Warren Buffett: Walk Like a Banker, Talk Like a Sailor?
Posted by Heidi N. Moore
Many deal makers use the language of relationships to describe M&A. An acquisition often is said to be a “marriage,” a bidder is a “suitor,” and early talks are “courtship.”
But Warren Buffett often employs, well, earthier imagery that belies his wholesome, Cherry Coke-sipping image. We were reminded of this in reading this Wall Street Journal article in which the Oracle of Omaha explained his reaction this year when asked if he wanted to hear more about investing in Bear Stearns.
“I’m calling about Bear Stearns,’” the private investor began, according to Mr. Buffett. “Should I go on?’” Mr. Buffett recalls thinking: “It’s like a woman taking off half her clothes and asking, ‘Should I continue?’ Even if you’re a 90-year-old eunuch, you let ‘em finish.”
There is his derision of private-equity firms as “porn shop operators” (which may render his investment in Goldman Sachs X-rated):
You can sell it to Berkshire, and we’ll put it in the Metropolitan Museum; it’ll have a wing all by itself; it’ll be there forever. Or you can sell it to some porn shop operator, and he’ll take the painting and he’ll make the b—s a little bigger and he’ll stick it up in the window, and some other guy will come along in a raincoat, and he’ll buy it.”
In his 2007 investor letter, Buffett called the acquisition of Dexter Shoe the worst M&A decision he had ever made.
To date, Dexter is the worst deal that I’ve made. But I’ll make more mistakes in the future–you can bet on that. A line from Bobby Bare’s country song explains what too often happens with acquisitions: “I’ve never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few.”
And then there’s the infamous “swimming naked” quote, Buffett’s pronouncement that keeping money around forever is like “saving sex for your old age,” and that, investing in stocks back in 1974, he felt like “an oversexed guy in a harem.” Except the word he used wasn’t actually “harem.”
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Posted by Heidi N. Moore
Many deal makers use the language of relationships to describe M&A. An acquisition often is said to be a “marriage,” a bidder is a “suitor,” and early talks are “courtship.”
But Warren Buffett often employs, well, earthier imagery that belies his wholesome, Cherry Coke-sipping image. We were reminded of this in reading this Wall Street Journal article in which the Oracle of Omaha explained his reaction this year when asked if he wanted to hear more about investing in Bear Stearns.
“I’m calling about Bear Stearns,’” the private investor began, according to Mr. Buffett. “Should I go on?’” Mr. Buffett recalls thinking: “It’s like a woman taking off half her clothes and asking, ‘Should I continue?’ Even if you’re a 90-year-old eunuch, you let ‘em finish.”
There is his derision of private-equity firms as “porn shop operators” (which may render his investment in Goldman Sachs X-rated):
You can sell it to Berkshire, and we’ll put it in the Metropolitan Museum; it’ll have a wing all by itself; it’ll be there forever. Or you can sell it to some porn shop operator, and he’ll take the painting and he’ll make the b—s a little bigger and he’ll stick it up in the window, and some other guy will come along in a raincoat, and he’ll buy it.”
In his 2007 investor letter, Buffett called the acquisition of Dexter Shoe the worst M&A decision he had ever made.
To date, Dexter is the worst deal that I’ve made. But I’ll make more mistakes in the future–you can bet on that. A line from Bobby Bare’s country song explains what too often happens with acquisitions: “I’ve never gone to bed with an ugly woman, but I’ve sure woke up with a few.”
And then there’s the infamous “swimming naked” quote, Buffett’s pronouncement that keeping money around forever is like “saving sex for your old age,” and that, investing in stocks back in 1974, he felt like “an oversexed guy in a harem.” Except the word he used wasn’t actually “harem.”
Permalink | Trackback URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2008/09/...k-like-a-banker-talk-like-a-sailor/trackback/
Save & Share: Share on Facebook | Del.icio.us | Digg this | Email This | Print
