TRY AS YOU MIGHT, in fashion, you can’t outrun the past. Believe it or not, the grungy, 1990s-style men’s denim trend is back. Though he wasn’t born when Soundgarden first hit the airwaves in the late ’80s, Josh Galdo, 26, a nurse in Las Vegas, is drawn to hole-ridden jeans like the ones so many Seattle bands wore in the ’90s. “Probably one of the biggest style icons, Kurt Cobain, always wore slouchy, loose-fit destroyed jeans, but it looks so comfortable on him,” said Mr. Galdo, who owns worn-o...
Mar 09, 2022•6 min•Ep. 151
It used to be obvious what your employees wanted out of work. Pre-pandemic, most of us accepted that almost every white-collar professional’s goal was to get promoted and move up the corporate ladder as quickly as possible. Not anymore. Just as we all started to become “life-hack ninjas” during the pandemic who could effortlessly Zoom, Slack, and tweet from our bedrooms at the same time, for many professionals, our needs and priorities shifted. The pandemic prompted a widespread re-evaluation of...
Mar 08, 2022•1 min•Ep. 152
It used to be obvious what your employees wanted out of work. Pre-pandemic, most of us accepted that almost every white-collar professional’s goal was to get promoted and move up the corporate ladder as quickly as possible. Not anymore. Just as we all started to become “life-hack ninjas” during the pandemic who could effortlessly Zoom, Slack, and tweet from our bedrooms at the same time, for many professionals, our needs and priorities shifted. The pandemic prompted a widespread re-evaluation of...
Mar 08, 2022•6 min•Ep. 153
It is the dominant American maker of smartphones, a household name to billions and for many makers of high-tech parts their most important customer ever. Just don’t ask who it is. In Asia, it’s surreptitiously referred to as “the fruit company” or sometimes “Fuji,” referring to the variety of the specific fruit in question that’s cultivated in Japan. Other descriptors include “the three-trillion-dollar company”—which slightly overstates its market value—“the honored North American customer” and ...
Mar 07, 2022•41 sec•Ep. 154
It is the dominant American maker of smartphones, a household name to billions and for many makers of high-tech parts their most important customer ever. Just don’t ask who it is. In Asia, it’s surreptitiously referred to as “the fruit company” or sometimes “Fuji,” referring to the variety of the specific fruit in question that’s cultivated in Japan. Other descriptors include “the three-trillion-dollar company”—which slightly overstates its market value—“the honored North American customer” and ...
Mar 07, 2022•6 min•Ep. 155
Millions of Americans have walked away from their jobs in a startling phenomenon known as the “Great Resignation.” They’re sick of commuting, sick of dreary working conditions, sick of their bosses. Whether nurses, waiters, truck drivers or knowledge workers, they’ve had it. They’re going home, and they’re not coming back. The Great Resignation has now begun to spread to some unusual sectors of the economy. Members of tribute bands, for instance, are folding their tents for good. “I couldn’t pla...
Mar 04, 2022•1 min•Ep. 156
Millions of Americans have walked away from their jobs in a startling phenomenon known as the “Great Resignation.” They’re sick of commuting, sick of dreary working conditions, sick of their bosses. Whether nurses, waiters, truck drivers or knowledge workers, they’ve had it. They’re going home, and they’re not coming back. The Great Resignation has now begun to spread to some unusual sectors of the economy. Members of tribute bands, for instance, are folding their tents for good. “I couldn’t pla...
Mar 04, 2022•6 min•Ep. 157
Talking to university students is far superior. I have urged that they seek employment in (1) the field and (2) with the kind of people they would select, if they had no need for money. Economic realities, I acknowledge, may interfere with that kind of search. Even so, I urge the students never to give up the quest, for when they find that sort of job, they will no longer be “working.” Charlie and I, ourselves, followed that liberating course after a few early stumbles. We both started as partti...
Mar 03, 2022•1 min•Ep. 158
Talking to university students is far superior. I have urged that they seek employment in (1) the field and (2) with the kind of people they would select, if they had no need for money. Economic realities, I acknowledge, may interfere with that kind of search. Even so, I urge the students never to give up the quest, for when they find that sort of job, they will no longer be “working.” Charlie and I, ourselves, followed that liberating course after a few early stumbles. We both started as partti...
Mar 03, 2022•6 min•Ep. 159
I taught my first investing class 70 years ago. Since then, I have enjoyed working almost every year with students of all ages, finally “retiring” from that pursuit in 2018. Along the way, my toughest audience was my grandson’s fifth-grade class. The 11-year-olds were squirming in their seats and giving me blank stares until I mentioned Coca-Cola and its famous secret formula. Instantly, every hand went up, and I learned that “secrets” are catnip to kids. Teaching, like writing, has helped me de...
