What's Warren Buffett's Secret to Great Writing?
Appears in National Association of Corporate Directors, Directorship Magazine (Summer 2016)
8 Pages Posted: 16 Sep 2016
Date Written: 2016
Abstract
The gold standard in corporate communications is that of Warren Buffett’s letters to shareholders. When leaders of the National Association of Corporate Directors wanted to understand exactly why they are so valuable, they turned to Lawrence Cunningham, an incomparably informed and knowledgeable expert on the subject, having since 1995 been Buffett’s handpicked compiler and editor of The Essays Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America. The editors of NACD’s quarterly, Directorship, published Cunningham’s article as their cover story in the summer of 2016. They explained: The legendary chair and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway has nearly perfected the art of writing his annual missive. We asked Lawrence A. Cunningham, the George Washington University professor who has worked with Buffett to both annotate and aggregate his letters, to share what makes this year’s example another standout. Here is Cunningham’s answer and complete analysis.
Keywords: Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, Shareholder Letters, Writing, Corporate Communications, Directorships, Corporate Culture, Clayton Homes, 3G
JEL Classification: G2, G23, G24, G32, G34, G38
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation