Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-05-03/warren-buffett-to-step-down-from-berkshire-hathaway-at-year-end

by mfiguiere • 1 year ago

460 381 1 year ago

bloomberg.com

jll29• 1 year ago

https://web.archive.org/web/20250503183427/https://www.bloom...

nu11ptr• 1 year ago

Wow, not sure why this surprises me, but I guess I figured he would be like Charlie and keep working until he passed.

Lammy2• 1 year ago

Had to look this up because I am not rich enough to be on a first-name basis with my close personal billionaire friend Charles Thomas Munger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Munger

palmotea• 1 year ago

Had to look this up because I am not rich enough to be on a first-name basis with my close personal billionaire friend Charles Thomas Munger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Munger

It's almost certain that the GP isn't either, and is only parasocially on a first name basis.

danielmarkbruce18• 1 year ago

"had to look this up because i've been living under rock"

rufus_foreman• 1 year ago

I would assume this means that he is not in great health. Hopefully I'm wrong and he just decided that 85 years or so of hustling for dollars was enough.

unsnap_biceps3• 1 year ago

At 94, if he had a health concern, I don't think he'd be planning out 7 months for stepping down.

bayarearefugee• 1 year ago

There's video of his announcement.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/05/03/warren-buffett-to-ask-board-...

On one hand, he doesn't sound that great (in terms of subtle overall health markers in his voice) when he talks.

On the other hand, he's 94 and most people (especially men) don't make it into their 90s, so...

andsoitis3• 1 year ago

You want an orderly succession.

bloodyplonker222• 1 year ago

The difference is that Charlie didn't have his partner die.

danielmarkbruce18• 1 year ago

I bet he does. He has money outside berkshire and I'm sure the thought of spending hours every day investing his own money in smaller things, taking more risks etc sounds like fun.

lokimedes2• 1 year ago

And now after decades of stock buybacks, quantitative easing and other mad financial manipulation, comes again the time for value investors, and he leaves?! :)

Supermancho3• 1 year ago

What are you trying to say? It's not clear at all.

lokimedes2• 1 year ago

Just finding it mildly amusing to consider that in the messed up economics we are entering with Trump, there may be a shift to value investing, something I have always associated with Buffett.

lucianbr• 1 year ago

Pretty clear and funny to me. Not sure how to explain it without just repeating the same thing.

It seems the markets will soon go through a period when Buffet's approach will work best, which makes it an inoportune moment for him to retire. Of course at his age retirement is expected, maybe even inevitable - that's the joke.

AustinDev• 1 year ago

They have like half a trillion in cash on the balance sheet. I'm sure they're going to scoop up a bunch of value in the coming years. Whoever takes over has a hell of a war chest to work with.

tim3337• 1 year ago

He did so before in 1969 when he closed his investment partnership because the markets were overvalued.

riffraff6• 1 year ago

He's 94 years old, it's honestly impressive he was still there. Still, end of an era.

heresie-dabord• 1 year ago

Still, end of an era.

That is an enormous understatement. At 94, Buffet has witnessed history and has represented a vision of betterment, a just society, and sound economic stewardship. These things were not and are not hallucinations.

But for many, it seems, the lessons about co-operation, stable economic growth. the sane application of democratic principles, and the rule of law must be learned again.

It's the end of an era bona fides and respect for truth and accountability as the structural integrity of democratic society.

kinnth• 1 year ago

Buffet reminded me a lot of Angela Merkel.

They stood clearly and simply for good moral judgment, fair systems and looked at the bigger picture to carry most people forward. They also based all their decision in facts, truth and science. They learn't their trades (economics & politics) over time and weren't afraid to adapt as times changed.

Their slow and steady presence did more for equality and fairness than many others. We will need to find these values again after the current times have played out.

emchammer• 1 year ago

I wish I could have breakfast with him and just talk about what it all means. I hear he goes to some local diner.

tw04• 1 year ago

I will say that his pragmatism seemed to fall apart pretty quickly when the rubber met the road - unless I’m misinformed (which I may be).

Berkshire was a key player in the rail workers strike of 2022 and Warren didn’t seem to want to give an inch to the working man when given the opportunity to do so.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_railroad_...

gnulinux996• 1 year ago

At 94, Buffet has witnessed history and has represented a vision of betterment, a just society, and sound economic stewardship

How exactly did he "represented a vision of betterment, a just society, and sound economic stewardship"?

