11 ms·
Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
- Flatcircle 11mo agoclassy to the end
- gwbas1c 11mo ago> In 1958, I bought my first and only home. Of course, it was in Omaha, located about two miles from where I grew up (loosely defined), less than two blocks from my in-laws, about six blocks from the Buffett grocery store and a 6-7-minute drive from the office building where I have worked for 64 years. Is Warren Buffett getting into the meme too?
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- bfkwlfkjf 11mo agoWhat's the meme?
- nocoiner 11mo agoIt’s literally just saying 6-7. No, I don’t get it either. My kids thought it was hilarious to watch me grapple with it, though.
- bfkwlfkjf 11mo agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6-7_(meme) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6-7_(meme)
- usefulcat 11mo agoI don't get it either but me using it is a great way to annoy my kids.
- saghm 11mo agoNothing makes a joke stop being funny to kids faster than an adult trying too hard to get in on it! Some day when they're older they'll realize that was your goal and the cycle will continue.
- IncreasePosts 11mo agoIt originated as a brag - a basketball player said it like "I am 6' 7", therefore I am a high quality male and women should reproduce with me". Then shorter people picked up on it
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- blitzar 11mo agolol, they dont get it 6 7
- johnebgd 11mo agoIt’s the Waaaasssssuuuupppp of the Gen Alpha.
- ProllyInfamous 11mo agoYour comment finally allowed me to understand 6-7 (older millenial)... Now get off my lawn, Shorty... or pick up the phone.
- dehrmann 11mo agoTrue, true.
- throw0101a 11mo ago> It’s literally just saying 6-7. No, I don’t get it either. A linguist goes into the meme and it's history: * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laZpTO7IFtA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laZpTO7IFtA You not getting it is the main point of the saying: it's slang term that young folks (in-group) are using to differentiate themselves from the not-young folks (out-group).
- wodenokoto 11mo agoSounds like the point was both achieved and obvious.
- gwbas1c 11mo agoIt just gets stuck in your head and is something to laugh at. The kids who are into it are too young to remember the other catch phrases we got into. My four year old repeats it all the time, which keeps it stuck in my head. I'm just waiting for Sesame Street to declare 6 and 7 the numbers of the day.
- aorth 11mo agoOh my gosh, my six year old just said it to me today. What is going on?!
- sethev 11mo agoHah - I think it's more likely that he has it timed and it literally takes between 6-7 minutes.
- danjermaus 11mo agoHe famously drives himself to work every day in a battered old car because he doesn't see the point in spending money where he can avoid it, so I'm sure he's timed it.
- handfuloflight 11mo agoEnd of an era.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- bfkwlfkjf 11mo agoHere's a person with integrity. They're very rare these days, especially amongst the wealthy.
- harry8 11mo agoHe definitely wants us to think that about his integrity, his fans even more so and in fairness, he's pretty good. Not quite the sunday-school capitalism perfection that some would have us believe. Which can grate a bit if you've looked in detail at his career.
- jrflowers 11mo agoI’ve never quite understood the meme about Warren Buffett being a More Ethical Billionaire™. The defenses are always like “It’s not fair to judge him solely for BNSF giving rail workers one paid sick day per year because he also owns GEICO, which settled a suit last year about (among other things) illegally surveilling and telling employees to call the police on people that approached them about unionizing”
- ralph84 11mo agoYeah he’s not quite Jack Welch level of dissonance between reality and his fanboys, but he’s hardly some superhero for profiting from the great financialization of the US economy. He made sure his book got bailed out during the GFC. He cheered on Wells Fargo while they opened up a bunch of fraudulent accounts. And so on.
- adventured 11mo agoAnd when he found out about Wells Fargo's behavior, he liquidated the position and has remained out of it. I fail to see the problem with what he did in that case. As a ~5% holder he (Berkshire) had no special control over the company in terms of micro-audits to surface such fraudulent behavior promptly as it was happening.
- FireBeyond 11mo ago
- absurdity67 11mo agoWhat are the odds of all these hugely successful people living a stone's throw from each other in middle of nowhere Nebraska? Obviously there is something going on there, magic, lots of minerals in the water, something...
- IncreasePosts 11mo agoMaybe it just shows that opportunity is the most important aspect of (some measure of) success. It's not that these were one in a billion folks. Maybe buffett himself was one in a billion, and by just giving the normies around him opportunities, many of them made something massive out of it
- Mistletoe 11mo agoIf you are younger than 95, you are richer than Warren. Time is our finite resource and I'm sure he would give anything to trade places with you. Spend your riches wisely.
- MichaelZuo 11mo agoA 25-30 year old man with all the accumulated wisdom and life experiences of a 95 year old highly successful man… would literally have opportunities worth many trillions of dollars? Because they would literally be multiple times better than the next most competent person on Earth of a similar age, and literally dozens of times better than even the median unicorn founder. So it seems like a given that the relatively paltry sum that Berskhire controls would be insignificant in comparison.
