4 ms·

Given that Buffett pledged to donate 90% of his wealth to charities, I'm not sure you can characterize him as "mainly interested in lining his own pocket."

by mrb 9y ago

kgwgk 9y ago
Berkshire != Buffett
maxxxxx 9y ago
To me he is a character like Gates, Rockefeller or Carnegie. Ruthless, ever greedy businesspeople who get as much as they can out of business at any cost. Then they give a big part of it away. The question is whether the health care thing is part of the making money activities or part of the giving away activities. You can always hope for the best so let's see what happens. Looking at the American health system I am not very optimistic.
- FireBeyond 9y ago
  I don't know. I don't pretend to be an expert in these things, but the impression I get of Buffett is a world away from Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap (CEO, more so than owner, I know), or even the Carl Icahn's of the world.
- neltnerb 9y ago
  Why do you think this? His public and private actions generally seem to support the idea that he is ethically grounded, and I'm unaware of questionable behavior at any point in his earlier career. But I'm not that old, so I don't know who he was in the 70s.
  - maxxxxx 9y ago
    I have nothing against Buffet. I just think that you can't become a multi-billionaire by being a nice guy. You have to be ultra (pathologically?) competitive and ambitious to get that far.
    - sumedh 9y ago
      > I just think that you can't become a multi-billionaire by being a nice guy. Berkshire is a holding company, all the not so nice decisions are made by the CEOs of the companies Berkshire owns.
      - maxxxxx 9y ago
        And the guy on top is a nice guy who washes his hands clean from all unpleasantries. I don't think that's how it works.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
nhebb 9y ago
Buffet seems like a good-hearted person, but nothing about Amazon or JPMorgan leads me to believe this will be an altruistic enterprise. Also, Buffett is 87 and not likely to be involved for too many more years.
s73ver_ 9y ago
Buffet I'll give you, but Bezos clearly is not in this to help anyone out. One only has to look at the negotiations with the guild at the Washington Post to see that.

Given that Buffett pledged to donate 90% of his wealth to charities, I'm not sure you can characterize him as "mainly interested in lining his own pocket."

by mrb 9y ago

Given that Buffett pledged to donate 90% of his wealth to charities, I'm not sure you can characterize him as "mainly interested in lining his own pocket."

kgwgk 9y ago

Berkshire != Buffett

maxxxxx 9y ago

To me he is a character like Gates, Rockefeller or Carnegie. Ruthless, ever greedy businesspeople who get as much as they can out of business at any cost. Then they give a big part of it away. The question is whether the health care thing is part of the making money activities or part of the giving away activities. You can always hope for the best so let's see what happens. Looking at the American health system I am not very optimistic.

FireBeyond 9y ago
I don't know. I don't pretend to be an expert in these things, but the impression I get of Buffett is a world away from Al "Chainsaw" Dunlap (CEO, more so than owner, I know), or even the Carl Icahn's of the world.
neltnerb 9y ago
Why do you think this? His public and private actions generally seem to support the idea that he is ethically grounded, and I'm unaware of questionable behavior at any point in his earlier career. But I'm not that old, so I don't know who he was in the 70s.
- maxxxxx 9y ago
  I have nothing against Buffet. I just think that you can't become a multi-billionaire by being a nice guy. You have to be ultra (pathologically?) competitive and ambitious to get that far.
  - sumedh 9y ago
    > I just think that you can't become a multi-billionaire by being a nice guy. Berkshire is a holding company, all the not so nice decisions are made by the CEOs of the companies Berkshire owns.
    - maxxxxx 9y ago
      And the guy on top is a nice guy who washes his hands clean from all unpleasantries. I don't think that's how it works.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

nhebb 9y ago

Buffet seems like a good-hearted person, but nothing about Amazon or JPMorgan leads me to believe this will be an altruistic enterprise. Also, Buffett is 87 and not likely to be involved for too many more years.

s73ver_ 9y ago

Buffet I'll give you, but Bezos clearly is not in this to help anyone out. One only has to look at the negotiations with the guild at the Washington Post to see that.