But for many, it seems, the lessons about co-operation, stable economic growth. the sane application of democratic principles, and the rule of law must be learned again.

Who are these "many" that need to be taught about those "democratic principles" and the "rule of law". How are these related to Buffett?

It's the end of an era bona fides and respect for truth and accountability as the structural integrity of democratic society.

What?

amy214• 1 year ago

It's the end of an era bona fides and respect for truth and accountability as the structural integrity of democratic society.

You're splitting. Psychiatrically binarizing things into two possible states - a psychiatric pathology fueled by online propaganda in this context.

solarkraft• 1 year ago

a vision of betterment, a just society, and sound economic stewardship

Please point out one case in which he wasn’t firmly on the side of capital over societal advancement. As far as I can tell he is deeply invested in oil and keeps shilling Coca Cola (and that’s probably only the surface).

paulpauper3• 1 year ago

Munger was still going strong at 99, good genes both of them, i guess

nly• 1 year ago

And the best healthcare money can buy anywhere in the world.

KajMagnus3• 1 year ago

Having friends also contributes to living longer (Buffet and Charlie)

mitthrowaway2• 1 year ago

I met a lady in her 90s who looks and acts the same age as her daughter, who is in her 60s. She lives independently, talks quickly, walks without a cane, and has a generally youthful appearance and demeanor.

I asked what her secret is to aging so well. "I don't know, just don't have any health issues, I guess", she said.

Maybe if you can make it that long without encountering Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, or various other major issues... then you basically have a decent shot at still being fine and healthy at 94.

riffraff6• 1 year ago

Yeah I wonder how much of Buffet's decision to quit is just that it's less "fun" to be doing this without Munger.

HeavyStorm• 1 year ago

I read the title and thought, about time, he's probably 80-something.

I really hope I could be productive at 90. Heck, I hope I'm productive at 70.

sbankowi• 1 year ago

Heck, I hope I’m productive on Monday!

jasonpeacock• 1 year ago

Chocolate chips[1] were invented in 1937, when Buffet was 6yrs old, and commercialized as we know them today in 1941 when Buffet was 10.

He's literally older than chocolate chips!

[1] https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_chip

sagarpatil• 1 year ago

Must be a record: 94 years old and CEO of a publicly traded company.

asdfman123• 1 year ago

It's the nominal end of a career spanning 4-5 eras

raffraffraff• 1 year ago

My father is 98. His health has declined gradually but visibly over the last 10 years. He's taking a mouthful of pills each day to keep himself alive. However, he's able to get up, walk, use the bathroom, feed himself etc. He can remember things that happened 5 minutes ago, last week and in his childhood. He keeps up to date with all the family affairs, and watches the news. Also my mother (his wife) is still alive and healthy, and they don't hate each other.

That's more than most people can expect if they even make it to their late 80s.

Frankly I'm astonished at people like Warren Buffet and David Attenborough (a hero of mine).

8f2ab37a-ed6c• 1 year ago

I always run across great quotes from Warren Buffett, but I never spent any time actually reading any of his writings or anything written about him. What's the best place to start to absorb some of his wisdom? Anything that's applicable to startups, tech, and life in general, beyond being the CEO of a holding company?

xNeil2• 1 year ago

Not by Buffett, but you'll love Poor Charlie's Alamanack, by Charlie Munger, his lifelong business partner.

https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover

cromulent• 1 year ago

Buffet said of Munger:

“In terms of managing money, there wasn’t anybody better in the world to talk to for many, many decades than Charlie.”

Buffet gets all the press, but he acknowledges Munger as a huge part, if you listen.

_uoud• 1 year ago

For Buffett I recommend Essays of Warren Buffett. Regarding Munger’s Almanack, I wrote a nice summary just before his death:

”A real estate investment of $24 by the Dutch to buy the island of Manhattan would today be roughly equivalent to $3 trillion. Across 378 years, that’s about a seven percent annual compound rate of return…”

https://www.lostbookofsales.com/notes/poor-charlies-almanack...

KajMagnus3• 1 year ago

It's a great book (I think), reading it now. It's the only book this far that I've brought with me to the gym (because I wanted to continue reading it, in between the exercises)

tchalla2• 1 year ago

Start here - The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville

https://business.columbia.edu/cgi-finance/chazen-global-insi...

