One striking contrast was in the rival camps’ definition of “risk.” Risk, to Buffett, was the risk of paying more than a business would prove to be worth. And the range of variables was nearly infinite. Was a company dependent on too few customers? Did the chairman drink? Since the sum (or even the number) of such risks could not be figured with precision, Buffett looked for companies—the very few companies—in which the risks seemed tolerable even allowing for error.
