Hopton Buffett

[Myself]

I was flipping through The Fountainhead the other day and came across this passage.

Hopton Stoddard had a genius for investment; he invested in everything -- houses of ill fame, Broadway spectacles on the grand scale, preferably of a religious nature, factories, farm mortgages and contraceptives. He was small and bent. His face was not disfigured; people merely thought it was because it had a single expression; he smiled. His little mouth was shaped like a v in eternal good cheer; his eyebrows were tiny v's inverted over round, blue eyes; his hair, rich, white and waved, looked like a wig, but was real.

[Maximus]

Once again, life imitates art.

You'd think that with his money, he'd do something about those yellow teeth.

[IchorFigure]

Are you kidding, have you seen the price of Crest white strips? They're like $20 a box! You don't become a billionaire splurging on Crest white strips.

[Pete Caya]

Impressive, you are attacking a man's appearance because you hate his principals. Very second handed.

I don't agree with a lot of what Warren Buffet does and says (he advocated the bail-out, then spent a huge amount on Goldman-Sachs), but nonetheless he is a brilliant man, and I would be happy to have a fraction of the financial intuition that he has. He isn't completely moral, no, but he is someone that I look up to.

[Maximus]

Impressive, you are attacking a man's appearance because you hate his principals. Very second handed.

It's called a sense of humor.

Edited November 17, 2008 by Maximus

[K-Mac]

A good investor? Yes. Brilliant? No.

From http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/10/27/w...-federal-taxes/ ...

"I'm paying the lowest tax rate that I've ever paid in my life," Buffet said. "Now, that's crazy."

[eficazpensador]

Are you kidding, have you seen the price of Crest white strips? They're like $20 a box! You don't become a billionaire splurging on Crest white strips.

hahahaha. That really made my night.

[JASKN]

Warren Buffett advocates a reasoned, non-emotional approach to investing. He cares deeply for "decent" people who are honest and polite. I don't think he ever intended to get super rich, only to work in a business he loves, which explains his spending choices. Conversely, he does not appear to have given much thought to philosophy. But, he seems to like to teach, and sometimes those two make an unpleasant mix when he lectures the public about things like taxes.

All-in-all I think Buffett is someone wise and jovial I would enjoy spending time around, who has admirably stuck to some good life and business principles he totally believes in. I do not understand this reference to Hopton Stoddard, especially since it appears to be negative and has only to do with appearance. Usually Rand would preface a "villain's" character description with something like this, though I don't remember Stoddard, and Buffett is no villain.

[Myself]

I do not understand this reference to Hopton Stoddard, especially since it appears to be negative and has only to do with appearance. Usually Rand would preface a "villain's" character description with something like this, though I don't remember Stoddard, and Buffett is no villain.

Have you read The Fountainhead? The resemblance is more than superficial.

[KendallJ]

Have you read The Fountainhead? The resemblance is more than superficial.

Come again? Warren Buffet is Hoptdon Stoddard? How about a passage that is more than superficial?

[JASKN]

Have you read The Fountainhead? The resemblance is more than superficial.

I just reread the parts on Hopton Stoddard with the CD ROM search. Here are the paragraphs directly following the one you posted, which are more directly explanitory. The other parts in the book just provide further context:

Tohey had known Hopton Stoddard for many years and exercised a strong influence upon him. Hopton Stoddard had never married, had no relatives and no friends; he distrusted people, believing that they were always after his money. But he felt a tremendous respect for Ellsworth Toohey, because Toohey represented the exact opposite of his own life; Toohey had no concern whatever for worldly wealth; by the mere fact of this contrast, he considered Toohey the personification of virtue; what this estimate implied in regard to his own life never quite occurred to him. He was not easy in his mind about his life, and the uneasiness grew with the years, with the certainty of an approaching end. He found relief in religion—in the form of a bribe. He experimented with several different creeds, attended services, donated large sums and switched to another faith. As the years passed, the tempo of his quest accelerated; it had the tone of panic.

Toohey's indifference to religion was the only flaw that disturbed him in the person of his friend and mentor. But everything Toohey preached seemed in line with God's law: charity, sacrifice, help to the poor. Hopton Stoddard felt safe whenever he followed Toohey's advice. He donated handsomely to the institutions recommended by Toohey, without much prompting. In matters of the spirit he regarded Toohey upon earth somewhat as he expected to regard God in heaven.

The two major similarities are investing ability and attraction to altruistic creeds. The physical attributes are incidental to character type. Besides that, Rand describes Stoddard like an unpleasant, unconfident boob. Hardly how I think of Buffett.

Edited November 19, 2008 by JASKN

[Myself]

The two major similarities are investing ability and attraction to altruistic creeds. The physical attributes are incidental to character type. Besides that, Rand describes Stoddard like an unpleasant, unconfident boob. Hardly how I think of Buffett.

I think Rand identified a character type rooted in reality. I suspect Buffett is confident in investing (like Stoddard) but totally adrift when it comes to ethics and philosophy.

Consider this:

The man spent 50 years devoted to making money. Now that he's nearing the end of his life, he's frantically trying to give away as much as he can, to atone for the sin of having it. He endorsed Obama and may serve as an "economic advisor." He was for the bailout. He's against the gold standard.

There has to be some influencing force behind him, feeding him this garbage. Who that real life Toohey is, I don't know.

What really pushed the similarities over the edge, were the pictures I saw of him. His face really does look disfigured from too much smiling. In interviews, his manner is both ingratiating and patronizing. I can't stand the man.

As far as I can tell, Hopton Stoddard and Warren Buffett are cut from the same cloth.

Edited November 19, 2008 by Myself

[JASKN]

Well, you have certainly painted him in a bad light, and if it is all true with the "right" condemning motivations, I have to agree with you. I wouldn't consider myself a Buffett expert though, but I do admire his investment- and business-realted abilities, and achievements.

[softwareNerd]

I see no similarities in the personalities of Stoddard and Buffett, only in the general philosophy of altruism. Rich person who give away lots of wealth and support Obama have a wide range of personalities. For instance, take Buffett, Gates and Soros. They're each a little different.

[D'kian]

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I think so, Brain. But what if:

1) The chicken won't wear the nylons?

2) Congress bails you out?

3) The auto companies go into Chapter 11 and are forced to cut costs and become profitable?

4) I think so, brain. But- No, it's too silly!

Brain: "We'll disguise ourselves as a company too big to fail and take the treasury for 700 billion dollars!"

Pinky: "That was it exactly!"

5) 'Snowball for Windows'?

With apologies to those who never watched Pinky and The Brain

[Myself]

Are you pondering what I'm pondering?

I was wondering when someone was going to pick up on that!

[D'kian]

I was wondering when someone was going to pick up on that!

Well, I was busy.

I loved that show. It was simply irresistible.

As is my favorite quote:

Explorer Club member 1: Those large ears. Those pinched features. They must be royalty.

Brain: Actually I'm a mouse bent on world domination

Explorer Club member 2: Definitely royalty.