The Oracle of Omaha and his long-time partner shared insights right from moats to crypto-currencies at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting at Omaha. Edited excerpts
Warren, you previously said that there are two parts to your job – overseeing the managers and capital allocation. Ajit Jain and Greg Abel now oversee the managers, which leaves you with capital allocation. However, you share capital allocation with Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Does that mean you are semi-retired or, if not, please explain?
BUFFETT: I’ve been semi-retired for decades. Ajit and Greg have been doing a great job. Likewise, Ted and Todd are doing a very god job when it comes to investing, managing $12 billion-$13 billion each. We have $170 billion now in equities, $20 billion in bonds and another $100 billion in cash. Basically, I still have the responsibility for the around $300 billion! Ajit and Greg are smart and energetic and bring more to the job every day. Ted and Todd do a number of things cheerfully and skillfully along with managing those billions and, sometimes, I steal their ideas.
MUNGER: Well, I’ve watched Warren for a long time. Part of the Berkshire secret is that there’s nothing to do. And Warren is very good at doing nothing.
Warren, have you given a thought to other Berkshire managers becoming publicly more visible so that future generations of successful business owners continue to bring deal opportunities to Berkshire like they have in prior decades?
This story is from the May 25, 2018 edition of Outlook Business.
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This story is from the May 25, 2018 edition of Outlook Business.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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