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By Root 3509 0

am indebted to many other people and organizations who helped with research and granted permission to use photographs and copyrighted material, as well as those who gave special help with the project directly or indirectly in various ways. My thanks go to Carol Allen, Herbert Allen, Ed Anderson and Joan Parsons, Jan and Brian Babiak, the Blumkin family, Hal Borthwick, Debbie Bosanek, Betsy Bowen, Joe Brandon, Phil Brooks, Kelly Broz, Jan and John Cleary, Carlon Colker, Robert Conte, Gerald Corrigan, Michael Daly, Leigh Ann Elisio, Stuart Erickson, Paul Fishman, Cynthia George, George Gillespie, Rick Guerin, Marc Hamburg, Carol Hayes, Liz Hylton, Mark Jankowski, Mr. and Mrs. Howard Jessen, Gladys Kaiser, Don Keough, Tom and Virginia Knapp, Margaret Landon, Arthur K. Langlie, David Larabell, Stanford Lipsey, Jack Mayfield, John Macfarlane, Michael McGivney, Verne McKenzie, Charles T. Munger Jr., Molly Munger, Wendy Munger, Tony Nicely, Dorothe Obert, Ron Olson, Chuck Peterson, Susan Raihofer, Rod Rathbun, Deb Ray, Eric Rosenfeld, Neil Rosini, Fred Reinhardt, Mick Rood, Gary Rosenberg, Edith Rubinstein, Michael Ruddell, Richard Santulli, Walter Schloss, Lou Simpson, Carol Sklenicka, Judge Stanley Sporkin, Mary Stanton Plowden-Wardlaw, Chris Stavrou, Bob Sullivan, Jeffrey Vitale, Marshall Weinberg, Sheila Weitzel, Bruce Whitman, Jackie Wilson, Al Zanner, and those who asked not to be named.

I would also like to express appreciation to the following organizations: the Douglas County Historical Society, GEICO, General Re, Greenwich Emergency Medical Service, Greif Inc., Harvard Business School, Harvard Law School, the Merrick Library, the Martin Luther King Jr. Public Library Washingtoniana Collection, Morgan Stanley, the National Archives, National Indemnity Corporation, the Nebraska Furniture Mart, the New Bedford Free Public Library, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, the New York Public Library, NetJets Inc., the Omaha Press Club, the Omaha World-Herald, Outstanding Investor Digest, the Rolls-Royce Foundation, Rosehill School, Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb Co., The Securities and Exchange Commission, and The Westchester apartments.

FOOTNOTES

*1 A widely quoted U.S. stock measure.

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*2Fortune magazine ranks the largest 500 companies based on sales and refers to them as the “Fortune 500.” This group of companies can be used as a rough proxy for U.S.-based business.

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*3A short-seller borrows a stock and sells it, betting it will go down. If so, the “short-seller” profits from buying the stock back cheaper. He loses if the price rises. Short-selling is normally risky: you are betting against the long-term trend of the market.

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*4Member of the Disciples of Christ Protestant denomination. This familiar term is used by the Buffett family.

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*5In those days, the amount of gold held by government treasuries fixed the amount of dollars in circulation. The “gold standard” stopped the government from provoking inflation simply by printing money.

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*6“Restricted” meant Jews were not allowed to buy houses there.

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*7Nebraska spelled backward.

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*8Thanks to inflation, a sixteen-year-old with a similar pile as of 2007 would have roughly $53,000.

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*9That is, the horse would pay out as if its odds of winning were only 6.7 percent. Thus, if it won, the payout would be 50 percent bigger than the horse’s track record suggested should occur. A handicapper would take this bet even on the worst horse in the field, because the expected payout is so high compared to the odds. This is an “overlay.”

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*10Betting “on the nose” is betting to win.

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*11Worsted, commonly used in men’s suiting, is a high-quality, tightly woven wool fabric, made of long-staple fibers.

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*12Five hundred dollars was not chicken feed. It would have been equivalent to about $4,300 in 2007.

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*13Including distributions, withdrawals, and losses.

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*14 Also known as boney