How we invest
We answer to one family. There are no outside investors to report to and no date by which we have to sell, and nearly everything below follows from that.
We hold for decades
Most of what we own, we expect to still own in twenty years. We don't set an exit date when we buy, and we stay away from anything we wouldn't be comfortable holding through a bad decade.
We own a few things
The portfolio is concentrated on purpose. We would rather know fourteen businesses properly than hold a sliver of hundreds and understand none of them.
We keep debt low
Our businesses and buildings carry modest debt or none at all. Heavy borrowing turns an ordinary downturn into a forced sale, and giving up a little return is a fair price for never being forced.
We back the people running things
We take a board seat when it's useful and stay out of day-to-day decisions. Usually the most valuable things we can give a good management team are time and a steady owner.
We stay quiet
We don't give interviews, sponsor conferences or appear in rankings. This site exists so the right people can find us, not so more people know who we are.