How to Close a Deal Like Warren Buffett: Lessons from the World's Greatest Dealmaker

LESSON 13

Expect the Unexpected

WHILE THE investment world was high on high-tech stocks at the turn of the millennium, Warren was busy buying construction-related companies. The unexpected can befall even Warren.

In 2000, Warren entered the building-products business, acquiring brick maker Acme Building Brands of Texas and paint maker Benjamin Moore & Co. of New Jersey. Then in 2001, Berkshire bought Shaw Industries, a Georgia company known as the world’s largest maker of carpet and laminate flooring.

In 2001, Warren acquired even more building-products companies, including insulation maker Johns Manville and MiTek Inc., which is into engineered connector products such as building trusses.

This was quite a profitable move until the housing bubble ...