Gene Abegg

Founder of Illinois National Bank

Founder of Illinois National Bank & Trust Company, a highly profitable bank acquired by Berkshire.

Stub biography — expand with key quotes and timeline.

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Concepts

The process by which management decides how to deploy the cash generated by a business — the central skill Buffett belie…

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Return on Equity

Net income as a percentage of shareholder equity — Buffett's key metric for identifying businesses that consistently ear…

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Owner Earnings

Net income plus depreciation and amortization, minus capital expenditures required to maintain competitive positioning —…

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Management Integrity

The non-negotiable character requirement Buffett places above intelligence and capability when evaluating potential mana…

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Insurance Float

Premium money collected but not yet paid out as claims — essentially a costless (or below-cost) loan Berkshire uses to f…

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Economic Moat

A durable, structural competitive advantage that protects a business from competition, allowing it to earn above-average…

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Book Value

The net assets of a company as recorded by accounting conventions — a figure Buffett uses as a rough, conservative proxy…

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Underwriting Discipline

The practice of only writing insurance policies whose expected claims are covered by premiums — refusing volume at the e…

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Margin of Safety

Buying a security at a significant discount to its intrinsic value, providing a buffer against errors of estimation and …

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Patience

The behavioral discipline to hold excellent businesses through short-term market volatility and wait for the right pitch…

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Financial Strength

The capacity of a business to withstand adversity and meet its obligations under stress, independent of short-term earni…

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Mentioned In

1969 Letter to Shareholders

Four years ago your management committed itself to the development of more substantial and more consistent earning po…

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1970 Letter to Shareholders

The past year witnessed dramatically diverse earnings results among our various operating units. This diversity — qui…

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1971 Letter to Shareholders

It is a pleasure to report that operating earnings in 1971, excluding capital gains, amounted to more than 14% of beg…

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1972 Letter to Shareholders

Operating earnings of Berkshire Hathaway during 1972 amounted to a highly satisfactory 19.8% of beginning shareholder…

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1973 Letter to Shareholders

Our financial results for 1973 were satisfactory, with operating earnings of 17.4% on beginning shareholders' equity.…

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1974 Letter to Shareholders

Operating results for 1974 overall were unsatisfactory due to the poor performance of our insurance operations. We se…

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1975 Letter to Shareholders

Last year, when discussing the prospects for 1975, we stated 'the outlook is not encouraging.' Unfortunately, this fo…

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1976 Letter to Shareholders

After two dismal years, operating results in 1976 improved significantly. Our insurance operations, led by National I…

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