The Snowball
by Alice Schroeder
The authorized biography, built on unprecedented access: Buffett's childhood paper routes and pinball business, Graham, the partnership years, Berkshire, the marriages, the mistakes, the philanthropy. It is long and sometimes unflattering, which is why it is good. The investing lessons are embedded in a life rather than listed.
Read it if…
you want to understand the person and the compounding of both money and character.
Skip it if…
you want a quick investing takeaway; it is nine hundred pages.
Three things you will actually use
- Compounding needs a long runway; start young and stay alive.
- Reputation is the asset you cannot rebuy.
- Inner scorecard over outer.
Do this first
Read the early chapters on his boyhood ventures; the habits were all present by fifteen.
Our verdict
Long, candid and absorbing.
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