High Signal Podcasts Evidence ledger
Method
Browse
How the evidence works
← All source episodes

Acquired / episode intelligence

Berkshire Hathaway Part II

12 May 2021 56 published claims 2 attributable people
Open original episode ↗ Read the evidence

Speakers in the public record

Ben GilbertDavid Rosenthal

Claim mix

belief 28evaluation 10commitment 9uncertainty 6recommendation 2observation 1

Evidence policy

Every row below preserves an exact excerpt. Identified speakers are linked; unresolved voices are labeled and excluded from people counts.

Claim ledger

The useful parts, with receipts.

56 published records

08 / uncertainty

I don't know the quote written down here, but this would later get arbitrated and Charlie would testify in the arbitration under oath that Charlie's natural way of either being with other people is he turns his brain off when he's not interested in things.

“I don't know the quote written down here, but this would later get arbitrated and Charlie would testify in the arbitration under oath that Charlie's natural way of either being with other people is he turns his brain off when he's not interested in things.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

09 / uncertainty

I don't know if that was a power, but then once he was on the Washington Post board and the mystique of Warren Buffett had started to grow, then I think maybe it became something defensible.

“I don't know if that was a power, but then once he was on the Washington Post board and the mystique of Warren Buffett had started to grow, then I think maybe it became something defensible.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

13 / belief

The Federal Reserve sends a letter to Gutfreund and Salomon—I think only Gutfreund and the general counsel see this—saying that it is "deeply troubled by both the firm's actions and lack of actions.

“The Federal Reserve sends a letter to Gutfreund and Salomon—I think only Gutfreund and the general counsel see this—saying that it is "deeply troubled by both the firm's actions and lack of actions.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

17 / belief

I think specifically on that defensibility of the newspaper part of the business at the time and the winner-take-all network effect in any given geography, is that if you're able to amass enough readers—it's just like the stamps business—then the advertisers want to be where the majority of the readers are.

“I think specifically on that defensibility of the newspaper part of the business at the time and the winner-take-all network effect in any given geography, is that if you're able to amass enough readers—it's just like the stamps business—then the advertisers want to be where the majority of the readers are.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

20 / belief

I mean, maybe you could argue a little bit that the scale of the insurance businesses and the float enables more investing, which enables more operating businesses. Maybe I think that's a little bit of a stretch.

“I mean, maybe you could argue a little bit that the scale of the insurance businesses and the float enables more investing, which enables more operating businesses. Maybe I think that's a little bit of a stretch.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

23 / belief

I think like, occasionally, at that annual group that he would convene of all the Ben Graham disciples, his fellow classmates, which he then started bringing Charlie into, they would occasionally sort of alluding to some investing ideas they were thinking about.

“I think like, occasionally, at that annual group that he would convene of all the Ben Graham disciples, his fellow classmates, which he then started bringing Charlie into, they would occasionally sort of alluding to some investing ideas they were thinking about.”
Speaker
Ben Gilbert
Publisher
Acquired

24 / commitment

We won’t admit that we did it, but if we did do it, we won't do it again. Most importantly, Warren and Charlie agree to start taking steps to "simplify" this complicated rat's nest structure of companies that they have.

“We won’t admit that we did it, but if we did do it, we won't do it again. Most importantly, Warren and Charlie agree to start taking steps to "simplify" this complicated rat's nest structure of companies that they have.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

26 / commitment

Probably one of the most famous statements that Buffet’s ever made in certainly corporate history where he's being grilled by senators about what he's going to do at Salomon and how he's going to turn it around. And he says the way the Salomons can operate going forward is, "Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding.

“Probably one of the most famous statements that Buffet’s ever made in certainly corporate history where he's being grilled by senators about what he's going to do at Salomon and how he's going to turn it around. And he says the way the Salomons can operate going forward is, "Lose money for the firm and I will be understanding.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

39 / uncertainty

There are so many different subsidiaries and subentities, and he looks at it and he says, there's got to be an indictment in here somewhere, guys. I don't know what you've been doing.

“There are so many different subsidiaries and subentities, and he looks at it and he says, there's got to be an indictment in here somewhere, guys. I don't know what you've been doing.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

41 / belief

I think the board thing specifically is probably an emotional thing. But the paper, yeah, at this point it's not only the dominant paper in Washington, but it's one of the foremost publications in the country if not the World after the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal.

“I think the board thing specifically is probably an emotional thing. But the paper, yeah, at this point it's not only the dominant paper in Washington, but it's one of the foremost publications in the country if not the World after the Pentagon Papers and the Watergate scandal.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

42 / belief

At the same time, Warren is also so emotional and nostalgic, and has this—I think you said it in the last episode—sense of what he looks for in companies and what he absolutely wants to be himself is viewed as an artist painting a painting.

“At the same time, Warren is also so emotional and nostalgic, and has this—I think you said it in the last episode—sense of what he looks for in companies and what he absolutely wants to be himself is viewed as an artist painting a painting.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired

43 / belief

Before we talk about power, we should do a quick review of the businesses that they had owned outright during this part of their history. Because I think people have a general sense of the stuff that they own now, both through the businesses that they owned wholly and through their ownership of big public companies like Kraft Heinz or of Coca-Cola.

“Before we talk about power, we should do a quick review of the businesses that they had owned outright during this part of their history. Because I think people have a general sense of the stuff that they own now, both through the businesses that they owned wholly and through their ownership of big public companies like Kraft Heinz or of Coca-Cola.”
Speaker
Ben Gilbert
Publisher
Acquired

44 / belief

We’ll save that story. It's funny, for part three, we'll have the whole tech bubble, we’ll have 2008, we’ll have the tech bull run of the last however many years, and the future of where do we think Berkshire goes from here.

“We’ll save that story. It's funny, for part three, we'll have the whole tech bubble, we’ll have 2008, we’ll have the tech bull run of the last however many years, and the future of where do we think Berkshire goes from here.”
Speaker
Ben Gilbert
Publisher
Acquired

54 / evaluation

During the decade of the 1970s, Blue Chip’s core business—even though they settled the DOJ suit—declined 90% over the decade because consumers are just not that interested in stamps anymore.

“During the decade of the 1970s, Blue Chip’s core business—even though they settled the DOJ suit—declined 90% over the decade because consumers are just not that interested in stamps anymore.”
Speaker
David Rosenthal
Publisher
Acquired
Search evidence