Henry Singleton

“I have nothing against a stock split. I did two in the Sixties, but this is really a non-event. So is the stock dividend. It’s really paper shuffling.”

“We’ve seen what happens to companies whose chief executive gets the best press. They are often the ones who end up with the least profits.”

“We tried to buy good companies to start with. We don’t think there are supermen who can renovate them and transform them into wonderful, highly profitable enterprises. We can’t do it, and history shows that nobody else can do it, either.”

“Our accounting is set to maximize cash flow, not reported earnings. Smoothing reported earnings just has to take a backseat.”

“I do not define my job in any rigid terms but in terms of having the freedom to do what seems to me to be in the best interests of the company at any time.”

“Our attitude toward cash generation and asset management came out of our own thought process. It is not copied. After we acquired a number of businesses we reflected on aspects of business. Our own conclusion was that the key was cash flow.”

“I like to steer the boat each day rather than plan ahead way into the future.”

“I believe in maximum flexibility, so I reserve the right to change my position on any subject when the external environment relating to any topic changes too.”

“The idea of indexing isn’t something I believe in or would follow.”

“It’s good to buy a large company with fine businesses when the price is beaten down over worry about one problem.”

“I don’t believe all this nonsense about market timing. Just buy very good value and when the market is ready that value will be recognized.”