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Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades

latimes.com

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

#271

Post by JKCalhoun »

rhubarbtree wrote: post #248
twodave wrote: post #243

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.

It's true (I live in Omaha). He is still in the same house.

I didn't grow up here—my wife did. Very early on, when I first visited Omaha, she drove me by his place. After three decades or so in California, I retired and we moved back to her hometown. Buffett is still there.

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

#272

Post by UqWBcuFx6NV4r »

twodave wrote: post #253
rhubarbtree wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Nowhere did anybody say “moving house for any reason is bad”. Buffet could’ve moved if he wanted to, I presume. So, evidently, he didn’t have any of those ‘other reasons’. What we *can^ say is that he didn’t move, which shows that he didn’t allow lifestyle inflation to extend to his place of residence.

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

#273

Post by skybrian »

lazarus01 wrote: post #213

did warren buffets success help america or just his shareholders? How does the $350 billion cash concentration affect the economy and his businesses? I would think it would be better served redistributing it back into the economy to create opportunities for working class, so they can make a living wage, vs having multiple jobs and no savings or safety net.

Ways it helps America:

* His shareholders include many Americans. The cash pile is concentrated as far as corporate governance is concerned, but lots of people own a piece of it in their retirement accounts. (Often indirectly via index funds.)

* Many employees work for businesses owned by Berkshire Hathaway. I'd guess they're pretty stable businesses, not about to get bought out and shut down? Maybe decent places to work? (Not sure about the railroad, though.)

* Many people are customers of these businesses. Mostly a good thing?

Admittedly there are lots of Americans that don't participate in that, though.

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

#274

Post by JKCalhoun »

chihuahua wrote: post #250
wickedsight wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - 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.

For some people, money is not for buying things, but just for keeping score. That can make it rewarding and addictive to accumulate money, even if you don't buy anything (like a giant house) with it. The score keeping aspect makes it interesting, just like playing tennis while keeping score is more interesting than just hitting a ball back and forth across the net without counting.

Yeah, I kind of agree. I read Andrew Tobias's (did I get the apostrophe right?) book on investing and he made a point very early on: the people who are rich like money. No, not like you and I like money, they like money the way you and I like fishing, or reading, or hiking or whatever. It's their hobby, their love, the thing they like to learn about, read about…

Warren Buffett wouldn't be where he was if he wasn't obsessed with money. But to your point, that doesn't have to translate to material goods: the bigger house, yachts, etc.

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

#275

Post by JKCalhoun »

csb6 wrote: post #167
walthamstow wrote: post #10

Driving 7 minutes to work and stopping at a drive-thru to pick up McDonalds breakfast every day. The man is a true American hero.

Being genuine here - what is heroic about those two things?

It's down to earth.

We expect the ultra-wealthy to eat at the French Laundry in California, to have chauffeurs, to live in New York penthouses…

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

#276

Post by gnopgnip »

gbacon wrote: post #179
CPLX wrote: 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…

Which “opulent mansions”?

The 6000 sq ft home in Omaha. The $10m+ home in Laguna Beach. Plus purchasing the home next door as overflow

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

#277

Post by JKCalhoun »

beenBoutIT wrote: post #269
Lt_Riza_Hawkeye wrote: post #216

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

Any American worth that much is safer in a discretely armored car than on foot.

If you let fear dictate your life, you are correct.

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

#278

Post by JKCalhoun »

positron26 wrote: post #220
csb6 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Being genuine here - what is heroic about those two things?

Not just relative to other billionaires, relative to the average American, he never went after get rich quick schemes, has a reputation less dirty, values life-long relationships more, and fell to not one of so many traps and dynamics that see many successful people trash their own legacy. The internet citizen is so often convinced that everyone with a high net worth is crooked, cheated to get where they are at, and…

Not seen in a photograph with Jefferey Epstein.

(yet)

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

#279

Post by weird-eye-issue »

greekrich92 wrote: post #174
weird-eye-issue wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Poor people should properly budget and cook at home to avoid staying poor If you can afford to eat McDonald's nobody cares (well it's not healthy either but that's a different matter that doesn't really have to do with being poor or not)

"Poor people should" You should demand more of people with power before you criticize those with none

I'm not demanding anything just giving common sense advice but I guess common sense isn't very common these days
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