The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life

Here is THE book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom. The result is the personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as "The Oracle of Omaha."

Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world's richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term "simple."

When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.

Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer's questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates — opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett's legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people's lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.

"Ms. Schroeder is as insightful about her subject's precise anticipation of current financial crises as she is about his quirky personal story." Janet Maslin, New York Times

"[A] fast-paced, precisely drawn profile of a man who, despite his high visibility in the financial world, isn't someone we've known much about." Kansas City Star

..."Schroeder's brave book offers a close-up of the same cellulite, but more fairly, in the context of a genuinely delightful character. Buffett might not like it, but this book has done him a very Buffett-like service. Twenty years from now, when the financial markets have forgotten our current trauma, and finance is once again fashionable, some young person will pick it up and discover that history's most legendary investor was not a cartoon but a real live human being. And still, somehow, deeply admirable." Michael Lewis, New Republic Online (read the entire )

The personally revealing and complete biography of the man known everywhere as "The Oracle of Omaha"--for fans of the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett
Here is the book recounting the life and times of one of the most respected men in the world, Warren Buffett. The legendary Omaha investor has never written a memoir, but now he has allowed one writer, Alice Schroeder, unprecedented access to explore directly with him and with those closest to him his work, opinions, struggles, triumphs, follies, and wisdom.
Although the media track him constantly, Buffett himself has never told his full life story. His reality is private, especially by celebrity standards. Indeed, while the homespun persona that the public sees is true as far as it goes, it goes only so far. Warren Buffett is an array of paradoxes. He set out to prove that nice guys can finish first. Over the years he treated his investors as partners, acted as their steward, and championed honesty as an investor, CEO, board member, essayist, and speaker. At the same time he became the world's richest man, all from the modest Omaha headquarters of his company Berkshire Hathaway. None of this fits the term "simple."
When Alice Schroeder met Warren Buffett she was an insurance industry analyst and a gifted writer known for her keen perception and business acumen. Her writings on finance impressed him, and as she came to know him she realized that while much had been written on the subject of his investing style, no one had moved beyond that to explore his larger philosophy, which is bound up in a complex personality and the details of his life. Out of this came his decision to cooperate with her on the book about himself that he would never write.
Never before has Buffett spent countless hours responding to a writer's questions, talking, giving complete access to his wife, children, friends, and business associates--opening his files, recalling his childhood. It was an act of courage, as The Snowball makes immensely clear. Being human, his own life, like most lives, has been a mix of strengths and frailties. Yet notable though his wealth may be, Buffett's legacy will not be his ranking on the scorecard of wealth; it will be his principles and ideas that have enriched people's lives. This book tells you why Warren Buffett is the most fascinating American success story of our time.
Praise for The Snowball
"Even people who don't care a whit about business will be intrigued by this portrait. . . . Schroeder, a former insurance-industry analyst, spent years interviewing Buffett, and the result is a side of the Oracle of Omaha that has rarely been seen."--Time
"Will mesmerize anyone interested in who Mr. Buffett is or how he got that way. The Snowball tells a fascinating story."--New York Times
"If the replication of any great achievement first requires knowledge of how it was done, then The Snowball, the most detailed glimpse inside Warren Buffett and his world that we likely will ever get, should become a Bible for capitalists."--Washington Post
"Riveting and encyclopedic."--Wall Street Journal
"A monumental biography . . . Schroeder got the best access yet of any Buffett biographer. . . . She deals out marvelously funny and poignant stories about Buffett and the conglomerate he runs, Berkshire Hathaway."--Forbes
"The most authoritative portrait of one of the most important American investors of our time."--Los Angeles Times

This highly-anticipated book recounts with intimate detail the life experience and life-wisdom of the man known as The Oracle of Omaha: Warren Buffet.

Warren Buffet, known as the Oracle of Omaha, is the subject of this biography-of both the man and his ideas. This great American story includes two 16-page black-and-white photo inserts.

Author Alice Schroeder was a noted insurance industry analyst and writer who was a managing director at Morgan Stanley. She first met Warren Buffett when she published research on Berkshire Hathaway; her grasp of the subject and insight so impressed him that he offered her access to his files and to himself. Their friendship and mutual respect make her ideally positioned to write the The Snowball.

Ms. Schroeder was born in Texas, and she earned an undergraduate degree and her MBA at the University of Texas at Austin before moving east to work in finance. She is a former CPA and lives in Connecticut with her husband.

“Life is like a snowball,” Warren Buffett once remarked. “The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.” Now, in the new book about the “Oracle from Omaha,” which is the first of its kind to be both a life story and a biography of ideas, readers worldwide have an unprecedented opportunity to discover how Americas savviest investor amassed his legendary “snowball,” a fortune that spans not only multi-billion-dollar financial achievements but also includes a wealth of beloved friends, family, and business partners, and a lifetime of sparkling experiences.

Buffett has also amassed a wealth of respect, drawing thousands from around the globe who seek his wisdom and have hoped he might write a book one day. Though Buffett never wrote a memoir, the time seemed right to look back on the “really long hill” that propelled him to success. Discovering a suitable ally in insurance analyst and financial reporter Alice Schroeder, Buffett granted remarkable access to his files, his closest associates, and his most personal memories of his boyhood, marriage, and fatherhood. His cooperation with Schroeder would lead to more than five years of in-depth research and would produce a book that, in keeping with Buffetts tradition of unrivaled results, is unlike any biography, business book, or family history you have ever read.

