Warren Buffett on Success: Find Your “Sound” in Life | Berkshire 2025

[Transcript]

AUDIENCE MEMBER: My name is Benjamin Graham Sanderson from Pasadena, California. Warren, thank you for all you’ve taught us over the years. Earlier, you said nobody but Steve Jobs could have created Apple, but nobody but Tim Cook could have developed it like he has. Warren, nobody but you could have created Berkshire. And I presume you view Greg as an outlier among outliers, but he seems so normal. (Laughter) Sorry, Greg.

WARREN BUFFETT: That's a nice way of saying not normal actually, but I appreciate it. (Laughter)

AUDIENCE MEMBER: So, I was hoping you could share what specifically about Greg makes him your preferred successor? And Greg, we’re excited to get to know you more over the next few decades. Thank you.

GREG ABEL: Thank you. (Applause) Thank you. (Applause)

WARREN BUFFETT: Well, you’ve hit on the most important question, and now in terms of the business. We’ve got a wonderful group of businesses. We’ve got an ability to do things that nobody else can do, which is hard to get in a capitalistic system that’s been developed as fully as the United States has been. I mean, imagine being able to create something that in a very, very, very big playing field – it would be very, very hard to develop anything like it.

I don’t think you could develop the people around with it, let alone the capital position that you know, and the history, and everything else. And the answer of course is that it does take a long, long time. And it takes getting around you a small cadre of people which then spreads out somewhat. Where you’ve got mutual trust, where people do more than their share.

And I’ve been around a lot of businesses over the years, and by nature I’m somewhat critical of everything. I mean I’m looking for what’s wrong in things because that’s part of investing – is looking you know what you’re missing. But we have – you know we've got people that, if they’re asked to put on a show like this, instead of doing whatever their regular job is, they participate.

I went around the groups of people who were exhibiting yesterday for an hour and a half, and these are people who are thanking me, you know and totally enthused about coming and doing a lot of work for which they don't get paid anything extra. I don't know anything about the arrangements, the individual companies make. But they work hard and they enjoy their work.

And you know you really want to work at something you enjoy. I’ve had five bosses in life and I liked every one of them, and they were all interesting. I still decided that I’d rather work for myself than anybody else. But if you find people that are wonderful to work with, you know that’s the place to go.

And I've told my kids that basically that you don’t get lucky like I did when I found it, 7 or 8 years of age what really interested me. You know it could have taken a lot longer, but you want to find the song – "find the sound."

There’s a movie called “The Glenn Miller Story,” and Glenn Miller went on from having a broken-down band for 15 years to turning out the first. He “found the sound” and created the first gold record. I don't know whether any of you know what it was, but it was the Chattanooga Choo Choo in 1941, I think it was.

And he turned around from being a nothing with the band that he had, till he found the sound. And I always told my kids ever since that, their sound isn’t my sound, and you don’t find it necessarily on the first job you take. Cause you got to eat you know, but if you get lucky like I did, you find it when you’re very young and then you know you just keep doing it and don't worry.

Don’t worry too much about starting salaries and be very careful who you work for because you will take on the habits of the people around you. So there are certain jobs you shouldn’t take.

But you’ve got the greatest country in the world and the greatest time in the world. So I would say that – Well I'm handing this over to Greg that you know, you can't even dream all the dreams that you could have about a place like Berkshire.

But the big thing you have to do is always be sure you can play the next day. I mean, in terms of financial activities on a meaningful scale, you know you don't want to go, you don't – There was a book about – what was the name of that book – you only have to get rich once, I mean you don't want to do anything that risks what's been created.

If very stupid things are happening around you, you do not want to participate. If people are making more money because they’re borrowing money or they're participating in securities that are really pieces of junk but they hope to find a bigger sucker later on, you just have to forget that. That’ll bite you at some point.

The basic game is so good, and you’ve been so lucky to be born now. I mean if I’d been born in 1700, I’d say, “I want to go back in the womb. What the hell with this? It’s too hard.” (Laughter)

But now I’ve come along to do something where I can just play around all day with things I enjoy doing. It's a pretty wonderful life. (Laughs) Anything Greg you want to add or subtract from that?

GREG ABEL: Nothing to subtract. But I would always just say it couldn't be more – as I've said in the past – more humbled and honored obviously to be in this role, but to have actually been part of Berkshire, for Warren, it's now 25+ years had the opportunity to be part of Berkshire and to work with you and Ajit, and our board but many other people in our company.

And as you touched on, when you find something like that and you find someone like that like Berkshire that's so special. You fall in love with it and it becomes what you want to do every day. And it's just an incredible opportunity. So, thank you. (Applause)

WARREN BUFFETT: And to the gentleman who asked the question, if you don't find it immediately, you know don't starve to death in the meantime, but you will find it. And you'll find it in the right individual, in the sense, it’s somewhat like finding the right person in marriage.

I mean and that probably the first – some of you married, may have married the person you met on your first date. Although I guess they don't even have dates anymore, but the – (Laughter) but you know sometimes it pays to wait too. (Laughs)

Source: https://buffett.cnbc.com/2025-berkshire-hathaway-annual-meeting/

 

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