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Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

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341–350 of 435 posts

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#341

All that money and he's still a mortal just like the rest of us. I wonder if mega billionaires like him have done private research on life longevity, cryosleep, mind-upload, etc. It's the only useful thing they can do with that much money that directly benefits them. Anything else (legacy, influence, children, etc.) doesn't benefit them when they're gone.

With all the billionaires we've had, the fact that no one is living unnaturally long or in some kind of cryosleep or AI simulation probably means one thing: It's simply not possible, and if it is, all the money in the world won't get you there.

Or maybe "optimizing for the most personal wealth over anything else" and "optimizing for the longest healthy lifespan over anything else" are two different goals, pursued by different people.

As a result, extreme results in one or the other are not usually attained by people who do not have extreme prioritization of just one.

It is totally possible that a rare talented unicorn pursuing (and succeeding at) both goals simultaneously is needed for us to achieve radical life extension.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#342
post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The current wealth disparity, at historic levels, began growing mostly in the 1980s. > 1968 was the advent of the "Great Society" programs. 1968 was when Nixon was elected. > During the 19th century, the US elevated scores of millions of immigrants from poverty to the middle class and beyond. The newly wealthy "aristocracy" sprang from the poor I don't grasp the relevance of these 19th century events to today. How do…

The US was not settled by wealthy people, or even middle class people. The poor people came by the scores of millions. Many came as indentured servants. The Irish came here because of the potato famine. And so on. If you like, name a wealthy American who came from royalty. I can't think of any. Fun fact: the Titanic was not built to transport rich people to the US. Quite the contrary, the bulk of it was for poor peop…

> If you like, name a wealthy American who came from royalty. I can't think of any.

You can play the opposite game too: name a wealthy American who did not come from a multigenerational-upper-middle-class background (i.e. someone who's parents and grandparents were all well above median income).

Of the big names, the only one I can think of is Bezos (his adoptive father was an engineer, but a first generation immigrant with no established wealth). Everyone else, all of them AFAICT, came from backgrounds where they never had to worry about money or support through the early parts of their careers.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pretty clear and funny to me. Not sure how to explain it without just repeating the same thing. It seems the markets will soon go through a period when Buffet's approach will work best, which makes it an inoportune moment for him to retire. Of course at his age retirement is expected, maybe even inevitable - that's the joke.

> And now after decades of stock buybacks, quantitative easing and other mad financial manipulation, comes again the time for value investors These are things that have happened in the past. Mad financial manipulations? Like what is "mad"? "Comes again the time." How is it different than any other day? > Pretty clear and funny to me. You're making up your own interpretation of nonsense then calling it obvious. Good l…

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Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#345

I’m not sure if it’s originally his but a small talk by him about getting a car made an impression on me and since watching it it’s become a good motivator to stay in shape. This seems like a good moment to share it. https://youtu.be/0fMRHpguTPM?si=75lLHzDynMCKhT9H

The interesting thing about this is that Buffett himself has never really had a reputation for taking care of his body in terms of getting exercise or eating well.

I saw him at the Berkshire meeting about 25 years ago and he did walk very briskly. He probably figured he could exercise that way and get places quicker. He was always good at thinking that sort of stuff out.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#346
post #5

He's 94 years old, it's honestly impressive he was still there. Still, end of an era.

> Still, end of an era. That is an enormous understatement. At 94, Buffet has witnessed history and has represented a vision of betterment, a just society, and sound economic stewardship. These things were not and are not hallucinations. But for many, it seems, the lessons about co-operation, stable economic growth. the sane application of democratic principles, and the rule of law must be learned again. It's the end…

>It's the end of an era bona fides and respect for truth and accountability as the structural integrity of democratic society.

You're splitting. Psychiatrically binarizing things into two possible states - a psychiatric pathology fueled by online propaganda in this context.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#347
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Not to diminish the accomplishments of Magnus Carlsen , but he has lost many games." "Not to diminish the accomplishments of the world's best poker player, but he did lose many hands."

My point is that you have to put all of his wisdom and stories in the context of what he's good at and the environment he was in. He tried to apply his value investing playbook to early Google, and it looked like a bad investment. He later realized this (see my link), but that gets talked about less than value investing in its heyday. Aside: for debated reasons, value investing, which used to outperform, has been in…

He's always been an independent thinker. He stopped the low price to book value thing ages ago and went more for companies with good long term growth such as Apple. And recently he's switched a lot to cash/t-bills. We'll see if that proved a wise move but he's got a good track record of doing smart things rather than always doing the same thing.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#348
post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. I've never heard of that model. So what Munger is implying is that by the 80s even Buffett wasn't beating the market but was leveraging his money for gains. Thanks!

Sorry I didn’t mean Buffett and munger used the option pricing, I mean regular people did. They also got more money by buying up insurance companies and investing the float

Buffett did one time write some option but he got a lot of grief from the credit rating people over it.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#349

For all I've heard about WB the last few decades, I couldn't tell you a single thing he's done that's impacted my life, the country, or the world. AFAIK he's a guy who makes a ton of money, plays bridge with Bill Gates, gives advice, and has a fund that made money for other people. Am I missing something?

He was intellectually interesting if you read his letters and the like.

Re: Buffett to step down following six-decade run atop Berkshire

#350

And now after decades of stock buybacks, quantitative easing and other mad financial manipulation, comes again the time for value investors, and he leaves?! :)

He did so before in 1969 when he closed his investment partnership because the markets were overvalued.
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