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Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

latimes.com

251–260 of 612 posts

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's just a sarcastic take. I wouldn't read into it too much. If it didn't make you grin like a goofball, it failed and you should just move on to the next comment.

On the one hand yes, on the other hand I would hope that if I was a bazillionaire that I would still keep the comforting habits that worked for me when I was a normie.

I would argue “normie habits” are more depressing than this. Habits like stressing out about feeding your family. Counting the number of days until your money runs out and figuring out what odd jobs you can cover the shortfall with. Not going to the doctor because of the cost.

For many people, stopping by McDonalds inspires guilt, and not just because it’s a bad nutritional choice, but rather because that’s how thin the margins are. I still remember all of these things about my 20s. Now, a couple decades later and by no means super-wealthy, I will happily ignore grocery prices, pay for specialist care and sort of just eyeball my checking account every week or so to make sure I don’t need to shuffle something around.

Not dogging anyone who wants to enjoy the “simple” things in life, and I’m probably one of the more pro-billionaire people on this site (which is hilarious given what this site is really about), but I think most of us are out of touch with what the average American experiences. Midnight Taco Bell runs are an escape for those folks as much as they are a guilty pleasure. I’m happy that for me they can just be the latter.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#252

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He tasked that to his kids: He turned 95 years old on August 30. He was 75 when he began giving away his fortune, announcing plans in June 2006 to give away the bulk of his wealth to five foundations, primarily the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. He changed his will in 2024, designating 99.5% of his remaining fortune after his death to a charitable trust overseen by his three children and also announcing in June 2…

See https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/buffett-kin... if you want to know what his kids are up to.

That article seems to accurately describe the charitable activities of Peter Buffett and his NoVo Foundation, but it's worth pointing out that Howard G. and Susan Buffett have charitable foundations of their own that seem to have a more conventional philanthropic approach, one that may perhaps be more amenable to a clearer focus on getting the right outcomes. It seems unwarranted to assume that the description in the article applies to the Buffett children's activities as a whole.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree, however I don’t think the last two of your bullets are necessarily something to learn from on the surface.

Disagree. The last one is important. You can buy a bigger and bigger house car tv stereo whatever, but it will not make you happy.

This is what I’m talking about. You’re assuming a lot about why and how people move.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think they just meant it's very stereotypically american to drive a very walkable distance and eat McDonald's every day

A 7 minute drive for me is about a 10 minute walk. A 7 minute drive in America could be 5 miles!

Or 10 depending on how late you are ;)

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#255
post #205

We should never idolize a person (in my opinion). Here are some things Buffet has done that I admire (notice that phrasing): - He consistently communicated with shareholders of Berkshire in a straight-forward and transparent way in his letters and annual reports. If you read these documents, I believe that you will have a solid understanding of how he built Berkshire. - He maintained a disciplined approach to investi…

The house he bought at 28 is 3500 square feet in a very very nice neighborhood and was worth $1.2 million a few years ago. It's humble by billionaire standards, not by average person standards. He never needed to size-up because of children, or size-down because of a bad economy, he was already set for both space and finances. Let's not create a moralistic myth out of his lack of need.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#256
post #205

We should never idolize a person (in my opinion). Here are some things Buffet has done that I admire (notice that phrasing): - He consistently communicated with shareholders of Berkshire in a straight-forward and transparent way in his letters and annual reports. If you read these documents, I believe that you will have a solid understanding of how he built Berkshire. - He maintained a disciplined approach to investi…

> - He still lives in the same home he bought when he was 28 years old. Really makes me wonder what drives him. For many people it's the money, but with him it doesn't seem that way. But I haven't read too much about him, so if anyone has insight I'd love to hear about it.

Homes and physical community are a pretty personal thing.

Also, given that he is a billionaire, I do kind of assume that he has paid money to upgrade his home at some point, probably also owns additional homes elsewhere, maybe has done other things with his vast amount of money that normal people don't do, that are still consistent with living at the same address as when he was 28.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#257

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You ever see Good Will Hunting? The scene where he talks about where he can “just play” and then describes the most talented people in history at what they do. That’s Buffett in his chosen life’s work. Buffett didn’t get, for example, a small loan of a million dollars to start. He’s been working at this longer than probably anyone what will ever read this comment has been alive. He doesn’t care about the money in the…

Yes he did start with a "small loan of a million dollars"! Buffett started with 1.2 million dollars (105K in 1956) in investments from his family, i.e. his aunt, sister, and father in law. It is very nearly impossible to get rich without starting with a huge chunk of money, Buffett is no exception.

You should read his whole bio.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#258
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buffet is not a good guy. Our society’s greatest problem right now is concentrated corporate power being used to destroy the ability of working people to prosper. Buffet had an active and direct role in making this happen. He supported and advocated for monopoly, and profited from it. He lived a lavish life that included opulent mansions and private jets, and used his resources to deftly drive a media narrative of hi…

Do you feel this way about all billionaires or is it something about Buffet?

I think you must have at least some sort of antisocial and sociopathic personality qualities to become a billionaire.

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> sort of obsession That doesn't sound very positive to me. Perhaps OP has a point

I am one of the person who, if they got 40 mil USD tomorrow, would just work much harder on stuff I like to work on (which is making open source software sustainable in robotics), because I would have to spend less time have to take care about the economics of daily life. I could get a chef to cook me personalized healthy meals. I could have a mini-gym at home (which is not that expensive to be honest). but I could g…

> I could get a home near a major airport like 10 mins from SFO

You need a lot less than 40m$ to get a house 10 minutes from SFO, Daly City or outer neighborhoods in SF have homes for less than a million for sale right now

Re: Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

#260
post #205

We should never idolize a person (in my opinion). Here are some things Buffet has done that I admire (notice that phrasing): - He consistently communicated with shareholders of Berkshire in a straight-forward and transparent way in his letters and annual reports. If you read these documents, I believe that you will have a solid understanding of how he built Berkshire. - He maintained a disciplined approach to investi…

The house he bought at 28 is 3500 square feet in a very very nice neighborhood and was worth $1.2 million a few years ago. It's humble by billionaire standards, not by average person standards. He never needed to size-up because of children, or size-down because of a bad economy, he was already set for both space and finances. Let's not create a moralistic myth out of his lack of need.

I think it's more that he didn't build a gaudy billionaire mansion, even though he easily could have.
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