Tom Murphy

“CBS's market capitalization was 16 times the size of Capital Cities. But by the time Murphy sold his company to Disney 30 years later, Capital Cities was three times as valuable as CBS.”

“So he buys ABC network for nearly 3.5 billion dollars with financing from his friend, Warren Buffett. The ABC deal was the largest non oil and gas transaction in business history to that point.”

“He did not delegate acquisition decisions and never used investment bankers”

“Well, if you had invested a dollar with Tom Murphy as he became CEO in 1966, that dollar would have been worth 204 dollars by the time he sold the company to Disney.”

“The formula that allowed Murphy to overtake Paley was deceptively simple. Number one, focus on industries with attractive economic characteristics. Number two, selectively use leverage to buy occasional large properties. Number three, improve operations. Numbe…”

“Burke was responsible for daily management of operations and Murphy for acquisitions and capital allocation. As Burke told me, our relationship was built on a foundation of mutual respect. I had an appetite for and a willingness to do things that Murphy was no…”

“He spent over 1.8 billion On share buybacks. That investment alone generated a excellent return for shareholders. 22.4% over 19 years.”

“During the extended bear market of the mid-nineteen-seventies to early-nineteen-eighties, Murphy became an aggressive purchaser of his own shares. He eventually bought close, bought back close to 50% of his outstanding shares, most of it at single-digit price-…”

“The employee assumed that adding 20,000 dollars to the annual payroll would be inconsequential, but his boss told him that the proposal should be evaluated as a three million dollar decision, given that an additional person would probably cost at least that Am…”

“Headquarters staff was anorexic. No vice presidents in functional areas like marketing, strategic planning, or human resources, no corporate counsel, and no public relations department either.”

“These acquisitions each represented 25% or more of the company's market cap at the time they were made.”

“Warren, you can always tell someone to go to hell tomorrow. You haven't missed that opportunity. Just forget about it for a day. If you feel the same way tomorrow, then tell them that then, but don't spout off in a moment of anger.”