Here's a person with integrity. They're very rare these days, especially amongst the wealthy.
Alas, this is not his only foible.
https://www.cnbc.com/2015/05/02/warren-buffett-defends-clayt...
Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
21–30 of 216 posts
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#22If 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.
A 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 p…
Would you rather be 95 years old with a trillion dollars or 25 years old with a thousand?
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#23If 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]
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#24Here's a person with integrity. They're very rare these days, especially amongst the wealthy.
He 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.
I’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”
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’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.
It’s the Waaaasssssuuuupppp of the Gen Alpha.
Your comment finally allowed me to understand 6-7 (older millenial)...
Now get off my lawn, Shorty... or pick up the phone.
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
What's the meme?
It’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.
> 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
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).
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
A 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 p…
Would you rather be 95 years old with a trillion dollars or 25 years old with a thousand?
This 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..
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#28If 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 hav…
> 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?
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#29If 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 hav…
> 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…
What 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.
Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]
#30Earlier quoted context omitted.
A 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 p…
Would you rather be 95 years old with a trillion dollars or 25 years old with a thousand?
I would rather be 25 with zero dollars than 95 with infinite dollars. At 95, you’re just waiting for it to be your turn.