The Snowball_ Warren Buffett and the Business of Life - Alice Schroeder [591]
8. Excerpts from 2004 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting are from notes of the author.
9. The Omaha Housing Authority bought the house for $89,900.
10. Interview with Susie Buffett Jr.
11. Ibid.
12. Ibid.
13. Ibid.
14. Howard Buffett Jr. (Howie B.), speaking at Susie’s funeral.
15. Interview with T. D. Kelsey.
16. Ibid.
17. Interviews with Al Oehrle, Barbara Oehrle.
18. Interview with T. D. Kelsey.
19. Interviews with Herbert Allen, Barbara Oehrle, T. D. Kelsey.
20. Interview with Susie Buffett Jr.
21. Interviews with Herbert Allen, T. D. Kelsey. According to the Oehrles, Herbert Allen, and Barry Diller, the rest of the guests remained in Cody for the weekend and turned the weekend, as best they could, into a sort of tribute to Susie.
22. Interview with Susie Buffett Jr.
23. Interview with Howie Buffett.
24. Interviews with T. D. Kelsey, Herbert Allen.
25. Interviews with Susie Buffett Jr., Peter Buffett.
26. Interviews with Susie Buffett Jr. and Peter Buffett, who both said they found it comforting to have their mother with them in the plane.
27. Interview with Howie Buffett.
28. Interview with Sharon Osberg.
29. Interview with Susie Buffett Jr.
30. Interview with Devon Spurgeon, whom Susie Jr. called on her honeymoon in Italy. The author was also supposed to make this trip; Buffett’s wish for emotional support from women was probably at an all-time high during this period.
Chapter 62
1. She left significant amounts of money to Kathleen Cole and Ron Parks, her longtime trusted caretakers and friends. She left her grandchildren and other people modest amounts, from $10,000 to $100,000.
2. Interview with Tom Newman.
3. Interview with Howie Buffett.
4. Interview with Peter Buffett.
5. A. D. Amorosi, “In ‘Spirit,’ Tradition Is Besieged by Modern Life,” Philadelphia Inquirer, May 23, 2005.
6. Interview with Susie Buffett Jr.
7. Interview with Peter Buffett.
8. Interview with Sharon Osberg.
9. Interview with Charlie Munger.
10. Berkshire Hathaway annual letter to shareholders, 2005.
11. Charles R. Morris, The Trillion Dollar Meltdown. New York: Public Affairs, 2008.
12. Carol Loomis, “Warren Buffett Gives It Away,” Fortune, July 10, 2006.
13. Ibid.
14. Buffett could not resist: The note that accompanied Bertie’s letter containing this comment said, “She’s still smarting about that a little bit.”
15. Interview with Doris Buffett.
16. In installments beginning in 2006, as long as either Bill or Melinda Gates is active in the foundation.
17. The first installment of 602,500 shares declined 5% a year in terms of shares thereafter. Buffett expected, as was reasonable, that the price of Berkshire’s stock would increase by at least 5% a year (through modest growth and inflation). Thus, the dollar value of the gifts was likely to remain level or even increase from year to year. During the year between the first gift and the second, Berkshire’s stock price went up 17%. The first 602,500-B-share distribution was worth $1.8 billion, compared to the second 572,375-B-share distribution worth $2 billion. In June 2006, BRK was trading at $91,500 (B shares at $3,043).
18. As quoted in “The Life Well Spent: An Evening with Warren Buffett,” November 2007.
19. Bill Gates used the term “convenors.” This approach differs, for example, from annually funding a vaccine program, which requires a continuing investment without a permanent cure.
20. “The New Powers of Giving,” Economist, July 6, 2006; Karen DeYoung, “Gates, Rockefeller Charities Join to Fight African Hunger,” Washington Post, September 13, 2006; Han Wilhelm, “Big Changes at the Rockefeller Foundation,” Chronicle of Philanthropy, September 8, 2006; Andrew Jack, “Manna from Omaha: A Year of ‘Giving While Living’ Transforms Philanthropy,” Financial Times, December 27, 2006.
21. Interview with Doris Buffett. See Sally Beaty, “The Wealth Report: The Other Buffett,” Wall Street Journal, August