Professor Bainbridge...on law, politics, religion, culture & food

Buffett’s Letters

Warren Buffett’s annual letters to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway are legendary in the investment community. They “distill in plain words all the basic principles of sound business practices,” as Professor Lawrence Cunningham notes in the introduction to the new edition of his anthology of Buffett’s essays:

This new edition has extensive additional content that highlights topics of vital national or international significance, including:

• the proliferation of stock option compensation and excessive CEO pay;


• Berkshire’s shareholder-designated contribution program and the controversy over the abortion issue that led to its termination;


• the explosion of derivative financial instruments and related perils and how Berkshire dealt with managing a sizable portfolio of them after buying Gen Re;


• the dramatic increase in foreign currency trading in the past five years along with the astonishing growth in the US trade deficit;


• management succession at Berkshire Hathaway as Mr. Buffett ages;


• commentary on his philanthropic thinking in giving his entire fortune to charities; and


• the fairness and other matters concerning taxation of corporations.

Here in one place are the priceless pearls of business and investment wisdom, woven into a delightful narrative on the major topics concerning both managers and investors. These timeless lessons are useful to members of a wide range of professions, including law, accounting, finance and management, and provide rich teaching materials for courses in those fields.