Mar 02, 2022•57 sec•Ep. 160
I taught my first investing class 70 years ago. Since then, I have enjoyed working almost every year with students of all ages, finally “retiring” from that pursuit in 2018. Along the way, my toughest audience was my grandson’s fifth-grade class. The 11-year-olds were squirming in their seats and giving me blank stares until I mentioned Coca-Cola and its famous secret formula. Instantly, every hand went up, and I learned that “secrets” are catnip to kids. Teaching, like writing, has helped me de...
Mar 02, 2022•5 min•Ep. 161
Share Repurchases There are three ways that we can increase the value of your investment. The first is always front and center in our minds: Increase the long-term earning power of Berkshire’s controlled businesses through internal growth or by making acquisitions. Our second choice is to buy non-controlling part-interests in the many good or great businesses that are publicly traded. From time to time, such possibilities are both numerous and blatantly attractive. Today, though, we find little ...
Mar 01, 2022•58 sec•Ep. 162
Share Repurchases There are three ways that we can increase the value of your investment. The first is always front and center in our minds: Increase the long-term earning power of Berkshire’s controlled businesses through internal growth or by making acquisitions. Our second choice is to buy non-controlling part-interests in the many good or great businesses that are publicly traded. From time to time, such possibilities are both numerous and blatantly attractive. Today, though, we find little ...
Mar 01, 2022•6 min•Ep. 163
What You Own Berkshire owns a wide variety of businesses, some in their entirety, some only in part. The second group largely consists of marketable common stocks of major American companies. Additionally, we own a few non-U.S. equities and participate in several joint ventures or other collaborative activities. Whatever our form of ownership, our goal is to have meaningful investments in businesses with both durable economic advantages and a first-class CEO. Please note particularly that we own...
Feb 28, 2022•56 sec•Ep. 164
What You Own Berkshire owns a wide variety of businesses, some in their entirety, some only in part. The second group largely consists of marketable common stocks of major American companies. Additionally, we own a few non-U.S. equities and participate in several joint ventures or other collaborative activities. Whatever our form of ownership, our goal is to have meaningful investments in businesses with both durable economic advantages and a first-class CEO. Please note particularly that we own...
Feb 28, 2022•6 min•Ep. 165
On The Tonight Show in late January, Jimmy Fallon held up a portrait of a cartoon ape wearing a sailor’s hat, a striped shirt and heart-shaped sunglasses. “This is my ape,” he said, as his guest, Paris Hilton, gave it her approval. She also had an ape, which Fallon had earlier shown the audience, a red-furred version wearing sunglasses and an S&M cap. “We’re part of the same community,” Fallon said. “We’re both apes.” This odd moment between Hilton and Fallon hurtled Bored Ape Yacht Club, a ...
Feb 25, 2022•1 min•Ep. 166
On The Tonight Show in late January, Jimmy Fallon held up a portrait of a cartoon ape wearing a sailor’s hat, a striped shirt and heart-shaped sunglasses. “This is my ape,” he said, as his guest, Paris Hilton, gave it her approval. She also had an ape, which Fallon had earlier shown the audience, a red-furred version wearing sunglasses and an S&M cap. “We’re part of the same community,” Fallon said. “We’re both apes.” This odd moment between Hilton and Fallon hurtled Bored Ape Yacht Club, a ...
Feb 25, 2022•7 min•Ep. 167
MACAÍBA, Brazil—Cibele Florêncio was just 24 when she was crowned vice-champion at a national chess tournament in Brazil last year, no mean feat given she was spending up to 12 hours a day cleaning houses. A maid and single mother from Brazil’s poor northeastern scrublands, Ms. Florêncio is competing at the highest level at what is still considered an elitist game in one of the world’s most unequal countries. “People look at me and wonder what the hell I’m doing there,” she said of the other con...
Feb 24, 2022•45 sec•Ep. 168
MACAÍBA, Brazil—Cibele Florêncio was just 24 when she was crowned vice-champion at a national chess tournament in Brazil last year, no mean feat given she was spending up to 12 hours a day cleaning houses. A maid and single mother from Brazil’s poor northeastern scrublands, Ms. Florêncio is competing at the highest level at what is still considered an elitist game in one of the world’s most unequal countries. “People look at me and wonder what the hell I’m doing there,” she said of the other con...
