We’re back from lunch, and Mr. Kass leads off with a question about whether Mr. Buffett’s intensity has waned over the years. He specifically cites the weeks of work that Berkshire put into research American Express at the time of its first investment, versus the quick decision-making that went into its move into Bank of America. (Mr. Buffett famously hit upon the latter idea while in the bathtub.)
“Are you at the point now where the game interests you more than the score?” Mr. Kass asks.
Mr. Buffett responds that he still finds running Berkshire the most interesting thing he could possibly do.
“I have every bit of the intensity, though it’s not manifested in the same way,” he says. “I love thinking about Berkshire, about its investments, about its businesses. It’s a part of me.”
Mr. Munger interjects that Berkshire needed to do an enormous amount of analysis for its first investment in American Express, since the company was unfamiliar at the time. When it made a subsequent investment, Mr. Buffett had already amassed a wealth of knowledge.
“It was all cumulative,” Mr. Munger said.
Responding to a later question, Mr. Buffett comes back to the Bank of America decision. “The bathtub wasn’t the most important part,” he jokes.
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