The Rise and Fall of American Express: A Fraudulent Tale

This chapter explores the history of American Express, focusing on its warehousing subsidiary's involvement in the infamous salad oil scandal. It reveals the challenges faced by executives amidst fraudulent activities and discusses the lasting impact of the scandal on the company's operations and Warren Buffett's strategic insights during the crisis.

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Episode notes

In today’s episode, Clay reviews Brett Gardner’s new book, Buffett’s Early Investments.

Brett is an Analyst at Discerene Group LP, a private investment partnership that invests globally based on a fundamental and long-term value investing philosophy. Like us here at TIP, Brett is also a huge fan of Warren Buffett.

During Buffett’s early partnership years from 1957 to 1969, he compounded his investors’ capital at 23.8% net of fees relative to the Dow Jones, returning just 7.4%.

IN THIS EPISODE YOU’LL LEARN:

00:00 - Intro

02:14 - The primary factors that led to Buffett’s outperformance during early investing years.

06:09 - The parallels between Buffett’s investment in Philadelphia and Reading and how he ended up transforming Berkshire Hathaway in the years that followed.

27:15 - What led Buffett to make an unconventional bet on Disney in 1966.

43:55 - Why Buffett invested in American Express after the Salad Oil Scandal.

And so much more!

Disclaimer: Slight discrepancies in the timestamps may occur due to podcast platform differences.

BOOKS AND RESOURCES

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Related Episode: Listen to TIP573: Berkshire's Beginnings w/ Jacob McDonough, or watch the video.
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