Feb 24, 2022•6 min•Ep. 169
GLASGOW—There is a dingy, narrow alleyway around the back of the Horseshoe Bar here that looks like a place where something unpleasant could happen. It is also one of the reasons Scotland’s biggest city has landed a recurring role as Batman’s hometown. With its mix of neoclassical buildings and grimy back streets, location scouts have discovered Glasgow is an ideal match for Gotham City. In the latest movie, “The Batman,” out next month, the Dark Knight revs his batcycle past museums, through ci...
Feb 23, 2022•48 sec•Ep. 170
GLASGOW—There is a dingy, narrow alleyway around the back of the Horseshoe Bar here that looks like a place where something unpleasant could happen. It is also one of the reasons Scotland’s biggest city has landed a recurring role as Batman’s hometown. With its mix of neoclassical buildings and grimy back streets, location scouts have discovered Glasgow is an ideal match for Gotham City. In the latest movie, “The Batman,” out next month, the Dark Knight revs his batcycle past museums, through ci...
Feb 23, 2022•5 min•Ep. 171
Bitcoin may not see a bull market until late 2024 or the beginning of 2025, if past price cycles are any indication, according to the co-founder of Huobi, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Du Jun told CNBC that bitcoin bull markets are closely tied to a process called halving, which occurs every few years. This relates to so-called miners on the bitcoin network, which run powerful specialized computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions on the bitco...
Feb 22, 2022•42 sec•Ep. 172
Bitcoin may not see a bull market until late 2024 or the beginning of 2025, if past price cycles are any indication, according to the co-founder of Huobi, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Du Jun told CNBC that bitcoin bull markets are closely tied to a process called halving, which occurs every few years. This relates to so-called miners on the bitcoin network, which run powerful specialized computers to solve complex mathematical puzzles to validate transactions on the bitco...
Feb 22, 2022•5 min•Ep. 173
Feb 21, 2022•7 min•Ep. 174
On Jan. 5, federal agents showed up at the couple’s Wall Street apartment with a search warrant. At the apartment, investigators seized a plastic baggie marked “burner phone,” more than $40,000 in cash and more than 50 electronic devices, prosecutors said in court filings. According to prosecutors’ filings, the couple chose to leave the premises while the agents searched. They asked to bring their cat, which was hiding under the bed. As Ms. Morgan attempted to coax the cat out from hiding, she g...
Feb 18, 2022•50 sec•Ep. 175
On Jan. 5, federal agents showed up at the couple’s Wall Street apartment with a search warrant. At the apartment, investigators seized a plastic baggie marked “burner phone,” more than $40,000 in cash and more than 50 electronic devices, prosecutors said in court filings. According to prosecutors’ filings, the couple chose to leave the premises while the agents searched. They asked to bring their cat, which was hiding under the bed. As Ms. Morgan attempted to coax the cat out from hiding, she g...
Feb 18, 2022•6 min•Ep. 176
Federal investigators spent years hunting for clues in the 2016 hacking of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange, when thieves stole bitcoin now worth $4.5 billion. In the end, what helped lead them to two suspects was something much more quotidian: a $500 Walmart gift card. That card and more than a dozen others like it, including for Uber , Hotels.com and PlayStation, were linked to emails and cloud service providers belonging to a young Manhattan couple, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather R...
Feb 17, 2022•55 sec•Ep. 177
Federal investigators spent years hunting for clues in the 2016 hacking of the Bitfinex cryptocurrency exchange, when thieves stole bitcoin now worth $4.5 billion. In the end, what helped lead them to two suspects was something much more quotidian: a $500 Walmart gift card. That card and more than a dozen others like it, including for Uber , Hotels.com and PlayStation, were linked to emails and cloud service providers belonging to a young Manhattan couple, Ilya “Dutch” Lichtenstein and Heather R...
Feb 17, 2022•7 min•Ep. 178
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc . SPCE +31.93% is getting ready to send consumers to space. The spaceflight company said it would open ticket sales to the public starting Wednesday. The New Mexico-based company is charging $450,000 for a reservation, a third of which must be paid in an initial deposit, and the rest of which will be paid before their flight. The company disclosed a price estimate last year and had said it was planning to start commercial service in 2022. “We plan to have our first 1...
Feb 16, 2022•53 sec•Ep. 179
Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc . SPCE +31.93% is getting ready to send consumers to space. The spaceflight company said it would open ticket sales to the public starting Wednesday. The New Mexico-based company is charging $450,000 for a reservation, a third of which must be paid in an initial deposit, and the rest of which will be paid before their flight. The company disclosed a price estimate last year and had said it was planning to start commercial service in 2022. “We plan to have our first 1...
Feb 16, 2022•5 min•Ep. 180
