The Fine Line Between Admiration & Jealousy

Just like the title says, there seems to be a fine line between admiration and jealousy. Why is it that we are jealous of some very successful people and simply admire others? Warren Buffett is a great example. With all his success, most recently regaining his title as the world's richest man, this is a man that is admired. You just never hear of anything negative said about this man.

I was watching CNBC again this morning and found it interesting  how they made this distinction and why Mr. Buffett has been able to find the sweet spot in being recognized as a leader. In their opinion, it had a lot to do with his modesty and a general awe-shucks approach to his success and that of his company. It's simply difficult to dislike someone who takes such a modest approach to his incredible achievements. Personally, I think that there's more to it.

Mr. Buffett is a prolific writer and speaker. He's always been willing to share his opinion and thinking on topics relevant to his business. Because us regular-folk have consequently been able to better understand why he does what he does, there's been less mystery and mystique in his actions. As a result, individuals such as myself have been able to reason through the logic and come to similar conclusions reached by Mr. Buffett; when we do so, it's difficult not to acknowledge Mr. Buffett's wisdom and, maybe more importantly, his willingness to share it with anyone who will listen.

D-Day + 2 ...at least they're talking about the deal now.

I woke-up this morning to find that the Microsoft and Yahoo! deal was in the news once again. Nothing new, really, to report, but at least they're talking about it. I found it simply strange that nothing was said on Sunday when so much was discussed coming-up on the Saturday deadline for Microsoft's offer to buyout Yahoo!

Today, I heard an interesting opinion on the deal. Could it be another AOL-Time Warner? Could it be another dot-com deal orchestrated by Wall Street with no real business sense? I said it was an interesting opinion, but not that I agree with it.

AOL was doomed to begin with. When Time Warner bought it, it was buying a dying entity. AOL's success was on making the Internet accessible. Could anyone possibly argue that the Internet still needs to be simplified today? Furthermore, could anyone argue that there are not a multitude of alternative service providers offering equally (or better) solutions to get Internet-newbies signing-on to the web? AOL was slow to adjust its business and Time Warner paid the price. I don't believe that this is the case when it comes to Yahoo!

Yahoo!'s business is display advertising. The only problem that it's having is converting its traffic into great revenues. Microsoft is already in the same business, but offers a broader reach and richer-content that helps to keep users clicking on its sites. I believe that there exist true synergies between these two companies. Put differently, Microsoft + Yahoo! is worth more than each is worth separately.

UPDATE: Microsoft, according to those 'close' to the ground, is now saying that it's likely to be a proxy fight that they'll announce later this week.