- jacobkranz 11mo agoWith all due respect, I think your analysis is wrong. He points out how much luck plays into everything and so even if someone younger with 95 year experience came out I think he'd point out that in the end there's an element of luck to everything. The world isn't deterministic.
- MichaelZuo 11mo agoYeah of course it isn’t deterministic? That’s why I used the word “opportunities” and not “guarantees”.
- saalweachter 11mo agoWould you rather be 95 years old with a trillion dollars or 25 years old with a thousand?
- conception 11mo agoThis is actually a pretty hard question for me because you’re basically asking. Do you want the power to be able to change the world in radical ways by giving up your life? Suicidal Brewster’s millions..
- neilv 11mo agoIf only more billionaires would start sounding as aware as this 95 year-old one: > But Lady Luck is fickle and – no other term fits – wildly unfair. In many cases, our leaders and the rich have received far more than their share of luck – which, too often, the recipients prefer not to acknowledge. Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or, worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters would have had one even worse. > I was born in 1930 healthy, reasonably intelligent, white, male and in America. Wow! Thank you, Lady Luck. My sisters had equal intelligence and better personalities than I but faced a much different outlook. > [...] A Few Final Thoughts [remaining 7 paragraphs possibly directed at current events]
- andsoitis 11mo ago> Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or, worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters would have had one even worse. Yes, this sounds unfair to our individualist ear. However, I am also cognizant that there could be another lens that is more top down, not acknowledging our sense of individuality, but rather a layer at the species level with crests and troughs distributed and fluctuating across the individuals that come into existence and whose offspring HAS to be affected by the uneven environment in which they find themselves. An organic feature of the natural world?
- Tostino 11mo agoWhat other creatures show this kind of hoarding pattern in nature? Storing more of a thing than can (reasonably) be used in hundreds, or thousands of lifetimes? I don't know of any (others) that do so, and then pass the hoard down through the generations.
- jpster 11mo agoSo it will be the Greg Abel show during the next meeting in Omaha? Unenviable task. The crowd will be very supportive but those are huge shoes to fill.
- adventured 11mo agoThey'll sell off / spin-off the smaller businesses (which were held because of sentiment), simplify the business positions, and focus more on Abel's specializations. And Berkshire will lose some of the so-called Buffett premium. Impossible shoes to fill. They'll effectively break Berkshire up. A lot of that cash will go to stock buybacks as the Buffett premium vanishes.
- divbzero 11mo agoI highly doubt that spin-offs will be a major part of Berkshire’s foreseeable future. Offering a permanent home for good businesses is one of Berkshire’s advantages when competing for acquisitions. Breaking up Berkshire would mean giving up on that competitive advantage.
- ProllyInfamous 11mo ago>Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts of publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless but also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it’s hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior. >I write this as one who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes but also became very lucky in learning from some wonderful friends how to behave better (still a long way from perfect, however). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman. >I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it’s never too late to change. Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is – inevitably – capricious and sometimes venal in distributing its rewards. >Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better. God speed, dearest Oracle of Omaha.
- plastic3169 11mo ago> Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman. Considering the Warren Buffett wisdom-industrial complex this might be the best place to share these nuggets. And I know his heart is in the right place, but the fact that you need to spell this kind of thing out is somehow extremely depressing.
- wang_li 11mo agoThe fact that he spelled it out does not imply that it needed to be said. There is no idea in that letter, that is not personal history, that hasn't been said before.
- b3lvedere 11mo ago"Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman." Keep also in mind that the cleaning lady and the receptionist usually know way way more about the insides of a company than an entire board of directors and managers ever will. It is also extremely beneficial to your own health to be nice and friendly to the people who clean, prepare your food and aid your medical well being. They will remember. They will decide how to help you when you absolutely need it. In general please always follow Wheaton's Law.
- CAPSLOCKSSTUCK 11mo agoWhat a genuine, thoughtful, and down-to-earth person. I'm going to miss his annual letters.
- deleted 11mo ago[deleted]
- Sl1mb0 11mo ago> It's hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior > There's class warfare, all right, but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning. Huh.
- divbzero 11mo agoThe second quote is not from the posted letter. It was a quote attributed to Buffett by a New York Times column in 2006. https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26every.html https://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26ever...
- Sl1mb0 11mo agoI'm aware of that. That does not make the second quote any less relevant.
- tim333 11mo agoBuffett has long been a critic of things over favouring the rich. He argued he should pay more tax https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/31/usnews https://www.theguardian.com/business/2007/oct/31/usnews and almost got a law passed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffett_Rule https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffett_Rule
- sfblah 11mo agoLucky guy: He managed to retire before having to reckon with the coming end of the Bubble Era. It won't be the same without him.
- nabla9 11mo agoOn contrary, it's sad that he can't see how his "I Don't Buy What I Can't Understand" strategy wins again. Buffet thrives when bubbles burst. More than third of Berkshire valuation is now cash. Berkshire has $350 billion USD in cash and cash equivalents. They accumulate cash because they don't find enough things worth buying (all stocks seem too expensive for them). When the bubble bursts, there will be undershoot and Berkshire starts buying.