TheAlchemist3• 1 year ago

I still remember the feeling I got when I first read the first paragraph and especially this phrase:

"For one thing, if (a) you had taken 225 million orangutans distributed roughly as the U.S. population is; if (b) 215 winners were left after 20 days; and if (c) you found that 40 came from a particular zoo in Omaha, you would be pretty sure you were on to something."

Compared to anything in finance I've read up until then, it felt like I just found the right guy.

Spooky23• 1 year ago

His shareholder letters are on the Berkshire website and are excellent.

edouard-harris• 1 year ago

Somewhat dated (10 years old), but a classic and probably the best single place to get started:

https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Warren-Buffett-Lessons-Corpora...

andsoitis3• 1 year ago

Beside the various books he’s written, there’s also his writing on Berkshire Hathaways’ website: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/

tim3337• 1 year ago

He didn't write a book. Maybe he will now he has more time.

dehrmann3• 1 year ago

Not to diminish any of his accomplishments, but read his quotes and story as being a product of his time. He famously missed out on a lot of solid tech investments because of his background as a value investor. Value investing doesn't exist the same way it did when Berkshire started making a name for itself. Tech investing also isn't them same as 1997, 2004, or 2010.

nabla98• 1 year ago

Berkshire has outperformed Nasdaq and SP500 from the IPO (May 9, 1996), 10y, 5y, 1y time periods and he has now $340B in cash.

All this with low risk holding lots of cash. He has not missed anything.

readthenotes1• 1 year ago

It's not that he missed out on it, both Buffett and munger said that they didn't really understand technology so they didn't feel a reason to go there. They felt they better understood insurance and railroads and candies and whatnot and they made Bank doing it.

epolanski7• 1 year ago

You are, and you're doing so naively, because one of the reasons Buffett has been successful is that he stuck to things that were in his circle of competence.

jxjnskkzxxhx2• 1 year ago

This is extremely superficial.

robocat3• 1 year ago

1997

Yeah, looking at the NASDAQ from 1997 is a good reminder of everyone's selection bias. Saying Buffett missed out on the winners (with 20/20 hindsight) is forgetting that he also missed out on a lot of losers.

Here's some of the now lesser known NASDAQ tech stocks that were doing well in 1997:

  Dell (DELL)
  Compaq (CPQ)
  Gateway (GTW)
  Silicon Graphics (SGI)
  Hewlett-Packard (HWP)
  America Online (AOL)
  Yahoo (YHOO)
  Lycos (LCOS) 
  Excite (XCIT)
  Netscape (NSCP)
  3Com (COMS) 
  Bay Networks (BAY)

From: https://www.cnet.com/tech/tech-industry/tech-stocks-and-nasd...

And nobody ever went wrong by buying IBM

DontchaKnowit4• 1 year ago

Honestly his ex wifes book about how he reads 10k reports is really good. Cant remember the name.

TheAlchemist3• 1 year ago

Never heard about it, and can't find a trace on google. If you remember, please post here.

vmurthy• 1 year ago

If you’re talking about Mary Buffett, it is his ex daughter-in-law. How to read financial reports like Warren Buffett is the book (I think)

iancmceachern• 1 year ago

Watch YouTube videos of old Berkshire meetings, especially ones with Charlie.

DavidPiper2• 1 year ago

For the lazy, "1994 - 2024 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meetings" will get you started :-)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7aFD7bbigjgjUt0L2LWk...

Animats• 1 year ago

"The Intelligent Investor", by Benjamin Graham. He was Buffett's mentor, and contributed to that book. It's straight value investing. Never buy a startup.

There are biographies of Buffett. I read one of them years ago. It goes into great detail about the early deals that got him started. I never did quite understand the deal that moved him into the big leagues, the takeover of GEICO insurance.

jxjnskkzxxhx2• 1 year ago

I downloaded his letters to shareholders to an ebook reader, starting I believe in 1971 or so. Read all of it to the present, about 1500 pages (there's a lot of repetition)

What sticks out the most is what a clear thinker he is.

bluocms• 1 year ago

Would be possible for you to share it? I think would be a very interesting read. Thanks

physicles• 1 year ago

For his personal background, the history of his companies, and insight into his overall investment philosophy, the Aquired podcast did a three part series on Berkshire Hathaway back in 2021. They also interviewed Charlie Munger just before he passed away. They’re good overviews and enjoyable listens.

mayankkaizen• 1 year ago

Read his annual letters to shareholders. Fantastic writings.

ivape2• 1 year ago

It's kind of a damn shame a man like that was not tapped for any major economic position in the government. I don't know how men like Peter Navarro got so far. In a sense, all the money in the world didn't actually fulfill his true potential, and I say that with the utmost respect.

xNeil2• 1 year ago

Not convinced working for government is the best use of your potential, though considering he owns 5% of all US Treasury Bills, I wouldn't say his impact is any less than being a government employee.

curiousgal• 1 year ago

best use

Well I don't think him sitting on billions of dollars at 94 is better from a societal perspective.

wood_spirit• 1 year ago

I don't know how men like Peter Navarro got so far.

