I always get suspicious when everyone loves the same guy, with accolades from virtually every political persuasion and mainstream media. That just raises alarm bells with me and the only reasonable conclusion that one can come to is that someone like Warren Buffett must be extremely well connected. And no doubt he is.
It does help that he has an avuncular look, and a sort of "aw, shucks" attitude. Guys like that are dangerous though, because it's people that look non-threatening that can be the most lethal of all. The fact of the matter is, while one can see investing and the business world as all sorts of things, I have a tendency to see it as a game in which there are winners and there are losers. While I will admit there can be circumstances that allow for that win-win outcome, more often than not, one party out-wins the other and to be a consistent and proven winner in this game you're going to have to have a lot of wisdom, experience, savvy, gumption, thoroughness, desire, and probably connections.
Although the media likes to portray that you too can make the same investing decision and deals that Buffett makes this is pure nonsense. Buffett gets deals done that you and I could never hope to obtain because Buffett has the capital to do the transactions and because Buffett is a superb negotiator. In 2008, Buffett purchases $5 billion of preferred shares from Goldman Sachs along with a 10% annual dividend. In 2011, Buffett also purchased $5 billion of Bank of America's preferred shares along with warrants for their common shares. Both of these deals made Berkshire Hathaway a lot of money and neither one of these deals were available to me or you.
The fact of the matter is that Buffett has the type of political connections that allows him to have the confidence to make the deals that he does. Wouldn't you like to be able to pick up the phone and talk to the President of the United States, the Federal Reserve Chairman, or any of the top executives in the largest corporations in the world? Buffett is going to get the assurances that he needs from the people that make policy so that he can make the best decision for his company. Buffett is no country bumpkin, he is the insider of insiders and because his public persona is so low-key, he is the go-to guy to get deals done that quite frankly most other corporations and conglomerates just aren't going to have the flexibility or desire to accomplish.
Warren Buffett is one of the elite, one of the power brokers of the world. Buffett makes the money, gets the deals, because he is part of the club, a member of the Bilderberg Group and who knows how many others. Buffett is as establishment as they come, and because of his positive self-image, he can be used again and again to get things accomplished that the power brokers want to get done. Buffett is the second richest man in the world, he's not one of us, and instead he's one of them that control us.