Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2013 - Softcover

Loomis, Carol J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1591846803 ISBN 13: 9781591846802

Publisher: Portfolio, 2013

Synopsis

Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway into something remarkable— and Fortune journalist Carol Loomis had a front-row seat for it all.

When Carol Loomis first mentioned a little-known Omaha hedge fund manager in a 1966 Fortune article, she didn’t dream that Warren Buffett would one day be considered the world’s greatest investor—nor that she and Buffett would quickly become close personal friends. As Buf­fett’s fortune and reputation grew over time, Loomis used her unique insight into Buffett’s thinking to chronicle his work for Fortune, writ­ing and proposing scores of stories that tracked his many accomplishments—and also his occa­sional mistakes.

Now Loomis has collected and updated the best Buffett articles Fortune published between 1966 and 2012, including thirteen cover stories and a dozen pieces authored by Buffett himself. Loomis has provided commentary about each major arti­cle that supplies context and her own informed point of view. Readers will gain fresh insights into Buffett’s investment strategies and his thinking on management, philanthropy, public policy, and even parenting. Some of the highlights include:

• The 1966 A. W. Jones story in which Fortune first mentioned Buffett.
• The first piece Buffett wrote for the magazine, 1977’s “How Inf lation Swindles the Equity Investor.”
• Andrew Tobias’s 1983 article “Letters from Chairman Buffett,” the first review of his Berk­shire Hathaway shareholder letters.
• Buffett’s stunningly prescient 2003 piece about derivatives, “Avoiding a Mega-Catastrophe.”
• His unconventional thoughts on inheritance and philanthropy, including his intention to leave his kids “enough money so they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.”
• Bill Gates’s 1996 article describing his early impressions of Buffett as they struck up their close friendship.

Scores of Buffett books have been written, but none can claim this work’s combination of trust between two friends, the writer’s deep under­standing of Buffett’s world, and a very long-term perspective.

About this title

About the Author:

CAROL J. LOOMIS is a senior editor-at-large at Fortune, where she has worked since 1954. She has been the magazine’s expert on Warren Buf­fett since 1966 and has edited his annual letter to shareholders since 1977. Her many honors include five lifetime achievement awards, including a Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism and Time Inc.’s first-ever Henry Luce Award. This is her first book. She lives in Westchester County.

From Publishers Weekly:

This anthology of works about Warren Buffett provides a thorough examination of one of the world's most successful business leaders. Culled from articles by Loomis that appeared in Fortune between 1966 and 2012, this collection provides an almost complete picture of all things Buffett. Narrator Susan Boyce hands in a strong, well-articulated performance, but her reading lacks the sort of emotion that would make this audio edition more engaging. Barry Press infuses his narration with more feeling, but fails to vary his pacing and emphasis. In all, this is an engaging collection of articles, but listeners may lose interest somewhere along the way. A Portfolio hardcover. (June)

About this edition

• Publisher: Portfolio
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1591846803
• ISBN 13: 9781591846802
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 384