It’s a weird story. IIRC in the run for president before trumps first term he sent Jared Kushner to find out about trade. Kushner browsed Amazon, looking at book covers, and picked Navarro’s book because he liked the title… and the rest is history

atombender• 1 year ago

Trump should have hired Ron Vara [1], seems like a much more competent guy.

[1] https://www.instagram.com/reel/DINJlumRqed/

ivape2• 1 year ago

You've got to be kidding ...

Oh god, you're not:

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/328969-report-ku...

I feel impotent, what is there to be done?

snowwrestler• 1 year ago

He has been asked many times but was not interested.

johntarter2• 1 year ago

Warren Buffet has warned about the trade deficit problem since 2003 and has proposed an alternate solution called "import certificates" where exporters could earn them and sell them to the importers who must use them. This would result in an even trade balance. He admitted it's essentially a tariff by another name but a more fair and systematic one. In other words, he aligns with Peter Navarro in the problem but differs in the solution.

gen2202• 1 year ago

He was asked by Schwarzenegger for advice on California economic policy. Warren did his research, and astutely suggested they should try to scrap Proposition 13 (IMO it's among California's worst policies, but it's a political third rail). I don't think he was asked for economic policy advice ever again :)

I'm sure he's full of good ideas. I think they were just a bit more ambitious than the last 40 years of politicians were willing to stomach or advocate for.

Apocryphon• 1 year ago

The Mahathir bin Mohamad of the financial world

tchalla2• 1 year ago

Buffet on Tariffs

“It’s a big mistake, in my view, when you have seven and a half billion people that don’t like you very well, and you got 300 million that are crowing in some way about how well they’ve done - I don’t think it’s right, and I don’t think it’s wise,” Buffett said. “The United States won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country, starting from nothing 250 years ago. There’s not been anything like it.”

disambiguation• 1 year ago

Also buffet on tariffs (2003)

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/letters/growing.pdf

Though he makes the distinction between "import certificates" and Trump's version of tariffs.

throw0101b• 1 year ago

Contra:

A common response I’ve seen to this is Warren Buffett repeatedly expressing concern about the trade deficit. Buffett’s main concern has always been that we’re sending pieces of paper abroad that give foreigners claims on US assets. And this is true, but I’d argue it’s been a massive net positive on the whole. First, as a percentage of total ownership, foreign ownership of US securities is actually flat since 2008. So despite 20 years of a persistent current account deficit there hasn’t been a huge change in foreign ownership as a percentage of the total. But the current account deficit also reflects the way many firms in the USA outsource their comparative advantage. And that accrues to US firms (and households) as increases in net worth. This is a big reason why corporate profit margins have expanded so much in the last 30 years. Global competition has made US firms more efficient and that’s accrued to Americans as a huge gain in net worth. So this isn’t a situation where we’re just sending Dollars abroad for no good reason. We’re doing it in large part because that is investment in our businesses that has added value to those very firms and their owners. Could that all reverse? For sure. And weirdly, the thing that would cause it to reverse is ultra protectionist measures thereby reducing demand for US Dollar assets and reducing investment in US firms.

* https://disciplinefunds.com/2025/04/24/three-things-you-gues...

next_xibalba2• 1 year ago

Buffett actually does share a fear of trade deficits, though. His proposed solution, as an alternative to tariffs, were "import certificates"-essentially a marketable credit required to import goods. These would be earned via exports by exporters, be freely priced and traded, and would essentially bind import levels to export levels.

nabla98• 1 year ago

It's really a non-problem.

Net capital inflows into the U.S. = U.S. trade deficit. The balance of payments is simply: Sales of assets – Purchases of assets = Purchases of goods – Sales of goods

If you balance the trade, it means foreigners must stop investing into the US.

chrisco2555• 1 year ago

Sounds like it would achieve a similar effect, but would be far more complex to implement and yet would still have the effect of being a tax on imports while not actually generating any revenue for the federal government.

