is very good with numbers (calculating in his head) and memorizing so many facts and numbers. You will also learn that Warren is a man with a very good sense of humor.

There are so many things/chapters that I like on this book. Let me try to mention three of my favorite sections.

One is when Warren need to make a decision who would run Salomon ($150B institution with 8000 employees) within 2 days during their first crisis. There are 12 top-level managers that he interviewed. "This was the most important hire of my life", said Warren to the Columbia business students. The chapter explain his thought process of this candidate selection in detail. Warren mentioned that the good news (for the students and the candidate) is that he didn't ask what their grades were (laughter). Warren also said, "Somebody once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. and if they don't have the first, the other two will kill you. if you think about it, it's true, if you hire somebody without integrity, you want them to be dumb and lazy" (laughter). And he conclude the topic with this statement which I think is very powerful: "Pick the kind of person to work for you that you want to marry your son or daughter. You won't go wrong". By the way, he picked Deryck Maughan by the way for his integrity.

Another chapter that I really like is how Warren put the audience (of more than 2000 people) through Business School in an electrifying two minutes (The chapter about "Generics"). See how Warren answer the question of "Will developments in the generic brand area hurt coca-cola?" which is a very important questions. I'll try not to spill too much and take the joy of reading this chapter yourself but he basically explains in a nutshell (with all the details and numbers) how business and competition works (and using several other example like Gilette, Marlboro, Sam Cola etc) and how he convinced the audience (and me as a reader) that coca cola is considered immune to generics. He explains how one can save $500 for smoking generic brand (vs Marlboro) which is a lot of money. While a man will probably will only save $11 per year by not using Gilette Sensor and probably leave band-aids on his face and an uncomfotable experience for opting for generics/lower quality blades. And for coca cola, the net profit margin is only 1 cents per serving (can) while a lot of the ingredients cost (such as the aluminium close to 6 cents a can, sugar 1.3 ounce per can or 1.75 cents etc) the same regardless for coke or other cola company.

The third chapter that I like is when Warren is being questioned by CEOs about what is his best advice for CEOs/leaders.. expecting to get some standard answers like honesty and loyalty.. Warren actually didn't even touch those areas (which I'm sure Warren do think those are also important).. but what Warren actually said is, "Set your expectation low, and you will rarely get dissapointed".

I'll stop here before it's getting too long. In summary, If you are a Warren Buffett fans, then this book is for you. If you are uncertain, you can get other books first (potentially less thick book), like "Warren Buffet Way" or maybe "Buffettology", and if you like them (Warren) or want to know more about Warren then get this book. I personally don't like it at the beginning but as time goes by (and after I re-read the book/chapters), I changed my mind, this book is a masterpiece.

As a Berkshire shareholder, I want to encourage all berkshire shareholders (and potential/future shareholders) to read this book to know more about the person in charge of your berkshire investment. I also want to encourage all shareholders to go to the annual shareholder meeting while Mr. Buffett is still in charge.

Last but not least, if I have to sum this book up in a word or two, I would use the word "WISDOM" to describe this book, though I have a strong feeling that Warren will disagree with me and think that the more suitable phrase is "COMMON SENSE"
=================================================================
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Charlie Munger calls Andy Kilpatrick #1 Buffett fan correctly, March 25, 2008
By Frank E. Booker, III (St. Simons Island, Georgia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
During Charlie Munger's 2007 WESCO annual meeting in Pasadena , Mr. Munger was asked who was the number one Warren Buffett fan in the world. Out of the unlimited number of possibilities, Mr. Munger (Buffett's long time partner who runs Berkshire with Buffett) responded quickly "Andy Kilpatrick without a doubt".

Andy's latest two volume Buffett biography/Berkshire chronology is a work of absolute genius. A master of details and amusing anecdotes, Kilpatrick keeps the reader entertained over the entire odyssey of Buffett's life and unparalled success in the investment world.

Unlike other Buffett writers like Roger Lowenstein whose books have now become dated and stale, Andy Kilpatrick keeps us up to date on all that is important in the life of Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett.

The 2008 Cosmic Edition is a "must have" for all serious Buffett fans and students. Readers will love the color photos in this latest edition. Like "The Oracle of Omaha" himself, Andy Kilpatrick gets better writing about this American icon with every new edition. Kudos to "The Sage of Birmingham", Andy Kilpatrick !!!!
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Bravo! Insider's View of Warren Buffett & Berkshire Hathaway, March 13, 2008
Do not miss this 2-volume compendium. Readers are treated to insight and information about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway from `roots to roost` in a thoroughly enjoyable light read of this pair of 5-pound books.

The Cosmic Edition is a terrific capsule of the Berkshire Hathaway experience, Buffett's focused value investing, and his sparkling sense of humor. The 333 very brief chapters (of which I am still engrossed) and 1,400 photos cover everything imaginable related to Buffett, the BRK companies, managers, directors, shareholders, mentors, and friends that make up the world of Berkshire Hathaway.

At nearly 10-lbs, the 2-volume set was a great value. I am delighted to add this copy to my library.

(This 2-volume set could be a nice addition to any office reception area or medical waiting room. It is entertaining and informative, so perhaps your clients will not mind the wait in the future.)
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