The World's Greatest Money Maker: Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is the greatest investor of all time. His decisions about buying shares and companies have beaten the stock market year after year and made him the richest person in the world - thought to be worth 37 billion dollars.
Yet Buffett lives modestly in his native Omaha, in America's mid-West, and runs his 150 billion dollar business with a staff of just twenty.
Evan Davis meets him to find out about his unique investment strategy and his eccentric lifestyle.
He talks to Buffett's family, friends and colleagues about the man they call the Sage of Omaha, and Buffett's friend Bill Gates praises his philosophy of life.
As the greed of the super-wealthy is widely criticized in the current financial crisis, Davis asks whether Warren Buffett is the acceptable face of the filthy rich.
what? Bangladesh is ranked 152 in gdp out of 300 countries?? Is buffet losing his mind these days? BD has 22 billion in FX reserve, more than some European bankrupt countries!
just because a millionaire donates to a charity doesn't necessarily make them generous. When someone who is worth BILLIONS gives away 1%, or less, of their money, that's far from being generous; it's nothing more than a PR move. Omaha has the most fortune 500 companies of any state in the U.S, so it makes sense that would want to reside in his hometown. Remember, he's one of the Super Rich, top 1%. so his opinions are skewed to make people like him look good
He is my Idol :) G'pa Buffet
What about "Howard Hughs"?
Buffet wouldn't be rich if he was born in Africa or Bangladesh. He owes almost everything to the US and the American people. However, he decide to give away is money to Africa instead of the American people. This is completely unfair and illogical.
lool, nice trolling there buddy
I got 1 thing he may be super clever doing the right investemnts but he s super stingy too!
An excellent role model of which the whole world should try to emulate. If our bankers and politicians were only half as smart and as honourable as Mr. Buffet, our world would be a far better place for one and all.
he coulda given his kids some cash. damn greedy cocksucker
How is he greedy? He's going to donate it to charities. To want his wealth is to be greedy since they didn't work for it
In fairness.. his wealth would be better put to use if it were spread across more people rather than confined to his bank account. The greatest myth behind the capitialist dream is that accumalted wealth is good. But money is only useful so long as other people have it.
20 people's team take up 150bl business,,,,,, Good Work
20 people's team take up 150bl business,,,,,, Good Work
Eww! Did Charlie Munger have a booger in his nose in the last ten minutes of this documentary?
WE are in a transition stage from a capitalist to corpratist system....The last time (as far as i know) there was a corpratist system was in Nazi Germany....
I find it blindly telling that lefties were comparing Bush to Hitler and our progress toward Nazism during the last administration and the righties are now doing the same to Obama.
You guys need to stop drinking hysteria juice every morning.
i dont every comment on documentarys, but this is worth a watch , great doco , entertaining
We all live with our own burden. Some it's money, some it war, some it's abusive relationship, some are physically challenge.There are so many ways to see suffering, when i see an old man going about his life, with his hands in receiving motion and the other in giving motion...i say...good for you buddy! Spread it since it comes your way.
az
Sycophancy at its worst from those on the payroll. No surprise to hear that as a teen Buffett was a shoplifter and later an asset stripper. His son was clearly putting a spin on the possibility of not getting his fathers loot and now not having $60 million, having sold his shares in the "family firm", which looks like a nightmare to work for. 'Grandfather of the company'? Sends shivers down my spine.
share your blessings to the poor like me...
He is just a sucess story woven to lure the retail into market,look at Nikkei it made a all time high in 80's at 35000 and it trades currently at 9500,dubai made a life time high at 6000 currently trades at 1500,Shangai made a high of 6000 currently trades at 3000................Stock markets are nothing but a game of Pump and Dump....it is nothing but a daylight robbery,it is a scam...........I hardly find anyone who invest in the stock for the dividend payout,everybody wants to exit at higher prices,everybody is in collision to loot you wheather it is banks,fin institutions,media they just trap you.
eat the rich
Why? Why do you wish to initiate violence against them and steal the money that they have earned?
Earning money and cropping in on a f--ked system is 2 different things. If you think about it, all the rich people in this world hardly earned it, they just had the right idea first. Its the middle class factory workers who really earned it.
Not that im into violence i just dont like how you used "earned"
You have to be incredibly ignorant to believe they have legally and justly earned there money, without committing crimes from fraud to funding terrorism.
