Buffett retires, the Oracle endures

WARREN BUFFETT MAY have retired, but the Oracle of Omaha hasn't.

- FE BUREAU

As the legendary investor finally stepped away from the daily grind of running Berkshire Hathaway, it marked the end of a professional chapter unlike any other in modern capitalism. But it does not mark the end of his influence.

For more than six decades, Buffett, 95, did something astonishingly unfashionable in a financial world addicted to speed, leverage and spectacle. He proved that patience could outperform brilliance, that temperament mattered more than intelligence, and that saying “no” was often the most profitable decision an investor could make. In an era that celebrated traders, disruptors and dealmakers, Buffett quietly built one of the largest and most enduring fortunes by buying good businesses, holding them for a very long time, and letting compounding do the heavy lifting.