Keyframe• 1 year ago

That sounds awful a lot like we had it back in the Yugoslavia days. It wasn't exactly free market, as you might know. Companies that exported stuff had credits attached to them and with that quota they could then import goods. They couldn't trade those credits. You then had absurd situations like a company that sells agricultural stuff and has stores for those was also selling, for example, commodore 64 in their stores since that's what they imported.

ashoeafoot• 1 year ago

Change in general, should always come gradually , that way the inevitable consequences rear their head early. Its the bold paintstrokes that topple the world on its side. Obamas biofuels come to mind triggering the arab spring by raising bread prices.

mikem170• 1 year ago

Obamas biofuels come to mind triggering the arab spring by raising bread prices.

Why do you call them "Obama biofuels" when biofuel mandates were passed while Bush was president?

Standards for biofuels appeared in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 [0] (mandating 4 billion gallons of biofuel by 2006, 7.5 billion by 2012) and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 [1], aka the Clean Energy Act of 2007 (mandating 36 billion gallons of biofuel by 2022). Bush signed both laws.

I assume that corn-state representatives were pushing for more biofuels, since farmers want to sell more corn, regardless of how green anything is, or is not. At the time Obama was one of many in congress, both Democrats and Republicans, who voted in favor of these laws.

I would agree with you that biofuel production exacerbated food supply issues leading into the Arab Spring.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Policy_Act_of_2005

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Independence_and_Securi...

sillysaurusx• 1 year ago

I’m a bit slow in this field. Could someone explain how this quote relates to tariffs? I’ve re-read it three times now, looking for the connection to a tax on imported goods, but I just can’t see it.

I think it’s saying that the US population is crowing about how well we’ve done, and so we should be able to tax whatever imports we want? But what an odd way to say that if so. How well we’ve done seems completely unrelated to tariffs.

Then the quote caps off with some back-patting about how we’ve only been around 250 years, and that our rise is unprecedented. Again seemingly unrelated to tariffs.

terribleperson4• 1 year ago

Part of the justification for tarriffs is that America is somehow being 'taken advantage' of by the rest of the world and the tarriffs are the rest of the world finally paying their fair share. The reality is that (until now) America has had a uniquely privileged position in the world economy that got America, in general, very beneficial trade deals.

He's commenting on the attitude driving the tariffs.

EasyMark• 1 year ago

Because we're letting one clown running a circus toss it all on a bonfire because 10% of the population lost manufacturing jobs.

danielmarkbruce18• 1 year ago

He's saying starting a trade war with china is really dumb - you don't want 7.5 people mad at you.

zeven7• 1 year ago

Good question, and I think the misunderstanding is Buffett is speaking against, not for, tariffs here. I’m surprised none of the responses have spelled that out clearly yet.

He’s saying tariffs are making 7.5 billion people dislike us even more, and that jeopardizes our unique position in the world.

behnamoh• 1 year ago

All that money and he's still a mortal just like the rest of us. I wonder if mega billionaires like him have done private research on life longevity, cryosleep, mind-upload, etc. It's the only useful thing they can do with that much money that directly benefits them. Anything else (legacy, influence, children, etc.) doesn't benefit them when they're gone.

locallost• 1 year ago

There are things I don't like about him, and the way he is idolized by people that want to accumulate money. But I will say you can't really throw that "all that money and he's still mortal" thing at him because in reality he lived really below his means. So the money part is interesting, why did he try to get so much if he didn't really need it? I think (without really knowing anything about him), that he wanted money like everyone else to be independent, but at one point it turned into a game to see how much he can win.

DontchaKnowit4• 1 year ago

Hes literally like, autistic or something. If you've ever watched the documentary on him he has a got a weird way about him. Hes got an obsessive knack for numbers and just got into the finance game where literally your job is to make as much money as possible. Its your fiduciary obligation. The rest os history.

deadbabe• 1 year ago

With all the billionaires we've had, the fact that no one is living unnaturally long or in some kind of cryosleep or AI simulation probably means one thing: It's simply not possible, and if it is, all the money in the world won't get you there.

D-Coder• 1 year ago

the fact that no one is living unnaturally long or in some kind of cryosleep or AI simulation probably means one thing: It's simply not possible

_Yet_.

