How Warren Buffett’s Business Started

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett

It’s hard to believe that legendary investor Warren Buffett got his start in New Bedford, MA. I grew up a couple of towns over in Mattapoisett. His Berkshire Hathaway deal didn’t turn out the way he had planned it would, but he obviously learned a thing or two from that experience. The Mayor of New Bedford is trying to salvage the property as the WSJ explains here:

NEW BEDFORD, Mass.—Americans tend to celebrate the birthplaces of great businesses, such as the garage in Los Altos, Calif., where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started Apple Inc. and Sam Walton’s Five and Dime in Bentonville, Ark., the origin of Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

But there is little support thus far for a campaign by the mayor of New Bedford, Mass., to save from the bulldozer a squat, dilapidated office building once the headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Control of the New England textile manufacturer was acquired in 1965 by an ambitious 34-year-old investor named Warren Buffett, who made Berkshire Hathaway the base of his own budding conglomerate. It, of course, went on to become synonymous with investing prowess and business success.

But there is now a problem facing New Bedford Mayor Jon Mitchell in his efforts to salvage the property: The story of the old mill headquarters doesn’t exactly fit the Buffett mystique.

The billionaire investor, famous for his golden touch, lost money on the Berkshire Hathaway deal, even though the mill’s cash flow helped fund the early growth of the conglomerate. Famously unemotional about his investments, Mr. Buffett originally bought the mill partly because he was upset at the company’s then owner, he acknowledges in a phone interview.

Mr. Buffett even regrets transforming Berkshire Hathaway into his holding company. “One of the dumbest things was to make a textile company the base of other things we bought or invested in,” Mr. Buffett said. He never considered changing the name, though.

Mayor Mitchell is running out of time. The current owner of the 86-year-old office building wants to level it for a parking lot. The mayor has persuaded him to hold off for a few months in a final push to find a buyer.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

Preparing your investments and family for when disaster strikes.

E.J. Smith is the Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH, where he completed course-work in Practical and Defensive Handgun, Conceal Carry Pistol, Shotguns, Precision Scope Rifle and Kidnapping Prevention. E.J. plays a Yamaha Recording Custom drum set with Zilldjian cymbals. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zilldjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@youngresearch.com. Sign up here to receive all the best content from Richardcyoung.com each week.