Why Buffett Acquired BNSF In His Own Words

Before Berkshire Hathaway acquired BNSF in 2009, Warren Buffett concentrated his investment efforts on businesses that had "virtually no major capital requirements." See's Candy was a great example.

In 2007, Buffett called this his "dream business." He explained that the firm had produced close to $1.4 billion of earnings in the previous 35 years, with required capital investments of only $35 million. These high returns on invested capital type businesses made up the bulk of Berkshire's private and public business portfolio until the BNSF deal.

This explains why, until 2007, Buffett and his right-hand man, Charlie...