Warren Buffett steps down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after six decades • Hacker News Board

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

#331

Post by matthewbauer » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:12 AM UTC

theonething wrote: post #318

JKCalhoun wrote: post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Like anyone can just drive up to his house? Doesn't seem safe for such a high profile billionaire's residence to be so accessible.

I went by it a few weeks ago. There's a gate on the driveway, and I assume some kind of security presence. Probably no different than anyone under constant public scrutiny.

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

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Post by WalterBright » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:13 AM UTC

yndoendo wrote: post #52

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.

Sorry, a person who life is built around greed is no hero.

Buffet has also made a lot of money for his investors. People can buy shares in Berkshire Hathaway.

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

#333

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:15 AM UTC

lr4444lr wrote: post #124

yndoendo wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry, a person who life is built around greed is no hero.

I respect Buffett greatly on a professional level, and think it's the height of arrogance to believe any one of us personally has the moral right to decide which level of lawful activity becomes turpitudinous greed. THAT SAID... My uncle (he's 98) had a passing acquaintance with Buffett during their overlap at Penn, and in the one econ class they shared, he remarked having heard Buffett say in almost salivating eager…

People buying a house also hope for a dip in the market so they can buy in cheaper.

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

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Post by _heimdall » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:22 AM UTC

twodave wrote: post #243

sethev wrote: 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…

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

Avoiding scaling your lifestyle with tour current wealth seems like an extremely important lesson people could learn here. Very few people know what "enough" means to them.

Its probably worth noting that I mean "enough" in the context of consumption and physical goods. "Enough" wealth doesn't really matter, its only a number in a database or a piece of paper until you spend it.

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

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Post by MangoToupe » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:24 AM UTC

nrhrjrjrjtntbt wrote: post #181

csb6 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Nothing. We shouldn't dilute the term hero. Let's call it what it is "groundedness"

> We shouldn't dilute the term hero

Buddy you're fighting against 3000 years of dilution. Let people have their word

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

#336

Post by _heimdall » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:25 AM UTC

inetknght wrote: post #296

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.

> You can buy a bigger and bigger house car tv stereo whatever, but it will not make you happy. Speak for yourself. There are a lot of aspects to being happy, and having to not want for things certainly helps.

You will never not want for things, no matter how much you have.

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

#337

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:25 AM UTC

gbacon wrote: post #210

BrenBarn wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With $150 billion dollars he could have done a lot more than "argue for" changing taxation. If he had spent that money actively fighting for a better system, maybe that'd be worth something. To sit back on your billions and say "aw shucks, this really shouldn't be possible" is not much of an effort. Edit: Some people seem to be misunderstanding me. I'm saying if he thought taxation was unequal or thought wealth inequ…

Do you believe that wealth was cash sitting in a bank account?

I think you're referring to Scrooge McDuck cash vaults. I'm not aware of any that exist.

Banks do not store their deposits in a cash vault. They loan it out (except for a reserve percentage), and charge interest on the loan. That's how they make money. That's why they offer free checking - so they can loan your money out and charge interest. They will even pay you to deposit your money, so they can loan it out and make money on it.

Wealthy people know how to make money, which means putting the money to productive use creating goods and services that people want. If that money is confiscated from them, there's that much less money creating goods and services people want.

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

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Post by Nevermark » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:25 AM UTC

Interesting that they are so over-liquid, when they sold off a lot of their Apple stock mid-2024 and Apple is up 22% from then.

Not a significant miss relative to the portfolio. But a significant miss relative to holding cash.

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

#339

Post by WalterBright » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:26 AM UTC

650REDHAIR wrote: post #98

Aarostotle wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A man who built what he loves and produced so much surplus value for the rest of us to enjoy (read: profit) is _exactly_ a hero. I’m sure I could find ways critique him, but not in the context of celebrating his career.

Tell me more about the surplus value that Warren produced

Look at a stock chart of Berkshire Hathaway over time.

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

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Post by cortesoft » Thu, Jan 01, 2026, 5:27 AM UTC

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.

Yeah, but if the first house you buy is a two bedroom at 28 when you are single, it isn't bad to buy a bigger house when you have a family and 3 kids.