Unlike celebrities who hire ghostwriters to produce flattering tributes, Buffett told Schroeder that if she encountered conflicting versions of an event, she should emphasize the one that was least flattering to him. And by choosing Schroeder to tell his story, he put his epic story in the hands of an industry insider who would ask him tough questions about the hundreds of deals he has made. Along the way, she translated his business triumphs into a riveting series of deeply human narratives, telling us not only that the price of his Berkshire Hathaway stock eventually topped a record-setting $100,000 per share but also bringing to life the colorful cast of characters involved in making BRK one of the most surprising fiscal victories in business history. With equal candor, The Snowball reveals the emotional toll exacted by Buffetts devotion to his work, and the emotional rewards he has reaped through philanthropic strategies that have sparked a radical new vision of the purpose of wealth in the world.

Whether you read it with your book group or your investment club, your lifelong friends or your board of directors, The Snowball will give you priceless lessons in life.

The questions and discussion topics that follow are intended to enhance your reading of Alice Schroeders The Snowball. We hope they will enrich your experience of this unparalleled American success story.

1. Discuss the quotation that gave this biography its title: “Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.” What makes Warren Buffett better than others at finding and recognizing “wet snow”? What gives him the patience and discipline to endure the long haul? Describe the “snowballs” you have accumulated, financial or otherwise. What can you do to help them grow and gain momentum?

2. Buffett often refers to having won the “ovarian lottery,” particularly because he was born in the United States in 1930 and was raised in a relatively stable household. Was his success due to circumstance as much as to innate talent or personal drive? How do his work habits compare to those of most people you know-not just in terms of how many hours he devotes to work, but also how he spends those hours?

3. Would you have been one of Warren Buffetts initial investors? In what way did some of the qualities that caused him to be rejected (even blackballed from a country club) prove to be the very qualities that helped him create wealth?

4. Discuss Susan Buffetts legacy of deep compassion and social justice. In what way did her personality complement and complete Warrens? How did she contribute to his financial success? What changes did she seem to experience when she went from being Susan Thompson to Susan Buffett, then moved toward greater independence in California?

5. How did Warren and Susie Buffetts childhoods prepare them for the fame and opportunity that lay ahead? How did it affect Warren to be raised against the backdrop of Howards career as a conservative politician? What emotional hurdles did Leila set? How was Susie able to help him overcome them?

6. Discuss the guiding principles that have driven Buffetts investment decisions (the books index provides a helpful list, under “Warren Buffett/Investing Principles”). How many of these principles have subtly changed over the decades? What distinguishes his “cigar butt” strategy from the strategies of other value-seekers, or from the corporate raiders of the 1980s and early 1990s?

7. Why do Buffetts strategies adapt so well to a variety of sectors, from newspapers to insurance companies, and even the rise of new technologies? How did your predictions about the high-tech bubble compare to Buffetts warnings delivered at Sun Valley in 1999, described in chapter two?

8. Schroeder weaves business history and personal history to tell Buffetts story. What does this teach us about the importance of the human element in investment decisions? How did tips from Dale Carnegies class prove to be just as important as financial savvy when Buffett began targeting companies to acquire?

9. What traits did Katharine Graham and Buffetts other trusted friends share? What kinds of people is he drawn to?

10. Would you be content with a long-distance marriage like the one Warren and Susie had? What are the advantages of such an arrangement, particularly for spouses who have been married for a long time? What made Astrid a good match for Warren, especially at the time in his life when they met?

11. Discuss Warren and Susies parenting styles. How do their children compare to the children of other wealthy parents you have heard about? Did you agree with Warrens observation that many wealthy parents who decry welfare programs actually create a form of welfare within their own families?

12. What did it cost Warren Buffett emotionally to amass his record-breaking fortune? How did he recoup some of those personal losses? How did you react to his observation in chapter 58, “Buffetted,” that “the trouble with love is that you cant buy it”?

13. Why was Buffett able to maintain modest tastes, preferring a hamburger and French fries to haute cuisine and enjoying the same home, car, and clothes for years? What makes him eschew status symbols? What do you think the “purpose” of money is?

14. What does the story of Rose Blumkin, captured in chapter 44, indicate about succeeding in business in America? How did her business strategies mirror Buffetts in many ways?

15. What drew Buffett to Salomon Brothers? What does this episode demonstrate about the way a reputation of integrity can be made and broken in corporate America? Does the culture of your workplace have more in common with Salomon or with Buffetts office on Kiewit Plaza?

16. How familiar had you been with Berkshire Hathaway before reading The Snowball? Why have so few other corporate leaders had the courage to try unconventional approaches to growing a company, such as not splitting the stock price?

17. If you had been one of Warren and Susies children, would you have sold your shares in Berkshire Hathaway? If so, how would you have spent or invested the proceeds? What charities would you have supported during the periods of mandated philanthropy?

18. Were you surprised by the fact that Buffett approves of estate taxes? Do you agree with his rationale?

19. Discuss Buffetts decision to give a substantial number of Berkshire Hathaway shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the ways this decision inspired others, from all walks of life, to become philanthropists. What is the potential for the world if most philanthropists do as Buffett did, rather than building monuments to themselves?

20. How will you apply Buffetts wisdom in the closing chapter, “Claim Checks,” to your own life?