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Andrew? We have some questions on this topic . In the CNBC interview, you said you bought JPMorgan shares for your own account . Can you explain how you decide the difference between investing as a trustee for us, Berkshire shareholders , and investing privately ? Having said that, can you share some of the stocks you've recently purchased for your own account?
To be honest , I like Wells Fargo more than JP Morgan . But we have bought Wells Fargo shares and continue to buy them . So I ca n't buy it on my own. So, I'm investing in something that I'm somewhat interested in, but also something that I'm very passionate about . One problem I have is that I can't buy what Berkshire buys.
When I have some money , I choose my second choices or smaller companies like Korean companies . But all my best ideas are in Berkshire . I assure you of this . Charlie? Charlie has also invested in real estate and other things . To avoid that problem. Yes, but basically the Mangar family has only invested in two or three things.
I'm not interested in the concept of diversification, except when it happens automatically in a large company like Berkshire. I was very happy the day I removed the stock price machine . Did you know? And I like this ' buy and hold' investment method . It's a beautiful lifestyle, and you get to hang out with great quality people.
It worked out well for all of us , so I don't think you need to worry about the investments going in. The investments made through Berkshire are huge, while others are relatively small. If that is the main problem in your life , it means you are living a very lucky life. If you have 98.5% of your money in Berkshire and are only thinking about the remaining 1.5% , you're acting a little crazy .
You should think about Berkshire, and I promise you that's what I do , but you know, sometimes he might like Wells Fargo more than JPMorgan . Yes, I like it. Yes. We have over 400 million Wells Fargo shares in Berkshire. I like JPMorgan , but I know Wells Fargo better . It's easy to understand. Yeah, yeah.
So, we bought Wells Fargo shares in the first quarter. We bought Wells Fargo shares last year . We bought it years ago , and if I had invested my own money instead of managing Berkshire , I would have a lot of money in Wells Fargo , and I would have some money in JPMorgan as well . My question is, how do you evaluate businesses that are in decline ?
You talked about the encyclopedia business being taken down by Encarta, or the retail business being taken down by Amazon and other companies. How would you rate businesses that are in decline ? Should I answer this? They are not of equal value to growing businesses. Okay, but they might still be valuable because there could be a lot of money coming from them .
Yes, generally speaking, it's better to stay away from businesses that are declining. Yes. This is very difficult. You'd be surprised at the business offers we get , they're calling it just six times EBITDA , which would make Charlie angry . Then they project a future that makes no sense . If you think a business is going to fail , it's best to avoid it most of the time.
Now, we are in some declining businesses , for example, the newspaper business is a declining business. We will pay a certain price for that business . We think we understand it well. We'll pay a price to be there , but that's not where we make the real money in Berkshire. Real money is made by engaging in growing businesses.
That's where the focus should be . I wouldn't spend too much time evaluating a business that is in decline . Do n't think that any of this is free. This is what I call the 'cigar butt' approach , where you get to smoke one free puff from a cigar you find. If you show the same amount of energy and intelligence that you put into other types of businesses, it will work better.
So, unless there is some special circumstance , our common reaction would be to avoid new things . We continue to be in some declining businesses , which is by nature the case , but we started with declining businesses. We started with the textile industry in New England , we tried American-made shoes, we...
Department store in Baltimore Department store company on Howard and Lexington Street in Baltimore, we are experts in that. Yes, we had a business that did about 120 million in sales in 1967 or '68, but what did we do last year? About 20,000. Yes. 20,000 yes. I supervised it myself . Yes. I would like to say that I was somewhat helpful .
He wasn't the only one who did it. No, no, I'm saying I was just sitting there and watching. We thought we'd bring the sales chart here and turn it upside down to impress you, but Charlie is still in charge of this business . I couldn't get him to sell , but make me an offer . But if you think about what came out of those three moribund businesses , all of which failed , and it's in the billions , it's hard to imagine how much came out of that.
Yes, we are not looking for an opportunity to do it again. No, but it wasn't in 1966, and maybe we should , because in 1966 , one of our directors, Sadie Gottsman, and Charlie and I, invested $6 million in a company. We called it diversified retailing , even though we only had one operation , but that was, you know.
It was like Angelo Mosillo calling one of his places New York Countrywide Mortgage . We bought a department store on Howard and Lexington Street. I must say one thing for our own protection , there were four department stores on Howard and Lexington Street in Baltimore, all four of which are no longer there.
But that $6 million has turned into about $30 billion . A failed business starts with that, a failed business is a failed business. Yes. Yes. Of course Blue Chip Stamps is another example of that, because it was another company and of course Berkshire was a textile business. So in the early days we were kind of like sufferers .
We were unaware of Becky. Yes. Well, that's the word that came to mind, but I'm not really keen on using it .
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