Ajit Jain Quotes
100 Ajit Jain Quotes
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[On Warren Buffett] He is emotional, he is sensitive at a very personal level but by the same token that doesn’t come in the way of rationality. I don’t think that one needs to come at the expense of the other.
Ajit Jain
You can be both emotional and rational. Very often people make the mistake of creating one or the other. And I think that Warren [Buffett] does a great job in balancing both of them. Independently he does a great job in each dimension.
Ajit Jain
[On whether the Goldman Sachs decision with Berkshire Hathway on the preferred shares and warrants was an emotional one] It was a very rational decision calculated to the last decimal position. And like a lot of what we do, it was a win-win for both sides.
Ajit Jain
[On Goldman Sachs investment from Berkshire Hathaway] Warren made the comment that it was expensive money for them [Paying a 10% interest rate]. But at the time when the investment was made I would submit it was a very cheap investment for them.
Ajit Jain
[On the Goldman Sachs investment] Besides the fact they got the reputation factor working for them as well.
Ajit Jain
Even that kind of money in the amount that was given to them at that point of time I’m sure they could have never got at the same terms that Warren [Buffett] offered. Once Warren offered them then everyone wanted to jump on the bandwagon.
Ajit Jain
[On being successful in the stockmarket being able to value businesses and buying x for ½ x with the right temperament and ignoring the external noise] It is just simple as he [Warren Buffett] outlined. The only thing and he talked about it earlier is that I would superimpose on what he said is the discipline and the ability to say ‘no’.
Ajit Jain
I see it in my own business, the insurance business, I’m not smart enough to dabble in the stock market. But in the insurance business as well more than finding the right deal, if you have the discipline to say ‘no’ to the deals that you don’t feel are properly priced - meet your requirements.
Ajit Jain
[On success] The discipline to say ‘no’. If you have that and not be willing to let people steam roll it. Steam roll you into saying yes. If you have that discipline that’s more than 50 percent of the battle.
Ajit Jain
[On whether it’s tough to say ‘no’ sometimes] A lot depends on the corporate structure that you’re a part of. If you’re part of a corporate structure where the boss is comparing you to the rest of the market and saying ‘forget your wife’. If your boss is comparing you with the rest of the market and is saying that these guys are going out and they’re writing more premiums than you are, what the hell are you doing? That makes it very difficult for you to maintain that rationality and to maintain that discipline.
Ajit Jain
But if you work for a setup like ours [Berkshire Hathaway] where the boss understands the business. It becomes a whole lot easier to be very rational and to be very disciplined.
Ajit Jain
A lot of people give me credit for being very rational and being disciplined but I think the real deal is I work for a company, work for a boss, work for a board who understand the business and their not comparing me with the short-term performance of some of my competitors. They are looking at me on an absolute basis. Which makes it easier for me to be disciplined and rational.
Ajit Jain
[On Warren Buffett saying ‘If I call up Ajit and he hasn’t done anything for a month, and everyone else is writing a lot of business. I say ‘You know, funny thing I haven’t found anything to do for a month either.’ – Warren Buffett] That is an absolute true story. Absolute truth.
Ajit Jain
[On why in 2011 Warren Buffett has stayed away from investing in India to date] I think India has stayed away from him more than he has stayed away from India. Because our investment – his investment style is not so much as to identify a product market segment and then go in and zero in on that. It’s more people serve him up with opportunities and he evaluates those opportunities and then says yes or no to them. Unfortunately we [India] haven’t had too many opportunities that have been served up to him - that would be a win-win for both of us looking for capital and for him as a provider of capital.
Ajit Jain
[On whether Indian family businesses are different from American family businesses? Closer relationships? And whether it is a negative or a positive for Indian investment?] I think it goes back to what Warren said, ‘If they work, they work brilliantly. And if they’re a disaster, they’re very dysfunctional.’ There are a lot of family businesses that have stood the test of time in India.
Ajit Jain
[On the reinsurance business] That’s what you need to get into this business. Capital. Lots of capital, patient capital, and a real stomach to put that capital to risk.
Ajit Jain
It[‘s] very easy to work for a human being who’s rational and very clear about what is it that’s important…
Ajit Jain
[On Warren Buffett sleeping like a baby after making investment decisions] I have worries, but they don’t translate into sleepless nights. I sleep like a baby too.
Ajit Jain
Somebody made the comment saying ‘Find a job that you love and you’ll never find yourself working for a day in your life.’ Twenty-five, twenty-six years ago when I joined Berkshire I found the job and I found myself not working for a single day since then. I’ve been very fortunate to be working for Berkshire.
Ajit Jain
[Said beside Warren Buffett and with both laughing about it] I have been very fortunate to be working for Berkshire, to be working for Warren [Buffett]. Warren uses the phrase that ‘He won the ovarian lottery’, but I won the lottery when I joined Berkshire. He [Warren Buffett] has no idea what winning the lottery is all about.
Ajit Jain
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