Jun 20, 2015 01:54 PM
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Robert P.Miles has taken the effort to physically travel across the country to interview some of the Berkshire Hathaway finest managers.
If Warren Buffett is the brain of the organisation than his managers are its heartbeat.They keep lifeblood.cash flow, pumping through the organization on a regular basis. Much has been written about Warren Buffett and the principals that made him the most successful investor in history, yet nothing until now has been written about his role as a manager of the diverse companies under Berkshire Hathaway ownership.
This book provides some penetrating insight in to one of the most important yet arcane aspects of company valuation, which is evaluating quality of management. Miles interview with some CEO follow- Ajit Jain - Ajit a very intelligent man charged with pricing super catastrophe insurance.
He says that I can take a deal that I have spent 10 days to analyse and give it to him, and in 5 minutes he is two steps ahead of me.Warren is a lot smarter, he has a lot more experience and he can make judgement calls.There is no dimension I can think of, where I am anywhere close to where he is. Tony Nicely- head of operations at GEICO- The most striking thing about Tony is that he treats GEICO as his company even with no direct share ownership.
The company forms an integral part of his life and when that type of manager is combined with a high class business the results are very potent. Lou Simpson- investment manager of GEICO-Lou has an edge because he is able to obtain differential insight in to a company which has not yet factored in to a share price.He maintains his edge by thinking and reading voraciously.He is in the office at 6 am and stays until 7.30 pm-that is a lot of reading and thinking, almost more than his competitors.He evaluates companies both quantitatively and qualitatively, he is interested in both the business and the people. Rose Bumpkin -once again the incredible work ethic shines through and it is emphasised that Buffett invests in people first and businesses second.
My point is that there was not a single negative thing was said, off course working in Berkshire must be very good, but no body can be 100% perfect.There should be a review of mistakes which can be as insightful as review of wonderful aspects.as at present Berkshire Hathaway has a market cap above$100 Billion surpassing many American business as Dell, AT&T, Gillette, Disney, GM, Ford and American Express.Robert P.Miles provides a unique look at the Berkshire Hathaway culture and its management principals.Overall a recommended read.
