Ben Gilbert: evaluation

Transcript context

…He made it four years early. The next year in 1963, Buffett finds the second great investment of his lifetime, and also the second great mistake that he would make on the back end of it, the first of course, being GEICO, American Express. This is great. Some listeners probably already know the story here. Before we dive into the story, I think the framework that I would use if you're listening to this and hearing a lot of this for the first time, you heard about GEICO, you're hearing these puzzle pieces, where there's a lesson learned from each of these companies, that Buffett was the first to figure out that these businesses are each interesting in a puzzle piece way that fits in with other businesses, that in the sum of its whole could create this unbelievable capital-efficient flywheel. I don't know if flywheel's the right term. Puzzle pieces put together into a beautiful puzzle or mosaic might be the right term. But it really is him understanding all these unique types of businesses that have these characteristics that he can then use in the future. American Express, I feel is the second big lesson for him after he learns about the insurance business, the first one. I think you're totally right about the puzzle piece fitting together aspect. He learns that in his third great investment, which will be the last one we'll cover on this episode. That's coming up. Back to American Express. In 1963, Buffett is still under the Graham spell here. He's looking for cigar butts, that's what he's doing, looking for deals.…

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