This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

And we return to our American stories.

Joining us next is Jerry Stead, who may be the most impactful business person you've never heard of, at least not yet.

Jerry has never sought the spotlight, not during his tenure serving as CEO or chairman of 10 publicly traded companies,

perhaps the first in history to accomplish this, and not during his philanthropic work, where he has given well over half

a billion dollars to charity. Jerry is also unique in that he never had a contract as CEO

or chairman. Jerry wanted his performance, not a piece of paper, to be the reason why companies

trusted him with command. To give you an idea of how successful Jerry's leadership has been,

consider that a $1,000 investment in his good friend Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway

38 years ago would be worth $1 million today.

That same $1,000 investment in Jerry's companies would be worth $8,800,000 today, more than eight times greater.

In this story, Jerry shares with us how his lofty business career began many years ago at the age of nine, delivering newspapers in the early morning hours in Iowa.

Three-A-out. newspapers in the early morning hours in Iowa. 3 a.m. That's when I rise every morning. Never set an alarm since I was nine years old.

Growing up in Iowa, you'd think I had been brought up as a farmer's son. While my parents

did assist farmers throughout using their startup insurance company,

we didn't work the land or herd any livestock. I was a newspaper boy. At the age of nine,

I welded the Des Moines Register like nobody's business. I had 51 daily newspapers, 65 Sunday

newspapers, every morning, seven days a week.

I'd rise from my bed, get myself together, eat a quick breakfast,

pedaled to the railroad station where newspapers were thrown from the rail car.

Thought, newspapers would land alongside the tracks.

...