There should be caps on wealth so that after a certain point everything goes to the poor, education, healthcare, etc. The fact that 40% of the all the world's wealth is held by 1% of the population is as morally indefensible as the fact that a few live in mansions (or many mansions) while many are hungry and homeless. I wish money didnt exist as end unto itself. I wish profit itself did not exist and people just worked to produce what was needed for that reason alone. That we all had housing and good education and healthcare. The reason we do not is because of unfettered capitalism and a wall street government. This country was founded in socialist principles and it was North Americans who exported it to Canada as well
if It weren't for capitalism, you wouldn't have a computer to watch documentaries on ....if you prefer socialism, you can always go to Venezuela.
Capitalism was the means for the advent of computer technology?? What planet do you live on? Here on Earth, the internet was developed by both government and academia in concert: neither of which were created to amass wealth. In fact, government was actually a means by which society could use it's wealth for the benefit of all, and academia to critique government and society in order to further our social evolution. Granted, this is not the current status of our paradigm..but your comment is absurd just from the assertion that capitalism was the "father" of the computer age. As for socialism: it does NOT exist except in small pockets across the globe..and there is no society that has ever been truly socialist. If you want to learn, read a bit: Joel Kovel, John McMurtry, Serge Latouche, Raj Patel..hell, read some Karl Marx. The idea of making money to make more money is as far removed from the concept of "value," as mono-cropping is from the concept of "farming."
Every day that passes we are removed further and further from true value. Think of this: you work, producing something, the higher the production does not equate with a higher wage. All the surplus value is added to corporate profit. We used to be paid in money. Now, a good portion of jobs require a little plastic card to pay workers. If you do not have one, you are issued one. We move ever farther from the center where intrinsic value and use value work in concert to create a means to live life. And the younger a person is, the less likely they are to know that things were not always this way..
Everything has become derivative..analogous..a simulacrum.
I think you confuse "socialism" with "communism"! It's always good to be informed on a subject before spawning your opinion about it onto some website.
It's irritating when I hear people cry fowl of capitalism because it doesn't exist in our current society. What we have is statism.
Capitalism, according to a standard dictionary, is a economic system where property is privately owned and is traded voluntarily.
Can we say we live under capitalism when our income is stolen from our paychecks, when a portion of what we trade is stolen from us, when a monetary system (fiat currency) is forced on us, when there are barriers of entry into the market, tariffs, aggressions against peaceful activities, etc? No, this is statism or corporatism - what most people conflate as capitalism.
Taxation is the initiation of violence. If you don't pay you are kidnapped or shot. If you want to work for less than minimum wage you are kidnapped or shot. If you want to hire for less than minimum wage you are kidnapped or shot. If you want to smoke or sell marijuana you are locked up or shot. If you want to compete with companies that the government has granted a monopoly to you are locked up or shot.
Every law is a gun. What a 'law' really means is 'we will come and shoot you if you don't do what we say'.
The problem I believe is the initiation of violence. Not voluntary interactions.
@jonny: We live in a capitalist society but not in a perfect capitalist society.That's why there are such a things as tariff, barriers of entry, etc. The rest of the things you said are too absurd to even answer.
@columbian
Maybe I wasn't successful in conveying we don't live in a capitalist society. Please tell me what you don't understand about my comment?
The fullest expression of capitalism is anarchy and anarchy is the fullest expression of capitalism... aka free market. Capitalism is consistent with the non-aggression principle. If something violates the non-aggression principle then it isn't capitalism.
Please tell me how initiating violence against people by barring them from setting up a business is capitalism? Because that's what 'barriers of entry' means. Barrier of entry is a euphanism for a law created to stop competitors from competing meaning 'we will initiate violence against you if you set up a competing company' because what happens if someone wants to create a competing company - they are kidnapped (aka arrested) or shot for resisting. That's how monopolies are created not prevented. The government fosters monopolies because it is itself a monopoly.
Please tell me how initiating violence against people in the form of tariffs is capitalism? Tariff, a tax, another euhpanism for stealing a portion of someones product - the money made from selling it. If the seller refuses to offer up this money they are kidnapped or shot.
This is not capitalism. This is statism. Capitalism is a economic system where property is privately owned and is traded voluntarily.
Do I have a choice on what I want to do what I want with my property - money? Is taxation voluntarily? Are laws voluntarily? Laws other than kindergarten stuff - don't hit, don't steal (where a crime actually occurs).
