Warren Buffett on Berkshire & capital allocation
Buffett runs Berkshire to own good businesses forever, keeping earnings only while each retained dollar becomes more than a dollar and moving cash from businesses that can't use it to ones that can. Managers get wide autonomy, the balance sheet is built so every check clears in a panic, and buybacks make sense only below intrinsic value. He counts his costliest mistakes as omissions, tells managers never to copy others, wants errors faced quickly, and keeps rules and contracts short. He attracts like-minded long-term shareholders by saying plainly what Berkshire is, and believes unchanging principles give it a durable culture.
16 points · 7 appearances · 1998–2026
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1998–2026
“People behave very peculiarly and in terms of the reactions because they, they're human beings and they get excited when others get excited, they get greedy when others get greedy, they get fearful one other get fearful, and they'll continue to do so. And you will see, you know, if, you will see things you won't believe in your lifetime and securities markets, and the country will do very well over time, but you will see these huge waves. And then, and if you can stay objective throughout that, you can detach yourself temperamentally from the crowd, you get very rich and you won't have to be very bright. I mean, it, I'm sure you are, but that one, you know, it just, it doesn't take brains, it takes temperament.”
1998–2020
“I've never been pessimistic about the United States. I bought my first stock in the spring of 1942. I was 11. And if you remember, you would, you don't remember, no one watching this will remember, but we were losing the war at that time and we were getting totally creamed in the South Pacific, and the Philippines fell and the death march at Bataan and all that sort of thing. It was not until the Battle of Midway, which was a little later, the things started turning around, but I was optimistic on the country then and I've been optimistic on the country ever since”
1998–2026
“Think for a moment that I granted you the right to buy 10% of one of your classmates for the rest of his or her lifetime. Now, you can't pick one with a rich father, that doesn't count. I mean, you've got to pick them, pick somebody who's going to do it on their own merit. And I gave you an hour to think about it. Which one are you going to pick among all your classmates as the one you want to own 10% of for the rest of their lifetime? And are you going to give them an IQ test? Pick the one with the highest IQ? I doubt it. Are you going to pick the one with the best grades? I doubt it. You're not even going to pick the most energetic one necessarily or the one who displays the most initiative. But you're going to start looking for qualitative factors in addition to, cuz everybody's got enough brain and enough energy. And I would say that if you thought about it for an hour, decided who you're going to place that bet on, you'd probably pick the one who you responded the best to because the one that was going to have the leadership qualities, the ones who are going to be able to get other people to carry out their interests. And that would be the person who was generous and honest and gave credit to other people even if for their own ideas, all kinds of qualities like that.”
1998–2020
“Basically, I don't want to buy any stock where if they close the New York Stock Exchange tomorrow for 5 years, I won't be happy owning it. I buy a farm and I don't get a quote on it for 5 years and I'm happy if the farm does okay. You know, I buy an apartment house, don't get a quote on it for 5 years, I'm happy if the apartment house produces the returns that I expect. But people buy a stock and they look at the price the next morning and they decide whether they're doing well or not doing well. That's crazy cuz they're buying a piece of a business. That's what Graham, the most fundamental part of what he taught me, you know. You're not buying a stock, you're buying a part ownership in a business. You will do well if the business does well and if you didn't pay a totally silly price. And that's what it's all about.”