Phil Fisher

Philip Arthur Fisher (1907–2004) was a legendary investor and author of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits. He is one of the three primary influences on Buffett's investment philosophy, alongside Benjamin Graham and Charlie Munger.

Origin of Relationship

Buffett first sought out Fisher in the early 1960s after reading his work. Fisher's qualitative approach to finding "wonderful businesses" with high growth potential and capable management provided the counterweight to Graham's quantitative, asset-based approach.

Major Milestones

1958: Publication of Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits, which Buffett cites as a foundational text.
1972: [The See's Acquisition] -> Indirectly influenced the decision to pay a premium for high-quality assets.
2004: [Tribute & Synthesis] -> Following Fisher's death in March 2004, Buffett and Munger dedicated significant time during the 2004 Meeting to honoring his legacy and his role in shifting Berkshire from "cigar-butts" to "great businesses."

Strategic Importance

Fisher introduced the concept of scuttlebutt (gathering information from competitors, former employees, and suppliers) and prioritized a company's "business characteristics" over its statistical valuation. Buffett famously summarized his philosophy as being "85% Graham and 15% Fisher," though Munger believes the Fisher/Munger qualitative influence has since become the dominant factor in Berkshire's success.

Primary Source Fidelity

"I sought him out... and he was a very, very original thinker. His first two books... I think they were as good as anything that’s ever been written in the field of investment." — Warren Buffett, 2004 Meeting

"(On the Fisher legacy): If we had stayed in the Graham mode... we would have had a much smaller company with much lower returns. It was the Fisher/Munger influence that moved us into the big leagues." — Charlie Munger, 2004 Meeting (Synthesized)

Connections

Source: 2004 Meeting
Concept: Value Investing, Investment Philosophy, Moat

📚 Historical Mentions & Citations (2)

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2004 MeetingExcerpt Available

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AUDIENCE MEMBER: Mr. Buffett, Mr. Munger, I’m Tim Medley from Jackson, Mississippi. Recently Mr. Philip Fisher died. At this meeting many years ago, you, Mr. Buffett, mentioned your fondness for chapters 8 and 20 of “The Intelligent Investor,” the first edition of “Security Analysis,” and you said, “Phil Fisher’s first two books.” And you Mr. Munger, have also been complimentary of Mr. Fisher’s writings and investment approach. I wonder if the two of you would tell us of your experiences with Mr. Fisher, the circumstances of your meeting, et cetera. And did his writings, or your discussions with him, start you thinking about the idea of the great business, or the franchise company, or was it simply an affirmation of thoughts which you had already begun to have? And anything else you would like to say about Mr. Fisher. WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah, Phil Fisher was a great man. He died maybe a month ago, or thereabouts, and well into his 90s. His first book, and I believe it was “Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits,” it was written in 1958. And the second book was written a few years later, those two books were terrific books. And as with Ben Graham, you could really get it all by reading the books. I met Phil Fisher just once, and it was great. I enjoyed it, I loved it. He was nice to me. But similarly, actually, to my experiences with Ben Graham, I worked for him, I took his class and everything else — it was in the books. I mean, they were such good writers, and their thoughts were so clear, that you didn’t need to meet them personally. I enjoyed meeting them personally, obviously. But they got it across in words. And the only time I met Phil was some time after that 1962 book, or whatever it was, ’61 or ’62. And I was in San Francisco, I think it was in the Russ Building, I may be wrong on that. And I just went there.

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2009 LetterReference Only

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