Interview With Charlie Rose
- Link to interview: https://charlierose.com/videos/31221#
- Still tap dances to work, being able to do what you love and choosing who you can work with is everything. “Choosing what you do and who you do it with.”
- Typical day of Buffett:
- Get up before 7am to catch the 7am network news. e.g. CNBC to see what prices are doing. What’s happening in Europe and Japan.
- Call Mark at 8a.m. on what to do for the market when it opens at 8.30a.m. Unlikely to change orders or need to check in with him.
- When I was 11 I picked stocks...I read books on TA. The first 8 years I thought I was supposed to predict what the stock would do. After I read Ben Graham I realized I was doing it wrong. I never bought another stock, I bought businesses that happened to be publicly traded.
- I’m not a genius. I’m just a bright guy who’s terribly interested in what he does. You don’t need to be a genius to do what I do. You probably need 120 points of IQ, 170 points will probably make you do worst. You need the right orientation. 90% of the people don’t think of it the right way. They hope it goes up next week. When it goes down they feel worse, I feel better. I think about what happens 10 to 20 years from now.
- Good to have competitive spirit, but what you are competitive about matters. If I’m a competitive in chess or football, then it probably wouldn’t turn out very well. It’s important to be competitive in games where you can win.
- I don’t have a killer instinct but when I want to do something, I want to do it big. I have never had below 80% of my net worth in American businesses.
- What brings happiness?
- When he’s doing what he’s doing (allocating capital). This game is very easy when you are clear that you are buying businesses. When stocks price falls, he’s happy (gets to buy more).
- I’m happy when I’m trusted. I would rather do what I do with partners. Than sitting in a room myself even though that would make me more money. Like the idea that people is trusting me with their savings.
- The letter (annual letter to shareholders) is written based on what he originally wants to communicate to his sister about. He visualizes this when he is writing his shareholder letters.
- For a big investment, he needs to know whether it’ll be worth more many years down the road. Not in the next few years. The world has changed a lot because of the pandemic.
- Book recommendation: Trillion dollar triage
- Activision investment was by Todd and Ted
- How did Buffett build credibility? His father inculcated the importance of credibility in him.
- “There are decades where nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen” Once every 10 or 20 years, you get an incredible opportunity to buy great businesses.
- Warren feels he has gotten dumber but wiser. He can’t do mental sums or remember things as well or read as fast. Decaying machine that still feels wonderful. It doesn’t interferes with his happiness or work.
- Size restricts the kind of deals he can do for Berkshire. Unable to earn the ROC like he used to. A brilliant $5b deal is just 1% of Berkshire. He has to think of big things.
- If you want to invest for the long-term, S&P500 index is the best for most folks.
- Tim Cook is a great human being and a great manager.