Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.A Japanese comic book biography of Warren Buffett by Ayano Morio has been translated into English, and a look at some of its pages shows a careful recitation of the Omaha investor's history in the "manga" style of simplified illustrations and story line.
BusinessInsider posted some fuzzy sample pages online, enough to get a feel for its portrayal of Buffett starting with his boyhood and tracking his life through 2003.
The comics are an art form that dates back hundreds of years in Japan and are not always aimed at children. Some are erotic, but many portray everyday life and work and are closer to graphic novels, with character development and complete plots.
Chapters in "The Superhero of Finance" include "Meeting Benjamin Graham," "Discovering Intangible Value," "The Warren and Charlie Show" and "The Return of GEICO." Buffett's friendship with the late Katherine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post, is detailed in the chapter titled "A Platonic Affair."
From the segment about Buffett's courtship of Susan Thompson:
"You know, Warren is really a fine young man," says her father, William Thompson. "You shouldn't be put off by his modesty. It's a virtue."
Susan, thinking: (Gee, Dad really does like him. And he hates my other boyfriends.) "Sure, Dad, let's all have dinner together some time."
Susie was an obedient girl. And Warren had been working to improve his charm.
Susan, thinking: (Warren's so smart. And I feel sorry for him. All those pent-up emotions and complexes. I can help him.)
Spring, 1952. Warren and Susie get married. Susie is only 19.
Later, as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Buffett acquires Omaha's National Indemnity Co. by disarmingly agreeing to all of the demands by its CEO, Jack Ringwalt, who is labeled "a feisty college dropout."
"The deal took 15 minutes, and Berkshire Hathaway bought its first insurance company," the comic notes.
Against Canadian law
Berkshire's Shaw Industries Group Inc. acknowledged that it broke Canadian trade law by exporting hardwood flooring to Canada that was partly made by prison inmates, the Wall Street Journal reported.
In a letter, Shaw told customers in Canada it had "recently learned that our importing into Canada of goods that are manufactured utilizing prison labor is prohibited by Canadian law," the Journal reported. Such laws are intended to discourage countries from using forced labor.
Shaw, which is based in Dalton, Ga., said it stopped the shipments and notified Canadian authorities, and it is not expecting any penalties or fines. It plans to resume shipments of flooring that does not involve prison labor.
Shaw said it had been shipping the flooring to Canada for years and wasn't aware of the restriction until a journalist asked about it late last year. The sales represented a "small percentage" of Shaw's wood-flooring sales.
Prisoners do tasks such as scraping the wood to create a "distressed" look, the company said. They work through a federal program that helps rehabilitate prisoners and provide money for restitution to crime victims.
Adding to challenge
Buffett has widened his pitch to encourage members of Congress to donate extra cash to the U.S. Treasury, adding Democrats to his earlier challenge to Republicans.
Fortune magazine's Carol Loomis reported that Buffett, a Democrat, agreed to match $49,000 sent to the Treasury by Rep. Scott Rigell (R-Va.). Buffett said he would send in his matching money about April 20 "after I've had a chance to hear from everyone," in case others also decide to help reduce the federal deficit personally.
Rigell said in a letter to Buffett that he sends 15 percent of his congressional salary to the Treasury each year — $23,103.33 last year and about $26,100 this year. Buffett agreed to match that total.
Buffett has complained about low tax rates that he and some other high-income people pay, and various critics have responded by saying that if Buffett wants to pay more, he should just send in a check. Although Buffett's main point in the argument is the need for fair tax rates and "shared sacrifice" by the wealthy, he offered to match Republican members of Congress who contribute.
Buffett said in a letter to Rigell that he was "pleased and delighted" to send in the money, adding, "You are the first to respond, but I hope your action spurs an intramural rivalry between Republicans and Democrats."
A friendly rivalry "might possibly lead to better cooperation between the two parties, and it also might be helpful in restoring the faith of the American people in Congress," Buffett wrote to Rigell, inviting him to meet if he's ever traveling near Omaha.
Although the two may disagree on tax policy, Buffett said, they likely agree that the federal deficit needs to be reduced.
Partying with Jay-Z
Vibe, the hip-hop magazine, reports that Buffett was among celebrity guests when rapper Jay-Z reopened his 40/40 club in New York City last week.
One of the online photos shows Buffett smiling broadly with his hands extended, forefingers and thumbs touching.
"Warren Buffett Throws Up the Diamond," the caption says. It's Jay-Z's signature gesture, as recognizable to hip-hop fans as Winston Churchill's "V" was to folks of Buffett's generation half a century ago.
The financier and the rapper/businessman have been friends the past few years, including a meeting in September 2010 at Omaha's Hollywood Diner for a joint interview by Steve Forbes for a Forbes magazine article.
Tesco stake grows
Berkshire boosted its holdings of the British supermarket company Tesco to 5.08 percent from 3.21 percent by buying $775 million worth of shares after the company projected that its profits would slip, the London Daily Mail reported, adding to a stake that Buffett began building in 2006.
Share prices had dropped 16 percent after the company said its Christmas sales were weak.
The British press has reported that Tesco's new CEO, Phil Clarke, has been under pressure since a price-reduction strategy failed and other competitors began making headway against Tesco. The company's U.S. "Fresh & Easy" stores also have been less successful than hoped.
The London Daily Telegraph reported: "Shareholders, including Buffett, have to trust that the new regime can improve the U.K. performance in the eye of unusually challenging trading conditions. In that sense we are in uncharted territory as they have no track record in this area."
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