Warren Buffet
“When the phone don’t ring, you’ll know (it’s me).”
Warren Buffett, often called the “Oracle of Omaha” and commander-in-chief of Berkshire Hathaway writes an annual letter to his shareholders in which he reports on the company's performance and shares insights into his thinking more broadly. In addition to being the leader of this empire of a company, I bet you didn’t know that he is an avid Coca-Cola fan (Cherry Coke, in fact) and a Ukulele player. Given his musical bends and sense of humor, it is not uncommon for him to use famous lines from country songs to describe the state of affairs.
Buffett has often referred to George Jones’s song “When the phone don’t ring, you’ll know it’s me " to convey his feelings about “new ventures, turnarounds, or auction-like sales” scenarios that are too good to be true or too complicated to assess.
As discussed in the previous post, Buffet has serious trust issues and focuses on deeply assessing and understanding investment opportunities himself. If his investment criteria are not met, or he is not able to fully vet and understand an investment, he is comfortable passing on it.
No matter how “hot” an opportunity may seem, understanding it is key as well as then also having the strength to NOT ACT on it.
Not picking up the phone - not making an investment - is as important a decision as investing itself. We need to be comfortable just sitting on our hands and passing on opportunities to be true to ourselves and have long-term success.
Links to Further Reading:
Library of Berkshire Hathaway Annual Letters: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/letters.html
Barron’s – The Virtues of Inactive Investing: https://www.barrons.com/articles/SB51005578970899454132304580145891651656262
