193 1, he just turned 1 1 and jumped into the stock market and bought the first stock in his life.
From 65438 to 0947, Buffett entered the University of Pennsylvania to study finance and business management. However, he is not satisfied with the professors' short selling theory. Two years later, he left without saying goodbye and went to the Finance Department of Columbia University to study under the famous investment theorist Benjamin Graham. Under Graham, Buffett is at home. Graham opposes speculation and advocates evaluating stocks by analyzing the profitability, assets and future prospects of enterprises. He taught Buffett a lot of knowledge and know-how. The talented Buffett soon became Graham's favorite student.
1950 Buffett's application for Harvard University was rejected. 195 1 year, Buffett got the highest A+ when he graduated from 2 1 year.
From 65438 to 0957, Buffett's capital reached $300,000, but by the end of the year it had risen to $500,000.
From 65438 to 0962, the capital of Buffett's partner company reached 7.2 million US dollars, of which 1 10,000 belonged to Buffett himself. At that time, he merged several partner enterprises into a "Buffett Partners Limited". The minimum investment has been expanded to more than 654.38 million dollars. The situation is a bit like the private equity fund or private equity investment company in China now.
From 65438 to 0964, Buffett's personal wealth reached $4 million, while the funds he was in charge of had reached $22 million.
1966 in the spring, the US stock market was bullish, but Buffett was restless. Although his stock is soaring, he finds it difficult to find cheap stocks that meet his standards. Although the crazy speculation in the stock market has brought speculators a windfall, Buffett is unmoved because he believes that the price of stocks should be based on the growth of company performance rather than speculation.
1967 10, Buffett's funds reached $65 million.
1968, Buffett's stock achieved the best result in its history: it rose by 59%, while the Tao? The Jones index has only increased by 9%. Buffett's funds rose to $6.5438+0.04 million, of which $25 million belonged to Buffett.
1968 In May, when the stock market was booming, Buffett informed his partners that he was retiring. Subsequently, he gradually liquidated almost all the shares of Buffett Partners.
From June 65438 to June 0969, the stock market plummeted and gradually evolved into a stock market crash. By May 1970, every stock had fallen by 50% or more than at the beginning of the year. During the period of 1970-1974, the American stock market was like a deflated ball with no vitality. Sustained inflation and low growth have brought the American economy into a stagflation period. However, Buffett, who was once lost, was secretly glad to see the money coming-he found too many cheap stocks.
1972, Buffett once again focused on the newspaper industry, because he found that owning a famous newspaper was like owning a toll bridge, and any passerby had to stay and buy money. Starting from 1973, he stole the Boston Globe and Washington post from the stock market, and his involvement greatly increased Washington post's profits, with an average annual increase of 35%. After 10 years, Buffett's investment of 10 million dollars rose to 200 million.
1980, he bought 7% shares of Coca-Cola at the unit price of 10.96 USD per share. By 1985, Coca-Cola changed its business strategy and began to withdraw funds and invest in beverage production. The unit price of its shares has risen to $5 1.5, a fivefold increase. As for how much money has been earned, this figure can shock investors all over the world.
1992, CMB Fett bought 4.35 million shares of General Dynamics Company, an American high-tech defense industry company, at US$ 74 per share, and the share price rose to 1 13 yuan at the end of the year. Buffett's $322 million stock half a year ago is now worth $49 1 10,000.
By the end of 1994, 1994 had developed into a Berkshire industrial kingdom with $23 billion. It is no longer a spinning mill, but has become Buffett's huge investment and financial group. From 1965- 1994, Buffett's stock grew by an average of 26.77% every year, nearly 17 percentage points higher than the Dow Jones index. If anyone invests $65,438+00,000 in Buffett's company in 65,438+0965, he will get a return of $65,438+065,438+03 million through 65,438+0994. In other words, whoever chose Buffett 30 years ago was on the rocket to get rich.
On March 1 1, 2000, Buffett published this year's annual letter on Berkshire's website-a heavy letter. The data shows that the net income of Berkshire, the investment fund group chaired by Buffett, fell by 45% last year, from $2.83 billion to $654.38+$55.7 million. Berkshire's A-share price fell by 20% last year, which was the only decline in the 1990s. At the same time, Berkshire's book profit only increased by 0.5%, which was far lower than the growth of Standard & Poor's 2 1 in the same period, which was the first time since 1980.
