Warren Buffett Reveals Secrets of Success

Legendary investor Warren Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway revealed that his extraordinary success was driven less by genius or complex calculations and more by luck, discipline, and simple judgment.

Buffett said that identifying great companies does not require exceptional intelligence or advanced mathematical skills. “It doesn’t take genius,” he noted. “It certainly doesn’t require Greek symbols or anything like that to understand the value of a business.” 

He added that intelligence is not defined by formal education, remarking that even if Greg Abel, Berkshire’s designated successor, had dropped out of high school like some of the company’s managers, “he would be just as smart as he is today.”

Buffett expressed confidence that Berkshire Hathaway will continue to expand, even as some of its businesses fade over time and others emerge. “We can go where the country goes, and we can go with capital,” he said, underlining the conglomerate’s long-term adaptability.

He also described the role of a board member as “the best job in the world,” noting that compensation can reach $300,000 to $500,000 annually for what he characterized as enjoyable work, generous treatment, and comfortable travel arrangements. “Who wouldn’t want that job?” he asked.

Buffett shared a personal anecdote about abandoning horse-race betting during his high school years after losing all his money in his first race and continuing to lose more afterward. Sitting down over an expensive meal, he reflected on the experience and decided to quit betting altogether, a lesson in discipline that would shape his investing philosophy.

Looking back on his career, Buffett said that most of what he hoped to achieve ultimately came true, even though some decisions failed. He admitted that he sometimes enjoyed mistakes more than successes, crediting much of his fulfillment to his longstanding partnership with the late Charlie Munger.

Buffett spoke openly about his love for teaching, saying he enjoyed both the process and the ideas behind it, though he acknowledged that his enthusiasm faded somewhat in recent years.

He offered advice to new parents, warning against sarcasm when dealing with children. “What may seem like humor to you can feel like a lasting wound to them,” he said.

Buffett emphasized that people should be wiser in the second half of their lives than in the first, arguing that success should make a person better over time, not harsher. “Kindness can’t hurt,” he added, suggesting that the world would improve if people reminded themselves each morning that both good and bad things will happen, but they can choose to be kind regardless.

Buffett explained why he has significantly reduced his political commentary in recent years, citing growing polarization. He said he does not want Berkshire employees, subsidiaries, or customers to be affected by personal opinions that might be attributed to the company.

“Anything I say politically can be linked to Berkshire,” he noted, warning that such associations could harm employees and affiliated businesses.

The program also featured interviews with Buffett’s three children, Howard, Susan, and Peter, who discussed the challenging responsibility their father assigned them: deciding collectively how to distribute his vast fortune after his death.

They spoke about growing up in Buffett’s modest Omaha home and his unconventional approach to allowances. According to Howard Buffett, the children earned money through household chores such as cleaning gutters, mowing lawns, and raking leaves.

Buffett later became “smarter” with allowances, paying them in quarters, then installing a coin-operated arcade machine that ran on time. As Susan Buffett recalled, it operated on dimes, allowing Buffett to reclaim much of the allowance his children had earned.

Howard added that, at least in his case, their father managed to get a significant portion of the allowance back through the machine.

Journalist Robert Frank noted that Buffett’s children may face one of the most complex challenges in philanthropy: determining how to responsibly allocate one of the world’s largest fortunes, an outcome Buffett intentionally designed by entrusting the decision to them collectively.