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Everyone talks about how awesome Warren Buffet is, but nobody talks about how the vast majority of his fortune was acquired from owning Coca-Cola, selling sugar

Everyone talks about how awesome Warren Buffet is, but nobody talks about how the vast majority of his fortune was acquired from owning Coca-Cola, selling sugar water to the masses, fueling the diabetes and obesity epidemic.

bitwize 5y ago
"Do you want to sell sugar water or change the world?" Still not clear where the smart money was.
- bingidingi 5y ago
  Sugar water has probably done more to change the world tbh.
- etangent 5y ago
  "or change the world" "change the world for the better, right? right?"
hourislate 5y ago
Or that he took Gov handouts/bailouts and always says he wants to pay more taxes but never does. I guess you can't get to where he is being honest. A recent example was the fuckery he tried to pull with Texas and building new Generation Plants. Man is a shit bag...
klaudius 5y ago
Buffett famously stated, "I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's fantastic brand loyalty." source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/08/buffett-best-buys.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/08/buffett-best...
- pydry 5y ago
  Also: >"Basically, when you get to my age, you'll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. >I know people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don't care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster. >That's the ultimate test of how you have lived your life.
deleted 5y ago
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bitshiftfaced 5y ago
There could be a confounding variable that led to massive demand for sugar water, of which Buffett was only capitalizing on, not necessarily contributing to. > In part, the shift from using sucrose to HFCS was encouraged by extensive government subsidies of corn farmers, with a majority of U.S. farm policies focused on promoting increased production of inexpensive corn. One study showed that as a result of such subsidies, the consumer price of corn (and its byproducts) remained approximately 25%–30% below cost (of production) between 1997 and 2005 (19). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746720/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746720/ > As nutrition debates raged in the 1960s, prominent Harvard nutritionists published two reviews in a top medical journal downplaying the role of sugar in coronary heart disease. Newly unearthed documents reveal what they didn’t say: A sugar industry trade group initiated and paid for the studies, examined drafts, and laid out a clear objective to protect sugar’s reputation in the public eye. https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/12/sugar-industry-harvard-research/ https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/12/sugar-industry-harvard-r...
Scoundreller 5y ago
Most of his holdings are in AAPL these days. Making a fortune selling processed sand to the masses, fueling the diabetes and obesity epidemic. As has been similarly said, it costs $100 to make, sells for $1000 and its addictive. What’s not to like about investing in it.
throwkeep 5y ago
He talks about his investment in Coca-Cola all the time, and is often drinking coke during his interviews and shareholder updates. He's pretty upfront about it.

bitwize 5y ago

"Do you want to sell sugar water or change the world?" Still not clear where the smart money was.

bingidingi 5y ago
Sugar water has probably done more to change the world tbh.
etangent 5y ago
"or change the world" "change the world for the better, right? right?"

hourislate 5y ago

Or that he took Gov handouts/bailouts and always says he wants to pay more taxes but never does. I guess you can't get to where he is being honest. A recent example was the fuckery he tried to pull with Texas and building new Generation Plants. Man is a shit bag...

klaudius 5y ago

Buffett famously stated, "I'll tell you why I like the cigarette business. It costs a penny to make. Sell it for a dollar. It's addictive. And there's fantastic brand loyalty." source: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/08/buffett-best-buys.asp https://www.investopedia.com/articles/stocks/08/buffett-best...

pydry 5y ago
Also: >"Basically, when you get to my age, you'll really measure your success in life by how many of the people you want to have love you actually do love you. >I know people who have a lot of money, and they get testimonial dinners and they get hospital wings named after them. But the truth is that nobody in the world loves them. If you get to my age in life and nobody thinks well of you, I don't care how big your bank account is, your life is a disaster. >That's the ultimate test of how you have lived your life.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

bitshiftfaced 5y ago

There could be a confounding variable that led to massive demand for sugar water, of which Buffett was only capitalizing on, not necessarily contributing to. > In part, the shift from using sucrose to HFCS was encouraged by extensive government subsidies of corn farmers, with a majority of U.S. farm policies focused on promoting increased production of inexpensive corn. One study showed that as a result of such subsidies, the consumer price of corn (and its byproducts) remained approximately 25%–30% below cost (of production) between 1997 and 2005 (19). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746720/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2746720/ > As nutrition debates raged in the 1960s, prominent Harvard nutritionists published two reviews in a top medical journal downplaying the role of sugar in coronary heart disease. Newly unearthed documents reveal what they didn’t say: A sugar industry trade group initiated and paid for the studies, examined drafts, and laid out a clear objective to protect sugar’s reputation in the public eye. https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/12/sugar-industry-harvard-research/ https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/12/sugar-industry-harvard-r...

Scoundreller 5y ago

Most of his holdings are in AAPL these days. Making a fortune selling processed sand to the masses, fueling the diabetes and obesity epidemic. As has been similarly said, it costs $100 to make, sells for $1000 and its addictive. What’s not to like about investing in it.

throwkeep 5y ago

He talks about his investment in Coca-Cola all the time, and is often drinking coke during his interviews and shareholder updates. He's pretty upfront about it.