"i will only swing at pitches i really like"
-buffett
The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, the 8th largest company in the world, the greatest investor the world has ever known….doesn’t do much.
His daily work routine starts with McDonald’s and a coke. He drives himself down the street to a non-descript industrial park in Omaha, Nebraska. He has a completely empty calendar that allows him to sit in his barebones office and read. He reads from 5 different newspapers, company 10k’s and 10q’s, industry publications, and books. He makes no phone calls. He has no meetings. He may write a little. Usually wise, sage-like lessons for someone else like his shareholders.
Come lunch time, it’s more McDonald’s. Usually a quarter-pounder with fries and a coke. And then he naps. Upon waking its more reading. He estimates that 80% of his workday, he reads. Then maybe a game of bridge, which is played on a computer.
In essence…..he sits and he waits. Not for hours. Not for days. But for years. For booms and busts. For scandals. For crises and crashes. For the irrational depreciation in market value of a wonderful company, with wonderful management. Then and only then will he “work.” When the opportunity arises, he deploys capital and purchases companies.
Example
1962: After years of little to no investments Buffett watched as American Express, the credit card giant, got caught in the “salad oil scandal.” A warehousing subsidiary of American Express which held large tanks of salad oil was found to be holding sea water after a fraudster within the company rigged the tanks. The story dropped the stock price of American Express from $60 to $56 to $49 to $35. Buffett went to work! He put 25% of his cash, $20 million, in this single stock, buying 5% of the company. It was an investment that would later return millions.
Buffett gives us the ideal role model for patience and self-esteem.
Buffett knows who he is. He is completely authentic. He could care less what anyone thinks of him. He knows what he likes. And he loves what he does every single day. He uses each day to learn, to improve himself, and to have fun. And he does this not only because this is what he likes to do. But because this is what he likes to do while waiting for the right opportunity to invest.
Because if you are going to wait… you might as well improve yourself and have fun while waiting.