@Jonny
I strongly encourage you to read Michael Porter's "Competittive Strategy" because your idea of "barriers of entry" is incorrect. Barriers are not "laws", they are more like innate characteristics of a particular industry. For instance, a barrier to entry to the airline industry might be the capital requirements needed to buy planes. A barrier to entry in the mainframe computer industry might be economies of scales in production which enable existing companies to produce computers at a lower cost. Another barrier to entry can be goverment regulation with such controls as licencing requirements. These barriers of entry discourage new companies to enter a particular industry.
I am not sure what country you are referring to when you say that if you want to establish a competing company you get "Kidnapped (aka arrested) or shot for resisting" but in the United States, for the most part, that doesn't happen. I am starting to think you are a little bit delusional.
As far as taxation, it is a necessary "evil" in a civilized society in order to keep public safety (police and fire department), national defense, the enforcement of law, free education, infrastructure (roads, bridges), etc.
@mmre: I never stated that capitalism was the "father" of the computer age. I don't know where you found that. However, I meant to say capitalism was the mean through which Personal Computers became a household commodity....or did the government provide you with thecomputer you are using right now?. People like Bill Gates, Steve Jobs working in a free-capitalist society that encourages innovation have raised the standard of living of millions of people. It would have never happened in a socialist or communist society. Regarding your comment about socialism, I wouldn't say socialism exist only in small pockets across the globe. Economic systems are a spectrum that ranges from Perfect capitalism to total Communism. Countries like China (second economy in the world), vietnam, cuba, and laos are located near the right end of the spectrum. A little more to the left are countries like venezuela, N. korea, lybia, egypt, bolivia, and nicaragua. Also, the trend in S. America for example is toward socialism in countries like brazil, argentina, chile, paraguay highly influenced by Chavez. And just as there has never existed a truly socialist state, there has never existed a perfect capitalist nation.
Finally, I want to comment on the subject of "value". I am in the Finance industry and therefore I have read and studied extensively about value. The major advantage of a free-capitalist society like the United States is that resources,for the most part, are allocated in the most efficient way, therefore, creating value, not only for the individuals involved but for society at large. This value translates into higher standard of livings for Since you encourage me to read about Karl Marx (which I have), I will encourage to read about Hernando desoto.
"if It weren't for capitalism, you wouldn't have a computer to watch documentaries on ....if you prefer socialism, you can always go to Venezuela"
Your quote from yesterday.
"I never stated that capitalism was the "father" of the computer age. I don't know where you found that. However, I meant to say capitalism was the mean through which Personal Computers became a household commodity...."
Your quote from today.
You work in the financial industry? That means that any conversation will be tempered by your indoctrination as such. There can be no dialogue, as any view which critiques the system under which you derive your ability to retain your lifestyle, will be dismissed. This doesn't mean the disregard of alternative views is bound in factual analysis; but that it can do so because it is the dominant form at the current time. History is not the only thing written by the "winners."
i do have to say that your assertions in regard to value and American advantage, are utterly absurd. Having lived outside the states for some time now, (in a country which considers itself "socialist,") it is not only false from personal experience, but false when comparing and contrasting with other nations.
I thought I just heard that the richest man lives in Mexico?
What I took from this was that even the most generous and kind ULTRA RICH MEN (warren and bill) still deal with such lumps of cash that they still do A LOT of harm to the people at the bottom doing all the work. No health care, slave wages and everything else. ALSO, look at where they both donate their charity money... AFRICA!!!!! Not even i the USA... AFRICA ... so ... imagine the HARM that EVIL RICH MEN can ( and do commit )... it is scary the amount of power there is there to destroy the earth. Imagine if gates and buffet invested 5 billion in providing elctric cars and solar panels to everyone? Instead the money goes to WORTHLESS charities like AFRICA which want to keep their culture and not have it CAPITALIZED... rich but not smart.
I don't understand your point. They are evil because they donate their money to Africa?...then America is evil altogether since we donate billions and billions to Africa every year. Also, when you say "invest" 5 billion, I'm assuming you mean give away electric cars and solar panels to everyone which is a WORTHLESS idea...... Poor and not smart.
He is portrayed like your sweet grandpa.
A billionaire who still lives very modestly. Old car and a normal house. He lives like he earns 50k per year.
Its all very surreal. The presenter never challenges him apart from one question about derivatives.
The question is never asked why is he doing it!
Where is all the money going?
Very surreal....
all the money is going, for example, to the Gates foundation to which he's donated billions. Furthermore, most of his wealth is in Bershire's stock, not cash money.
thanx for putting s****y music in it
Interesting insight to one of the richest men in the world.