A brash new trustee at Grinnell[College], Steve Jobs...tried to talk the investment committee into selling all stocks and buying gold...the investment committee demurred, and Grinnell did not buy gold.It appears Jobs' recommendation occurred in mid-1979. At the time, gold was trading between $247 and $340. And, of course, n early-1980, spot gold traded as high as $830 per ounce.
It would have been one hell of a trade if Grinnell bought the gold and then sold into the strength the gold price displayed in early-1980.
Buffett and Jobs were both on the Board of Grinnell.
I also read this was some degree of fascination. What's as surprising is that Grinnell would have put such a young guy on its board -- Apple had not yet become famous for its Mac.
ReplyDeleteApple II was huge before IBM PC cut into its sales. Mac came later as a response to IBM moving into Apple's the personal computer market.
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