Back 1) Mark Twain said, 'Fish stink from the head,' right? It's people up top who set an example of how a business should be run. And if they're~~ sloppy, or throw money around and have big expense accounts, I think it permeates the whole firm. So I think employees are inspired by the people up top and their conduct-how they act is extremely important."
"What advice wouls I give my granchildren?
That is th easiest question in the world.
Do somethign you enjoy - music, business,
public service, what-ever.
If they don't enjoy going to work, i don't care if their
IQ is 30 points higher, the guy with the inferior IQ
- who loves what he is doing -
will beat them to death."
"Ace Greenberg does almost everything better
than I do-bridge, magic tricks, dog training, arbitrage
- all of the important things of life."
Warren Buffett
2) I have always looked for smart, poor people who have a personal desire to become rich. That is still my standard. Some other people here go visit the various business schools, and I don't hold it against somebody if he has a master's degree from some prestigious school, but I certainly don't think it should be the end-all as far as hiring people.
3) If you really want to understand what someone is like, you should talk to people who do business with him, his custamers, and the people who work for him. How someone comes over in an interview in my office, that's nonsense.
4) In some firms that's a no-no, they don't want to be known as a COffipany where people tell and and become whistle blowers, become whistle blowers.
5) In many cases, when a firm does lousy, they give their top guys an · extra bonus. · When the stock is down they cancel their options and give him new ones, which is ridiculous, but they do it. We don't. I know of no other group of senior executives who are will ing to let their compensation rise and fall solely based on the profits of the company. They want a sure, secure I thing. We don't work that way."
6) All the senIor managing directors, there are about 300 of them, are requested to give away 4% of their total gross income to charity every year.
7) Most of them give much more. We don't care what they give it to but we audit them to make sure they do.
8) Somebody once said, the most uncommon sense in the world is common sense. So I guess we have to believe that.
Greenberg, Ace - Bear Stearns
