The live Zoom-based course runs for six weeks, founded by graduates of the Harvard Business School, taught live by a faculty of experienced executives (and your fellow students).

WBRG can be experienced as a summer program directly through WBRG, (sign up via this website), a high school/nonprofit partner program, or through LPL Financial, one of our sponsors.

Through the writings and speeches of Warren Buffett you will learn from one of the greatest business leaders and investors to ever walk Wall Street (why high school students today should learn from this 93+ year old).

The six weeks are divided into two parts based on the two questions Buffett thinks every student should understand:

① What is a good company, economically?

Week 1: Introduction to the basics of business and to Buffett and Munger (2022 Shareholder Letter)
The first session begins with the basics of companies, public companies, the role of the CEO, the Board, shareholders, the concept of “moat”, and some financial analysis tools like CAGR (compound annual growth rate). We then move into the conversation about “What is a good company?” We introduce some key concepts including—but not limited to—customer loyalty, management and ethics, profitability, and long-term stock performance. You will learn these concepts as you learn about and explore companies like Coca-Cola, American Express, and Apple (Buffett’s purchase of Apple has created one of the largest absolute dollar returns of any public market investment ever). We end the class talking about concepts like “creative destruction”, and reviewing key elements of Charlie Munger’s philosophy (as outlined in the 2022 letter).

Week 2: Key Principles of Buffett’s Philosophy (1983 Shareholder Letter)
In this second class, we begin by spending some time understanding Warren Buffett’s key philosophy, as outlined in his classic 1983 letter–important elements like Buffett’s attitude and mindset including his relationship with shareholders, his focus on long-term thinking, his perspective on the use and misuse of debt (and what debt is), what he means by ‘value investing’, and then we return to our central question: What is a good company? This session goes on to highlight some of the good businesses that Buffett owned in the 1970s and 1980s such as See’s Candies, Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Buffalo News—businesses that taught him key lessons about brand, customer loyalty, and the power of good economics (lessons which led directly to his later purchases of Coca-Cola, American Express, and Apple.) Think about this: Buffett purchased See’s Candies in 1972 for $25 million and has received more than $1.5 billion in profit. Perhaps, he’s the first true Willy Wonka.

Week 3: Economic Moats, Creative Destruction, and the Economic Engine of Berkshire Hathaway (1995 Letter)
In this third class, we’ll revisit a concept from the first class, economic moats, which is central to how Buffett thinks about whether a business is economically strong and built to last. We’ll examine three key acquisitions Berkshire made in 1995: Helzberg Diamonds, R.C. Willey, and the large auto insurance company, GEICO (Buffett bought the remaining 50% he did not already down). Along the way, we’ll examine the basics of the insurance business and how float is the economic engine behind Berkshire Hathaway. We’ll also look at two Berkshire companies that were getting hit by Creative Destruction: World Book (a print encyclopedia) and Dexter Shoes. We will end with a general discussion of what you have learned so far about what makes a good company for shareholders and customers.

② How does the stock market operate?

Week 4: The Dotcom Bubble and Buffett’s Famous 1999 Speech at the Summer Camp for Billionaires
Now, after spending the first three sessions of this course discussing what makes a good company, we turn our attention to the second big topic of the course: how markets operate. To do that, we will ask you and your students to read Buffett’s 1999 speech to the Allen & Company annual conference. (The conference is also known as the “Billionaire’s summer camp.”) The speech is a master class on the stock market, stock prices, interest rates, risk-free rates, inflation, the Federal Reserve, GDP, S&P 500, Dow Jones Index, corporate profits, investor expectations (and the concept of “Mr. Market”), bull markets, and crashes. Buffett gave this speech during the great bull market of the late 1990s—a period that became known as the “Dotcom Bubble.” At that time, Buffett predicted that future stock returns (i.e., the coming 17 years, or so) would be nowhere near as rosy as most investors (and dotcom executives) then believed. Many dotcom millionaires and billionaires sat in the audience and did not like what he had to say (though he turned out to be wildly accurate). One attendee at the time, however, thought it was the greatest single lecture ever given on how the stock market operates. That attendee? None other than Bill Gates.

Week 5: The Great Financial Crisis and Noah’s Rule (HBO Documentary, Charlie Munger Video)

In this fifth class—the second one to focus on markets—we will watch both a five minute interview Buffett gave to The Wall Street Journal and an HBO documentary, both of which examine what is known as the Great Financial Crisis (GFC). The GFC was monumental for the stock market, the housing market, and the overall economy (not to mention Berkshire Hathaway itself). As Buffett wrote in his 2008 letter, “By year end, investors of all stripes were bloodied and confused.” Today’s class is meant to help you understand both the housing market and stock market – and about how markets can be irrational and what that means for investors, businesses, and individuals. We also introduce one of our students favorite “rules” – prediction doesn’t count, building arks does (“Noah’s rule).

Week 6: The Pandemic, Meme Stocks, SPACs and Charlie Munger (2020 Shareholder Letter)

This is our final class of this six-part Introduction to the World of Business. For this last session, we’ll ask you to read Warren Buffett’s 2020 Shareholder Letter and watch parts of a Charlie Munger video. We’ll also dive into the four most important businesses Berkshire owns—and how investor psychology, meme stocks, and momentum trading power markets from time to time. Finally, we’ll end the course by asking your students to consider what they have learned about Buffett’s two key questions: 1) What is a good company? and 2) How do markets operate? and ask you to choose again your favorite Mungerisms.