🔑 Bezos, Buffett & an enduring lesson about investing

It only takes one...

Dear CMQ Investors,

Jeff Bezos announced that he is stepping down as CEO of Amazon. $10,000 invested in Amazon when it went public in 1997 would be worth eight figures today.

This made me think back to something Warren Buffett said in 1996 i.e. many fortunes were built by investing in one wonderful business. If you saw what we all see in Amazon now, back in the late 1990s or early 2000s, you would be living proof.

…if you look at how the fortunes were built in this country, they weren’t built out of a portfolio of 50 companies. They were built by someone who identified with a wonderful business. Coca-Cola’s a great example. A lot of fortunes have been built on that. —Warren Buffett (original post)

This is an enduring lesson in this, for all investors. Buffett said it. Amazon proves it.

🔑 It only takes one.

The question for us to answer is clear: how do we identify the next one? Are there ways to do this that have not been thought of yet?

This is something we will be exploring together via the newsletter and the CMQ Investing podcast.

Talk soon,
-Chris

P.S. I highly recommend watching this interview with Bezos from 1997. 📺 The video is below. It’s a great way to see how he thinks. You can also read all of Jeff Bezos’ annual shareholder letters here.