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Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

berkshirehathaway.com

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Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#141

Post by throw20251110 »

input_sh wrote: post #123
epolanski wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's donated, already, the equivalent of 200+ billions USD (give or take 420M class B shares). Say what you want, but the list of billionaires who have donated such large amounts of money while still alive (or dead) is small. Cherry picking events like layoffs, without truly knowing how much was he involved (Berkshire directors notoriously enjoy lots of autonomy) or if the layoffs made sense, etc, seems a stretch whe…

To whom? To "charities" owned by other billionaires such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and those owned by his children. I don't want billionaires to donate anything, I don't want them to use their money to shape the world to their liking. I want them to pay their fair share of taxes and a functional government that properly allocates those extra funds instead of funding the bare minimum.

Your government is pretty dysfunctional the way it is. I'm not surprised billionaires don't want to waste their taxes on that crap.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#142

Post by Zufriedenheit »

I 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.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#143

Post by willis936 »

badpenny wrote: post #122
epolanski wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's donated, already, the equivalent of 200+ billions USD (give or take 420M class B shares). Say what you want, but the list of billionaires who have donated such large amounts of money while still alive (or dead) is small. Cherry picking events like layoffs, without truly knowing how much was he involved (Berkshire directors notoriously enjoy lots of autonomy) or if the layoffs made sense, etc, seems a stretch whe…

If somebody focuses on something negative, it's cherry-picking, but if you focus on something positive it isn't? How much money has he saved dodging taxes over the years[1]? [1]: https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trov...

Benchmarking against a single person doesn't make sense. Consider how philanthropic someone is vs. how philanthropic they could be with their means. This list helps give perspective.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeswealthteam/2025/02/03/ame...

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#144

Post by postalcoder »

epolanski wrote: post #117
postalcoder wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warren Buffett is a great investor but nobody in finance buys his folksy image. Everybody knows he's an animal. I heard from folks in the room that the way 3G and Buffett came in to do layoffs at Tim Hortons was one of the most cold blooded things they've ever seen.

He's donated, already, the equivalent of 200+ billions USD (give or take 420M class B shares). Say what you want, but the list of billionaires who have donated such large amounts of money while still alive (or dead) is small. Cherry picking events like layoffs, without truly knowing how much was he involved (Berkshire directors notoriously enjoy lots of autonomy) or if the layoffs made sense, etc, seems a stretch whe…

We are saying different things.

You're saying that WB was not shy to give away money. I'm saying that he was not shy to make it.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#145

Post by danjermaus »

> 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?

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#146

Post by vintermann »

throw20251110 wrote: post #141
input_sh wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To whom? To "charities" owned by other billionaires such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and those owned by his children. I don't want billionaires to donate anything, I don't want them to use their money to shape the world to their liking. I want them to pay their fair share of taxes and a functional government that properly allocates those extra funds instead of funding the bare minimum.

Your government is pretty dysfunctional the way it is. I'm not surprised billionaires don't want to waste their taxes on that crap.

No matter where you are on the political spectrum, you almost certainly believe that at least some billionaires carry a disproportionate responsibility for that dysfunction. Whatever they are, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, George Soros or indeed Warren Buffett aren't just passive observers of government.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#147

Post by vintermann »

danjermaus wrote: post #145

> 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…

Excessive 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.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#148

Post by cm2012 »

b3lvedere wrote: post #96
ProllyInfamous wrote: post #41

>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 mistake…

"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 re…

I have never worked anywhere where the cleaning staff knew anything about what the company does or cares. They are cleaning a dozen other offices too.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#149

Post by carlosjobim »

Zufriedenheit wrote: post #142

I 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.

You have no chance of knowing where he actually spends his time or with whom.

Re: Warren Buffett's final shareholder letter [pdf]

#150

Post by carlosjobim »

marcus_holmes wrote: post #40
neilv wrote: post #23

If 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…

I have found that it's incredibly hard to get successful entrepreneurs to acknowledge that a lot of their success is down to luck. I think it's got something to do with the Protestant Work Ethic - that if they were smart and worked hard then they "deserve" their wealth , but if they just got lucky they don't "deserve" it. So acknowledging that luck played an important part in their success gives them bad feelings, an…

You can't be successful without luck, but neither can you be successful with only luck. Most people squander their luck, so those who know how to capture it are probably smart or hard working, or both.
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