Warren Buffett's Ground Rules: Words of Wisdom from the Partnership Letters of the World's Greatest Investor

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 561 ratings

Price: 22.04

Last update: 07-27-2024


Top reviews from the United States

Matthew Morine
5.0 out of 5 stars Church and Money
Reviewed in the United States on October 27, 2016
I am a huge Warren Buffett fan. His ability to compound stock earns for the amount of time, and be successful shocks and inspiring me. Not that I have any hope, or goal of reaching his levels of wealth, but rather I desire to have the longevity of success in my personal area of service, which is ministry. This book is about his early letters to his partners before the Berkshire Hathaway days. This was when he was investing smaller amounts of money, for mostly his family and friends. What is interesting about these letters is his ethics. He is always fair, and honest in his dealings. He is always concerned with alignment of interests, as people will behave according to what you are rewarding. Some of the methods he used, are beyond my understanding, or level of interest in the general market, but some of his principles are excellent for investing. There are companies that I love, like Apple and Chipotle, and I enjoy investing in stuff I know and like. This keeps me from acting too much in the market, but it keeps me interested in the affairs of business. What is the best about this investing book is the lessons applying to ministry. Often people invest too often, but Buffett would say that it is best to have only 10 selections in a life, and this means that you will be more careful in picking them. In churches, there is a ton of wisdom in this idea. It is about being selective in what you do to increase your impact in the world or in the church. Select well. Also, know your field of understanding. This is a huge mistake in investing and church leadership. If you are going to swing at something, make sure you understand it first, and it is in your area of competency. Also, social proof is a huge influence in our lives. It works in investing, and typically we see what we are looking forward. Also, you are not right when the majority of people are agreeing with you, you are right when God and time does. So well, that is it, I would not read this book for church lessons, but you will learn them, but if you love investing and church, this is a great book.
Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent book
Reviewed in the United States on April 21, 2023
Good and easy to read
jcn
4.0 out of 5 stars Helpful and informative, but....
Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2016
This book discusses the ideas in Warren's earlier "Buffett Partners" investments. Most of these ideas are discussed in some of the earlier books about Warren Buffett, but a number are new and interesting. I found those sections very informative. Several sections provide detailed histories and analyses of particular company investments. These were well written and quite helpful.

Unfortunately, other parts of the book were tedious, repetitive, and therefore boring. The author chose to include small quotes from the letters to the partners in his discussions. He then provided sections with complete copies of each letter. While this provided a thorough presentation of the material; too many quotes were repeated too many times. To be fair an optimal presentation would be difficult and I have no better plan to recommend. However, as the writer the book needs a better editorial organization. I could barely get through the first quarter of the book. Some quotes seemed to appear four or five times. It was even confusing at times.

The book is a valuable resource, but difficult to get through.
Kate M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating depiction of Buffett’s early career
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2016
It’s clear from Buffett’s present-day interviews, annual report, and annual meeting that he is a gifted teacher, but Warren Buffett’s Ground Rules show that he was equally as generous an educator early in his career. Mr. Miller provides helpful context for the Buffett Partnership letters, and sprinkles in wisdom from other notable investors including Ben Graham, Charlie Munger, Howard Marks, and more.

Buffett generated his spectacular early returns through a variety of methods, described by the letters and by Miller as Generals (concentrated portfolio of undervalued stocks), Workouts (arbitrage opportunities), and Controls (what we might call activist investing). The book includes fascinating examples of each.

The workouts were highly and predictably profitable for Buffett and he estimated that profits were roughly fifty times the losses over the course of the Partnership. Interestingly despite this success, Buffett noted that it was the qualitative investments (such as identifying the value in American Express) that ‘really made the cash register sing’. Of course, these qualitative investments of high quality companies would become the bedrock of Berkshire Hathaway many years later, when Buffett was managing way too much money to seek Graham-esque cigar butt investments.

Finally, Buffett’s treatment of his partners (investors) was exceptional and should be an example for money managers today. It started with straightforward and clearly explained ground rules, continued with detailed and informative explanations of the partnership’s activities, and concluded with extraordinary effort by Buffett to guide his partners in their post-partnership investing.

Overall, this is fascinating book and a great addition to the Buffett literature.

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