Warren Buffett

Untangling the derivatives mess

They didn't melt down the financial system. But these red-hot instruments proved too tempting for both buyers and sellers. This is the story of how lies, leverage, ignorance - and lots of arrogance - burned some big players.

By Carol Loomis

This story is from the March 20, 1995 issue of Fortune. It is the full text of an article excerpted in Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything, MORE

The culprits of Orange County

By Carol Loomis

This is a sidebar that ran with Untangling the Derivatives Mess in the March 20, 1995 issue of Fortune.

FORTUNE -- As was inevitable given the temper of the times, the December revelations about investment disasters in Orange County, California, were immediately converted into headlines with "derivatives" writ large. But in actuality, these newfangled concoctions were only a part of the problem that did the county in. The true roots MORE

Do you know these hot new credit cards?

By Linda Grant

This is a sidebar that ran with Why Warren Buffett's Betting Big on American Express in the October 30, 1995 issue of Fortune.

FORTUNE -- As the credit card wars heat up, four little-known upstarts -- Advanta, Capital One, First USA, and MBNA -- are using information technology to charge ahead of the competition. The quartet, which issue Mastercards (MA) and Visa (V) cards, have been poaching the most profitable customers from MORE

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