> He believes in companies that pay dividends, yet BH does not
No, he believes in companies that correctly value the capital they employ. He's happy for a company to use its profit to repurchase shares or expand its business so long as it's likely to achieve a good return.
> He is a folksy family man that has two wives
I would hardly call his actions 'duplicitous'. My take is that Buffett and his first wife Susie grew apart. Susie wanted to separate from Buffett but she still cared for him, so she hired Astrid as a housekeeper and looked the other way when Buffett and Astrid fell in love. I don't understand why they did not officially divorce, but Buffett remained very close with Susie and was happy to leave his fortune to her when he died. Of all the failed marriages, this one seems to have the happiest outcome.
> He is a big Democrat and believer in equality, and yet during the Washington Post workers strike he was working very hard with Katharine Graham to deliver the newspaper and counter the union's efforts.
It's perfectly coherent to believe in civil rights yet feel that some union demands are unreasonable. As a counterpoint to the Washington Post strike, look at Buffett's 1985 comments about the BH textile mill [1]:
"In contract negotiations, union leaders and members were sensitive to our disadvantageous cost position and did not push for unrealistic wage increases or unproductive work practices. To the contrary, they tried just as hard as we did to keep us competitive. Even during our liquidation period they performed superbly."
Buffett clearly cares about his textile workers:
"Could we have found a buyer who would continue operations, I would have certainly preferred to sell the business rather than liquidate it, even if that meant somewhat lower proceeds for us. But the economics that were finally obvious to me were also obvious to others, and interest was nil."
No, he believes in companies that correctly value the capital they employ. He's happy for a company to use its profit to repurchase shares or expand its business so long as it's likely to achieve a good return.
> He is a folksy family man that has two wives
I would hardly call his actions 'duplicitous'. My take is that Buffett and his first wife Susie grew apart. Susie wanted to separate from Buffett but she still cared for him, so she hired Astrid as a housekeeper and looked the other way when Buffett and Astrid fell in love. I don't understand why they did not officially divorce, but Buffett remained very close with Susie and was happy to leave his fortune to her when he died. Of all the failed marriages, this one seems to have the happiest outcome.
> He is a big Democrat and believer in equality, and yet during the Washington Post workers strike he was working very hard with Katharine Graham to deliver the newspaper and counter the union's efforts.
It's perfectly coherent to believe in civil rights yet feel that some union demands are unreasonable. As a counterpoint to the Washington Post strike, look at Buffett's 1985 comments about the BH textile mill [1]:
"In contract negotiations, union leaders and members were sensitive to our disadvantageous cost position and did not push for unrealistic wage increases or unproductive work practices. To the contrary, they tried just as hard as we did to keep us competitive. Even during our liquidation period they performed superbly."
Buffett clearly cares about his textile workers:
"Could we have found a buyer who would continue operations, I would have certainly preferred to sell the business rather than liquidate it, even if that meant somewhat lower proceeds for us. But the economics that were finally obvious to me were also obvious to others, and interest was nil."
[1] http://berkshirehathaway.com/letters/1985.html