If you looked at the Wright Brothers aircraft, what real use is there for a vehicle that carries one person, maybe 50lbs of cargo, and moves at 80 mph?

sebastiennight2• 1 year ago

Or maybe "optimizing for the most personal wealth over anything else" and "optimizing for the longest healthy lifespan over anything else" are two different goals, pursued by different people.

As a result, extreme results in one or the other are not usually attained by people who do not have extreme prioritization of just one.

It is totally possible that a rare talented unicorn pursuing (and succeeding at) both goals simultaneously is needed for us to achieve radical life extension.

andrewl2• 1 year ago

Buffett worked, at least informally, with the Obama administration on some financial policy issues. And he is a proponent of greater taxes on the very rich. Here's one short video (2:46) in which he talks about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJzTsTU1xL8

photochemsyn• 1 year ago

If the US government really wanted to bring back industrial manufacturing, tax policy is one obvious route - eg a 2/3 tax on billionaire and corporate wealth, such as on the huge pile of cash Buffet-Berkshire is sitting on, but then offer a way out - invest that cash in domestic manufacturing and R & D and it won't be taxed.

This could motivate the private sector to go back to the Bell Labs model, too.

maxilevi• 1 year ago

As if the government could do better capital allocation in the economy than buffett

33MHz-i486• 1 year ago

that doesnt really work if they have to compete on price with foreign producers that have lower labor costs, looser environmental regulations, deeper supply chains and better process knowledge. might as well eat the tax (waiting for monopolistic opportunities) or light the money on fire

WalterBright20• 1 year ago

Billionaires get that way by investing in companies. You don't have to force them into it.

aliljet• 1 year ago

How much of Berkshire actually relied on Buffet toward this announcement? I'm increasingly suspect of 90+ or 80+ adults operating the machinery of massive entities. Lots of examples of this.

Frost1x• 1 year ago

You’re probably right, but I suspect he guided the general direction of investments. I suspect they had very clever highly qualified younger people dealing with most the day to day decisions within those boundaries. I wouldn’t discount the contribution of either: both broad vision and narrow focus can add a lot of value.

blitzar• 1 year ago

If he did nothing it would be a lot, he sets the tone.

A young investor who thinks the whole portfolio should be in shitcoins because they are going to moon next week won't get a look in and the culture holds.

Take away the figure head and things can creep in a bad direction.

moomin• 1 year ago

Someone at my firm went to a BH AGM. There’s literally nothing like it; it’s like a Star Trek con, but for capitalism.

apexalpha• 1 year ago

I’m not sure if it’s originally his but a small talk by him about getting a car made an impression on me and since watching it it’s become a good motivator to stay in shape.

This seems like a good moment to share it.

https://youtu.be/0fMRHpguTPM?si=75lLHzDynMCKhT9H

bamboozled• 1 year ago

Real talk.

bloodyplonker222• 1 year ago

Charlie would scorn this "real talk."

brandon2722• 1 year ago

The interesting thing about this is that Buffett himself has never really had a reputation for taking care of his body in terms of getting exercise or eating well.

colechristensen• 1 year ago

At 94, there have probably been a dozen contradictory versions of what "eating well" meant to a large consensus of people. There should be a lot of skepticism for any particular version of "healthy" is when it comes to diet.

"Variety and moderation" is probably good enough advice for most people without specific health conditions.

tim3337• 1 year ago

I saw him at the Berkshire meeting about 25 years ago and he did walk very briskly. He probably figured he could exercise that way and get places quicker. He was always good at thinking that sort of stuff out.

jeanlucas• 1 year ago

That is a very powerful analogy.

neonate• 1 year ago

https://archive.ph/zXRmj

Jhsto• 1 year ago

Nice paper that was linked on Marginal Revolution: http://docs.lhpedersen.com/BuffettsAlpha.pdf

khazhoux2• 1 year ago

For all I've heard about WB the last few decades, I couldn't tell you a single thing he's done that's impacted my life, the country, or the world. AFAIK he's a guy who makes a ton of money, plays bridge with Bill Gates, gives advice, and has a fund that made money for other people. Am I missing something?

zhivota2• 1 year ago

Buffett invested in boring industries like insurance. As unexciting as it is, businesses like that basically are the invisible infrastructure that makes society work smoothly.

Don't misunderstand flashy at the only way to be important.

khazhoux2• 1 year ago

Which kind of investment was it though?