Buffett said: "We like simple businesses". None of Berkshire's profitable companies are engaged in research and development. The explanation of a simple enterprise is that "our company produces concentrated syrup, and in some cases it is directly made into drinks, which we sell to authorized wholesalers and a few retailers for bottling and canning". This is the comment of Coca-Cola Company on its main business in its annual report 1999, which has been appearing in every annual report for more than a century. Simplicity and eternity are exactly what Buffett excavated and treasured from a company. As a firm corporate acquirer, Buffett prefers to buy companies rather than sell them, and usually avoids those companies with large factories and rapid technological changes.
Buffett also doesn't like employees to jump ship. In the past 35 years, few Berkshire managers left unless he died or retired. Similarly, Buffett himself has not changed much, and food, clothing, housing and transportation remain the same. 1999, in order to donate money to the charity Omaha orphanage, he auctioned his trouser pocket wallet, which he had used for 20 years. As Buffett explained: "There is nothing special about this wallet. Its history can be traced back to a long time ago. My suit is old, my wallet is old and my car is old. I have lived in this old house since 1958, so I keep these things. " How much did the richest man in the world put in his wallet? "Let me see," he said, opening his wallet and counting about eight bills of $65,438+000. He said, "I usually keep about $65,438+0,000 in my wallet." Before 200 1, Berkshire's ROE was never negative, and it created a comprehensive rate of return of 29.5%. However, this kind of good luck every year is because of 9? 1 1 Missing due to terrorist attack. The company's large holdings of Coca-Cola shares and American Express shares suffered unprecedented losses. In fact, the company's own stock only got a return of about 7%, and its book value decreased by 6.2%, but it was still better than the Standard & Poor's index, which decreased by 1 1.9%. Berkshire's 20001annual report begins as follows: "In 20001year, Berkshire's net asset loss reached $3.77 billion, and the value of our Class A and Class B shares decreased by 6.2%."
Buffett founded Berkshire through some important and successful investment decisions. More than half of the company's net assets are attributed to the major investment behavior of about 10. Buffett almost always buys companies at low prices in difficult economic times and then holds them for a long time. In some quarterly investment reports, long-term refers to the settlement date or announcement date of the income as of the next quarter. However, many of Buffett's investment products have lasted for several years and decades, experiencing economic prosperity and recession until the glorious day. Buffett is a marathon investment master. When the investment opportunity came, he ran around trying to buy a bigger enterprise.
In addition to the value of Buffett's enterprises, stocks, bonds and cash, there are some things with greater value.
For example, don't be extravagant. If Buffett sends himself $6,543,800+a year, I believe no one among Berkshire shareholders will stand up against it. His annual salary has remained at the level of $654.38 million+for more than 20 years (no stock options, no dividends). He has the lowest salary among all the top 500 CEOs in the world, but he is the best fund manager in the world. He has been managing and operating Berkshire for 27 years and is the longest-serving CEO of a large American company.
There is a "big feature" for Berkshire shareholders: Buffett is your partner and he is working hard for you. He didn't use the property of shareholders to build any memorial hall for himself, no Buffett Building, no Buffett Building, no Buffett Airport, no Buffett Street, no Buffett Zoo.
Although Berkshire has made outstanding achievements and Buffett is well known, Wall Street still doesn't take Berkshire shares seriously. Few securities analysts follow it, and stockbrokers almost never recommend it to investors. Few media publicize it as a stock investment product. Didn't even mention the list of important blue chip companies.
In the seemingly ordinary annual report, there is not a photo, histogram or graph. Berkshire fans are very familiar with this kind of annual report, which is humorous, insightful about business and human nature, praising the managers of Berkshire companies, and lacking frankness in other annual reports. If Buffett makes a mistake in compiling the annual report, he will admit his mistake first. Buffett's annual report is very rich in literary talent, incisively commenting on the main properties owned by Berkshire and the huge assets invested by the company in some excellent American enterprises, most of which are worth more than $654.38 billion. These enterprises include Coca-Cola, Gillette Company, American Express, Wells Fargo, Washington Post Company, Moody's Company and Brock Company, which is a grand exhibition of well-known enterprises. These annual reports are unique and interesting, and the sparks of human wisdom can be seen everywhere. Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting is also very special. The global shareholders are about 654.38+00,000 ~ 654.38+05,000. These happy shareholders make a pilgrimage to the investment temple in Omaha every spring. Aside from the company's business, Buffett only spent 5 ~ 10 minutes at the meeting, and then spent the whole day answering questions from shareholders. Buffett doesn't like publicity, he doesn't like to publicize his personality, and his lifestyle is low-key. He described his rule of life as "simplicity, tradition and frugality"