Book Review – Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett’s Omaha: A Hedge Fund Manager’s Dispatches from Inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting by Jeff Matthews

Jan 7, 2009 by Kay Elizabeth

Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett's Omaha by Jeff Matthews To most people, suggesting they read a book that is even remotely related to investing would send them running screaming from the room. Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett’s Omaha: A Hedge Fund Manager’s Dispatches from Inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting by Jeff Matthews (McGraw-Hill) is about to change all that and unlike many books, is exactly what the title promises it to be.

The book chronicles the author’s trips to two successive annual meetings of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in Omaha in 2007 and 2008. Pilgrimage is an apt description and resonates well with the feelings captured within this. Author Jeff Matthews relays how the faithful converge in their thousands to hear the famously wealthy and arguably most astute value investor in the world, Warren Buffett, speak to them directly.

These meetings are the not dry, boring scripted events that most investors would prefer to avoid if at all possible. There’s music, shopping and laughter at what Buffett likes to call “Woodstock for Capitalists”. During the events Buffett shares not only how their company is doing and the road ahead but enters into a much anticipated lengthy question and answer session where he takes center stage with his long time business partner Charlie Munger. It’s interesting to find out that none of the questions are screened beforehand nor is any subject off limits including personal ones except “what we’re buying now.”

Anyone that’s looking for some insightful technical stock market analysis will be sorely disappointed in this book. That’s not what Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett’s Omaha is about nor does it claim to be. If however you want to discover more about the great man himself, his life, his work and his relationships, there are plenty of insights to be gleaned from there. Many of the Q & A responses at the meetings demonstrate his thought processes, his honesty and straightforwardness and just how unique a man Buffett is. Few men can say they already planned who will be their successor upon their passing but he can. Who will take the reins of Berkshire Hathaway then is for the moment top secret but again shows Buffett’s forward thinking.

Since you can’t get a ringside seat unless you’re lucky enough to be a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder or invited guest, this book is the next best thing. Matthews has made Pilgrimage to Warren Buffett’s Omaha: A Hedge Fund Manager’s Dispatches from Inside the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting a comfortable read that’s accessible to all. By the time you get to the point in the book where Warren Buffett steps up to the microphone for the first time, you’re just as much on the edge of your seat waiting to hear what he’s going to say as any loyal shareholder or Buffett fan would be that was right there.

Jeff Matthews does an excellent job of capturing the sights and sounds of the auditorium as well as the energy. You don’t need to understand investing to enjoy this book. The snippets and anecdotes shared of Warren Buffet’s life as well as his unwavering dedication to his work are fascinating. I had the greatest respect for the gentleman before I read this first hand account and Jeff Matthews’ book has reinforced that even more.

I know of no other man who as a young newlywed would have read Security Analysis by Benjamin Graham to his wife on their honeymoon. But then perhaps that’s why there’s no other man as universally respected, inspiring or admired in the investing world as Warren Buffett. Overall, a great read.