* An investment that makes something possible that otherwise wouldn’t happen. Like the US investing in NASA

* Investment that is not consequential in the big scheme except it makes people money.

Did his insurance investments keep some companies alive?

epolanski7• 1 year ago

He's not a politician, he doesn't have to.

Still, he's given dozens of billions in charity, given important counsel to the government during the 80s and 2008 financial crisis.

During 2008 financial crisis he essentially saved Goldman and General Electric both preventing further escape of capital and an even worse situation for the US and potentially world economy.

In any case, he's a capitalist who likes making money for himself and his shareholders, he ain't a medical researcher or your mayor.

ralph84• 1 year ago

Lol, his important counsel was “bail out my portfolio plz.” Saving businesses that deserved to fail using free money printed by the fed isn’t a virtue. He was also a big cheerleader for the frauds at Wells Fargo.

tim3337• 1 year ago

He was intellectually interesting if you read his letters and the like.

IncreasePosts• 1 year ago

He's impacted your life, but only in a diffuse manner of having boring businesses sell you useful products or services at a good price.

0xBDB2• 1 year ago

If you have ever purchased insurance, including car insurance, he has impacted your life either because he probably insured or reinsured you. There's a good chance if you've ever purchased anything shipped by railroad, or electricity in any of several states, or boots, or industrial parts, or a manufactured home, or a financial product of any kind, or an Apple product, or a Coca-Cola, or any of a bunch of other things, it was from a company he either owned or owned a huge stake in and influenced.

If you liked the fact that the Great Recession didn't turn into the Even Greater Depression, he seems to have had quite a bit of influence there behind the scenes as well.

havaloc• 1 year ago

94 years of age isn't too bad for someone who is a legendary Coke drinker - five cans a day!

https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/warren-buffe...

cyanydeez• 1 year ago

I'm guessing the real problem is he's irrationally bullish on the US stock market when there's no sane reason to be.

zahlman• 1 year ago

I have been hearing about him being overall bearish for quite some time (or at least, more cautious than average). I have no idea what your sources might be. He does pick individual stocks that he expects to do well, of course.

danielmarkbruce18• 1 year ago

Selling billions of dollars in equities to hold cash doesn't scream bullish.

y-curious• 1 year ago

I wish there was a way for me to automatically show you this post in 10 years in a smug and hostile fashion

deeg2• 1 year ago

Conventional wisdom (which I believe) is that long term individual investors do not beat the market. However, from my mostly-uniformed view, Buffett did exactly that. What was his "secret"? Did he build most of his wealth outside the market?

Flatcircle2• 1 year ago

Charlie Munger used to talk about how easy it used to be because there was so much less competition and the competition wasn't that smart. Think by the 70's once they figured out how to accurately price options with the Black-Scholes model things started to ramp up. By that point, Buffett was already a player and had the funds to make moves.

deeg2• 1 year ago

Interesting. I've never heard of that model. So what Munger is implying is that by the 80s even Buffett wasn't beating the market but was leveraging his money for gains. Thanks!

drumhead• 1 year ago

He dropped the mic and left the stage.

ETH_start• 1 year ago

Buffett's father, Howard Buffett, was perhaps the most libertarian congressman in U.S. history.

He was also a vehement opponent of foreign military intervention, including military aid:

"Even if it were desirable, America is not strong enough to police the world by military force. If that attempt is made, the blessings of liberty will be replaced by coercion and tyranny at home. Our Christian ideals cannot be exported to other lands by dollars and guns. Persuasion and example are the methods taught by the Carpenter of Nazareth, and if we believe in Christianity we should try to advance our ideals by his methods. We cannot practice might and force abroad and retain freedom at home. We cannot talk world cooperation and practice power politics."

martin82• 1 year ago

Now count the days until they finally load up on Bitcoin.

incomingpain• 1 year ago

Im predicting the stock market dies with him; or probably more accurately becomes far more chaotic and unstable with far higher profits for those who follow his rules.

Something that's happening in the markets is that nobody owns anything anymore. With the exception of elon and bezos. Most fortune 500s have no owner; they are all on low risk autopilot.

meerab• 1 year ago

Warren Buffett’s decision to step down as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO is both wise and timely, capping an incredible career that transformed the company and inspired investors worldwide.

Check out transcription of his speech:

https://videotobe.com/play/youtube/or0rgxnkOfE

Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

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