Over this period he recorded no negative year

It is from his hometown of Omaha in Nebraska that left in 1866 the first transcontinental railway line linking the plains of the Midwest to the Pacific. An omen. Only Warren Buffett only more watch the trains pass, he buys. End of 2009, he set 26 billion on the table to acquire all of the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway Company. Stroke of brilliance and a strong economic recovery for the betting now known as "the sage of Omaha".

Warren Buffett, son of Howard Buffett, broker, and Republican member of Congress, interested very early for the numbers and probabilities, he became an expert in the point estimate today that calculators are intended for the lazy. Young Buffett decides thus to calculate if the composers of religious hymns live longer than other humans and concludes with the negative... Decidedly, the boy had really no hobbies of his age. At the age of eleven, he began his initiation to the mysteries of the stock market world, taking to update the table of the ratings of the firm from his father. He acquired his first action at this time, the company Cities Service Preferred. Purchased for $ 38, she was sold to $ 40, too soon, because it then flew towards the $ 200. It was the first lesson for the young Buffett: patience is one of the essential qualities of the prudent investor. Indeed, did not recognize later that "much of the success in the management lies in inactivity, only most of the managers does not resist the temptation to buy or sell constantly titles"

He fell by chance during his studies on the book that would change his life: "The intelligent investor", Benjamin Graham. In this book, the theory of the "intrinsic value" was exposed to a company, i.e. its price as it is justified by "real elements such as its assets, profits, and clear prospects for development...". .

To the smallest detail

It is this concept central but very difficult to assess in practice that is going to structure the future approach of Warren Buffett investment. He was so attracted by this approach he decided to join Columbia University which taught Graham, not without having previously refused of Harvard, who still bitterly regret. He met one of his future partners, Bill Ruane, is set at length to his passion for the bridge, and obtained a master's degree in economics while at the crossing. It returned after his studies in Omaha to work for his father, who then managed the broker Buffett Falk & Company. In 1956, he launched a fund with a capital of $ 105.100 investment.

The story is running. Buffett was then twenty-five years. It may invest as he sees fit. It attaches a seemingly elusive goal: fight index Dow Jones of at least 10 every year. It will be on average 22 better that it between 1957 and 1969, is taking very moderate risks. Over this period, he recorded no negative year. The Fund made the acquisition of securities American Express (1963), or Berkshire Hathaway (1962), a textile firm in difficulty, which will become three years more later the holding company of Buffett. And with the success we know. An investor who would have placed on this rated value $ 10,000 in 1965 would have collected 50 million in 1999. During all these years, the sage of Omaha acquires significant interests, but little more than a dozen companies. Buffett is is indeed never disposed of the recipe that had made its success. Against winds and tides, long keep a handful of values that must be known to the smallest detail.