"Of Permanent Value"

Table of Contents

Book Profile

Book Introduction

The original English version of “Of Permanent Value” is very thick. The one I have is the early Chinese version, which is 25 years old. As far as I know, this version seems to be the only one in the Chinese world.

This is a biography of Buffett that is quite old. The book is very thick, and it may take some time for ordinary people to finish reading it; but if you are familiar with Buffett, you should be able to finish it quickly.

Based on various considerations, the publisher has obtained the consent of the original author and has deleted a small part of the Chinese translation to make the book more marketable and readable.

Content Arrangement

The first 2/5 of the book talks about Buffett’s biography, and the next 3/5 discusses all of Buffett’s early investment cases and Berkshire’s related companies. The last small part talks about Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting and the Buffett Foundation.

Reasons to recommend

The author of this book is Andrew Kilpatrick, who is a stockbroker who started out as a journalist. Since he has been a good friend of Buffett for many years, he has written four books about Buffett.
The first two-fifths of this book talks about Buffett in the author’s eyes. The author focuses more on daily life and interviews people related to Buffett from the perspective of a reporter. In addition, he refers to a lot of newspapers, magazines, articles collected from various sources, as well as his close observations with Buffett, and writes this book in a comprehensive way.
The content is plain, there are no difficult topics, the writing style is lifelike, and it is easy to read. Even if you know nothing about Buffett, don’t be scared by this big book like a brick; because the book is very thick, but the content is actually very shallow, it is suitable for stock market novices, or those who want to read it as a story book, as an introductory book to understand Buffett. It will be very fulfilling to read it. As long as you can read newspapers, you will definitely be able to finish it in a few days.

Companies introduced in the book

This part is the focus of the book. These companies are mainly divided into three categories, including:

Buffett’s core holding company

Buffett Partnership
Berkshire
Diversified Retail, Blue Chip Stamps, Wesco

Companies acquired by Berkshire

See’s Candies
The Sun, The Buffalo News
Nebraska Furniture Mart, Scott Fetzer, World Book Encyclopedia, Torch Company, Fitchheimer, Bolson Jewelers, Brown Shoes, Dexter Shoes , Herzberg Jewelry, Dairy Queen International
Omaha Royals Baseball Team, M&T Bank, reinvestment in American Express, Berkshire’s insurance business, Geico, McDonald’s, Disney, Capital Media Group, ABC, Willy’s Furniture, International Flight Safety, Star Furniture, $10.3 billion in fixed income bonds, Salomon, Travelers Group, General Re, Silver

Berkshire’s investment in public companies

The author sorted out some companies that have special significance and milestones for Buffett by era.

1960s: American Express, Washington Monthly
1970s: Washington Post
1980s: Time Warner, WPPSS bonds, Verdimer, Coca-Cola, RJR Nabisco bonds, Gillette, American Airlines

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