Berkshire Hathaway

The 25 most powerful people in business

This story is from the August 11, 2003 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune Magazine book, collected and expanded by Carol Loomis.

FORTUNE -- The golf course has been the stage for some truly high-powered moments in business. Andrew Carnegie was on the links in 1901 when he was persuaded to sell his MORE

What Obama means for business

He slammed big companies and free trade in the primaries, but Barack Obama insists he just wants to show corporate America some tough love. We go behind the scenes to see how he plans to make the U.S. a land of opportunity once again.

By Nina Easton

This story is from the July 2, 2008 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: MORE

How Obama manages

He runs a tight ship, based on a few simple rules.

By Jia Lynn Yang

This is a sidebar that ran with What Obama Means for Business in the July 2, 2008 issue of Fortune.

FORTUNE -- No drama. When Barack Obama was selecting his closest advisors, he told each person he wanted zero drama -- meaning no back­stabbing, damaging media leaks, or anything that would detract from the campaign. To do that, he picked a MORE

Riders on the storm

Wells Fargo avoided the reckless tactics of other banks and quietly built a powerhouse in the West. Now its takeover of Wachovia makes it a national force, but how much toxic waste is aboard the stagecoach?

By Adam Lashinsky

This story is from the May 4, 2009 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, 1966-2012, a Fortune MORE

The wit and wisdom of Warren Buffett

While Warren Buffett was growing larger than life, Fortune had a front-row seat.

By Carol J. Loomis

FORTUNE -- Fortune met Warren Buffett by accident in 1966. I was writing an investing article about another man, Alfred Winslow Jones, who wasn't famous at that moment, but was about to be because of the article. Jones was running something called a hedge fund, and Fortune's description of what that was and how MORE

Warren Buffett, the people's businessperson: Act two

For the second year in a row, Fortune readers have chosen Buffett as their Businessperson of the Year.

FORTUNE -- After five rounds of voting, with 32 contenders over the course of one week, the people have spoken, and they have called for the Oracle. The winner of Fortune's Businessperson of the Year, reader's choice edition, is Warren Buffett, for the second year in a row.

Last year, the Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) MORE

The secrets of See's Candies

Warren Buffett calls it a "dream business." Cher, Bill Gates, and millions of Californians love it. Now CEO Brad Kinstler is ready to take the quaint candy maker east. Will it work?

By Daniel Roberts, reporter

FORTUNE -- The plant workers of See's Candies start arriving each day at 4 a.m. In Los Angeles and San Francisco they stand at their stations and drizzle fondant onto maple pecan bonbons or count MORE

Warren and Charlie and the chocolate factory

For a feature about See's Candies, our reporter had the opportunity to sit down with business legends Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger in a single two-day period -- he won't soon forget it.

By Daniel Roberts, reporter

FORTUNE -- In response to a formal email about setting up a sit-down interview with Charlie Munger, his assistant simply wrote: "Charlie says to come over tomorrow at 8:30."

It wasn't what I had expected. MORE

Warren Buffett: The people's Businessperson of the Year

Bezos may be on fire, but the Oracle wins in the end. By Shelley DuBois

How to rebuild our nation's roads and rails

America's infrastructure is sorely lacking. Matt Rose, CEO of Burlington Northern Railroad, offers solutions.

By Nina Easton, senior editor-at-large

FORTUNE -- Amid all the bitter wrangling between big business and the White House, there is one point of agreement: the need to rebuild the nation's roads, bridges, and rails. The U.S. has fallen from eight to 16 on the World Economic Forum's infrastructure rating; one bipartisan report cites a $200 billion annual shortfall just MORE