- sfblah 11mo ago100% agree
- tim333 11mo agoHe's been through a few bubble bursts. He used to run basically a hedge fund but wound it up in 1969 at near the top of that bubble and switched to running Berkshire.
- FpUser 11mo ago[flagged]
- rahuldhamecha 11mo agoI took away 3 things: 1. CEOs have become very greedy. (Elon's pay package) 2. America will experience a downturn and the market could go down > 50%. 3. He's not giving a penny more to The Gates' foundation.
- heathrow83829 11mo agoElon's pay package is not about getting paid. he just want to retain control of Tesla, since they're going to be producing vast numbers of robots.
- rajnathani 11mo agoOnly a temporary fall: > Our stock price will move capriciously, occasionally falling 50% or so as has happened three times in 60 years under present management. Don’t despair; America will come back and so will Berkshire shares.
- zamadatix 11mo agoIt doesn't take the Oracle of Omaha to come up with the bet the American economy will come back out of the next downturn.
- pcdoodle 11mo agoI'd skip the Gates foundation at any wealth level.
- DeathArrow 11mo agoI always had the impression that the guy is playing a role. He is as amoral as the average capitalist can be, but for some reason he wants people to love him and consider him an ethical archetype. TLDR: have his cake and eat it.
- vladmk 11mo agoLoved The Snowball Effect I read it at 21 and should probably reread it
- hamonrye 11mo ago[dead]
- aetherspawn 11mo agoAt such an old age why does he care about his business? With so much money why do his kids care either? For goodness sake, stop working, try and solve global warming or world hunger or something. Or buy a small country. Make yourself president. Create a utopia for its population. But more of the same.. more of the same.. $300B or $301B when you finally kick the bucket? How shallow.
- Pooge 11mo agoWhy should he stop caring about the things he spent his whole life building?! You don't stop caring about things you love just because you get old. Maybe you don't care about your business because your goal is to sell your idea to Big Tech and sip cocktails for the rest of your life, but that's not what this is about. If you think world hunger and global warming can be solved purely with financial means, you live in a damn simple fantasy.
- aEJ04Izw5HYm 11mo ago"Choose your heroes" is the first advice I've heard in a while that's making me stop and think who I hold in high regard with my actions.
- blitzar 11mo ago"Never meet your heroes"
- Zufriedenheit 11mo agoI don't know how much of my image of him is his public facade. But the facts that he contently lived in the first house he bought in Omaha for his whole life and stayed together with his wife for many decades, working in the same office until old age, i find very admirable. It is such a contrast to the flashy, unhinged jet-setting lifestyle that many billionaires display nowadays.
- carlosjobim 11mo agoYou have no chance of knowing where he actually spends his time or with whom.
- danjermaus 11mo ago> In 1958, I bought my first and only home. He does also own holiday homes and farms but for the most part he doesn't go in for the typical billionaire lifestyle. On the surface it seems less awful than Musk or Zuckerberg but to hoard that kind of wealth while people suffer is unethical. He may have pledged to give away his wealth, but now he's giving it to his children to give away. What's stopped him from giving it away for the last 30 years?
- vintermann 11mo agoExcessive consumption isn't really the main problem with billionaires. It's the money they don't spend on consumption which is worst. The money spent on the pursuit of more money, buying up zero-sum goods that shouldn't even be for sale, like political power.
- runeks 11mo ago> Excessive consumption isn't really the main problem with billionaires. It's the money they don't spend on consumption which is worst. Which consumables do you think billionaires should spend their money on? And how would this improve the world?
- vacuity 11mo agoFrom my reading, GP is saying that, if one problem is the main one, it is the problem of billionaires spending money on not-consumption. There was no praise for "excessive consumption".
- vintermann 11mo agoI think billionaires are a policy failure, and should not exist.
- Krishan_28 11mo agoIt’s the end of an era. Buffett’s decision to “go quiet” marks a graceful handoff after decades of unmatched transparency and wisdom in business. Greg Abel stepping in feels right—steady, disciplined, and already trusted. Still, it’s hard to imagine a Berkshire meeting without Warren’s humor and plain talk. Thanksgiving letters sound like a fitting encore.
- RickJWagner 11mo agoWhat a great read. Buffett could have easily been a comedy writer.
- happy-go-lucky 11mo ago> (Thrift runs deep in Buffett blood.) Combine it with the fact that the only real asset you have is your time. Imagine getting a tailwind at the age of 50 and being financially illiterate. AND, being partially blind. I was literally too busy to not realize what really mattered. Decades gone by!
- happy-go-lucky 11mo agoStudied a listed company for about a year, invested a very negligible amount not knowing the share price was at an all-time high. Mr. Market doubled my principal in about 16 months. I realize my intelligence had no role here. It's a defense company being controlled by a democratically elected, nationalistic government. Mr. Market is doubling my money, not me.
- tug2024 11mo ago[dead]