About this episode

Adam Mead discusses his extensive work on Berkshire Hathaway and the importance of trust and management in investing.

Adam Mead is a professional investor, CEO of Mead Capital Management, and author of the 850-page second edition of The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway — one of the most exhaustive chronicles of Warren Buffett’s conglomerate ever written. Episode Sponsor: Fiscal AI is a modern data terminal that gives investors instant access to twenty years of financials, earnings transcripts, and extensive segment and KPI data—use my link for a two-week free trial plus 15% off: https://fiscal.ai/talkingbillions/ 3:00 – Adam explains why a second edition was necessary: the pandemic, Apple’s rise to 50% of the portfolio, Allegheny and Pilot acquisitions, Japanese trading houses, losing Charlie Munger, and Buffett’s retirement 5:58 – Berkshire’s underlying philosophy hasn’t changed — it’s the world that changed; living through history feels more intense than researching it on the page 8:25 – Why Buffett sold the airlines: as largest shareholder, Berkshire could have blocked bailout funds, putting the airlines’ survival at risk 11:28 – New investment cases rhyme with the past; patient capital allocation works; $72B in share repurchases between 2020–2024 was the real “elephant” 15:22…

People in this episode

Host: Bogumil Baranowski

Guest: Adam Mead

Topics covered

• Berkshire Hathaway
• investment strategy
• financial history
• Warren Buffett
• capital allocation
• succession planning

Keywords

• Berkshire Hathaway
• Warren Buffett
• investment
• financial history
• capital allocation
• succession
• Charlie Munger

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Mead Capital Management, Berkshire Hathaway, Fairfax, BNSF, BHE, MSR

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