Becoming Berkshire

Jay-Z
  • 5.0 (2)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

Becoming Berkshire is a year-by-year journey through the history of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and the ideas that shaped one of the greatest compounding stories in business history. The story begins on December 12, 1962, when Buffett Partnership began buying shares of a struggling textile company in New Bedford, Massachusetts, for $7.50 per share. From there, we follow the people, investments, mistakes, letters, deals, and lessons that transformed Berkshire Hathaway into a business legend.

Episodes

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 4: Buffett’s 1963 American Express Bet

    In Episode 4 of Becoming Berkshire, we are still in 1963. This episode covers one of the strangest and most important investments in Warren Buffett’s early career: American Express and the salad oil scandal. At the time, Buffett was still running Buffett Partnership Limited and was building his position in Berkshire Hathaway. American Express was caught in a major scandal involving fake soybean oil inventory, warehouse receipts, margin calls, failing brokers, and a fraudster named Anthony “Tino” DeAngelis. The stock collapsed because investors feared the American Express name had been permanently damaged. Buffett saw something different. He looked past the scandal and focused on the core business. Customers were still using American Express cards. Traveler’s checks were still growing. Merchants were still accepting the brand. The scandal was real, but the franchise was not broken. This investment became a major turning point in Buffett’s evolution from Ben Graham style cigar butt investing toward buying great businesses with durable competitive advantages. Most past episodes can be found in the Berkshire History playlist on YouTube.

    40 min

  2. Jun 29

    Episode 3: 1963, The Two Stories Meet

    In Episode 3 of Becoming Berkshire, we enter 1963, the year Buffett’s partnership letter and Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report start to feel like two parts of the same story. Buffett was still running the Buffett Partnership, but Berkshire Hathaway was now in the picture. The partnership letter shows Buffett’s investing playbook: generals, workouts, and controls. The annual report shows the struggling textile company he was buying. One document shows the investor. The other shows the problem. This episode looks at the early Berkshire story before insurance, float, See’s Candies, GEICO, Apple, and the modern Berkshire Hathaway.

    21 min

  3. Jun 27

    1962: Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Report

    In 1962, Warren Buffett began buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling New England textile mill selling far below book value. On paper, it looked like a classic Ben Graham cigar butt: cheap, asset-heavy, and ignored. But the annual report showed a much harder reality — losses, mill closures, overproduction, falling prices, and constant capital needs. This episode looks at Berkshire Hathaway’s 1962 annual report and the early mistake that eventually became the vehicle for one of the greatest compounding stories in history.

    11 min
  4. 1962: Buffett’s Partnership Letter

    Jun 27

    1962: Buffett’s Partnership Letter

    In this episode, we look at Warren Buffett’s 1962 partnership letter and the early framework behind his investing style. Buffett was still deeply influenced by Ben Graham, but you can already see him evolving. He breaks down the partnership’s investments into generals, workouts, and controls, discusses the power of compounding, and explains why true conservatism comes from facts, reasoning, and price — not from simply owning blue-chip stocks. This episode also covers Dempster Mill, one of Buffett’s key control investments, and how it helped teach him the power of capital allocation.

    17 min
  • 4 Episodes

5
out of 5
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About

Becoming Berkshire is a year-by-year journey through the history of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger, and the ideas that shaped one of the greatest compounding stories in business history. The story begins on December 12, 1962, when Buffett Partnership began buying shares of a struggling textile company in New Bedford, Massachusetts, for $7.50 per share. From there, we follow the people, investments, mistakes, letters, deals, and lessons that transformed Berkshire Hathaway into a business legend.

Information

  • Creator
    Jay-Z
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    4
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Jay-Z
  • Show Website
    Becoming Berkshire

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