A new investigation into the decades when Warren Buffett earned his best returns

By Brett Gardner

Buffett’s Early Investments investigates ten investments that legendary investor Warren Buffett made in the 1950s and 1960s—earning him his first millions—and uncovers unique insights in the process.

Using the same documents Buffett used when he made these investments, the author reveals the fascinating inside stories of:

– How Philadelphia and Reading, Buffett’s largest investment in 1953, transformed from a declining coal company to a diversified conglomerate whose stock went up tenfold due to the intervention of Buffett’s mentor, Ben Graham.
– How corporate governance issues actually presented serious risk to Buffett’s 1966 investment in Walt Disney.
– How Buffett and Charlie Munger made their first formal investment together in Hochschild-Kohn.

Other investments analyzed include British Columbia Power, Cleveland Worsted Mills, Greif Bros, Marshall-Wells, Studebaker, Timely Clothes, and Union Street Railway. Not all of these investments worked out—this book shows why.

The book concludes by discussing the role activism had in driving Buffett’s early returns and the research methods Buffett used to uncover unique insights regarding the investments he made.

Buffett’s Early Investments helps readers understand how history’s greatest ever investor really made his returns in the years where he produced his best numbers—and what that means for investors today.

Brett Gardner is an investment analyst who has worked at multiple investment firms. Brett has made investments across the capital structure deploying value investing principles and has led activist campaigns against publicly traded companies. He bought his first stock when he was 16 years old. Brett graduated from St. John’s University within three years of matriculation. Brett currently resides in New York City. Buffett’s Early Investments is his first book.