Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letters 1977
Warren Buffett's 1977 Berkshire Hathaway shareholder letter, the first of his famous annual letters, read in full. In it, Buffett explains why return on equity, not earnings per share, is the real measure of a company's performance, and lays out his timeless four-part test for buying a stock: a business you understand, with strong long-term prospects, run by honest and able people, at an attractive price. He walks through Berkshire's booming insurance operation, the struggling textile mills, the Illinois National Bank, and the growth of See's Candies under Blue Chip Stamps. A foundational…
The skinny
The skinny isn't ready yet — notes appear once the transcript is processed.