Because she became a bestselling author with an investment guidebook on her former father-in-law Warren Buffett, it seems impossible for Mary Buffett to be seen as an individual, a person separate from the shadow of the famous billionaire.
Mary Buffett.
Wherever she goes, people come up with similar questions: "What have you learned from Warren Buffett?" or "What is the key to Warren's success?" If not, then she is quizzed for stock-picking tips and investment trends, all according to the business magnate's philosophy.
Yet Mary is her own person, a woman with entrepreneurial spirit. Born and raised as part of an Italian immigrant family in Chicago, Mary has always been into business. Mary gives credit for her can-do attitude to her mother, who instilled in her a sense of self belief. Her mother usually told her: "Do not think that you cannot do anything."
"I have been working since I was a teenager, starting at 14," she said. At 19, Mary moved into the music industry, working as a songwriter and singer in record companies such as MCA Records, Columbia and in the publishing division of the Playboy Music label owned by Hugh Hefner. "When I told my father that I work for Hugh Hefner's company, my dad said, 'What?!'."
Not long after, she met Peter Buffett, Warren's musician son, to whom she was married for 12 years. After they divorced in 1993, she found herself financially insecure and alone raising three children.
"Suddenly, I originally thought to write a book on investment for women [with no background in finance and investment]. So I wanted to write something, in a simple way, about what I have learned from the years of being around Warren, and I wanted to tell them that you can do it too."
The content of her books was drawn from 12 years of spending time with Warren during family gatherings, especially Christmas and New Year parties. Warren, she said, is constant reader and a great teacher who imparts wisdom about logic, stock trading principles and how to live life. Warren always urged that: "Mary, purge yourself from all emotion when you make a decision. You can't love a company and you can't love a stock. You need to do it from a business perspective."
Some advice is witty and tongue-in-cheek. Warren is a Wall Street outsider, and often questions the system. Warren once said: "Wall street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway."
Some of his credos are simple and beautiful logic. Warren always said that: "Do what you love. This is the greatest lesson because if you do what you love you will never work a day in your life."
Since 1997, Mary and stock analyst David Clark have co-written eight books, including tomes on investment strategy, such as Buffettology, and life philosophy, such as The Tao Of Warren Buffett. Those books became bestsellers and some have been translated into 18 languages. In Thailand, Post Publishing Plc has translated the books co-written by Mary and Clark.
After her books became hits, Mary has been working constantly, as a lecturer at a business school, a public speaker, and a guest commentator on business news programmes. This is on top of her continued advocacy for women's development and environmental conservation. She is also about to open a fund that will invest and trade based on Warren Buffett's strategy, which focuses on research, paying attention to price, and focusing on long-term gains.
She is updating her books on Buffettology, and, if that wasn't enough, she is about to write a memoir and a guidebook for women to invest in insurance.
All her works revolve around investment and concepts she learned from her former father-in-law, who happens to be the third-richest person and best-known investor in the world. But she described herself as a firm believer in education. She said many people do not know how to make money work for them. Her books are created to educate in simple terms.
And she said the best investment has nothing to do with whether the market is bullish.
"The greatest lesson I learned from Warren is that the most important person to invest in is yourself because you are the biggest asset that you really have."
