(This is the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, news and analysis about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Sign up here to receive it in your inbox every Friday night.)
Buffett talks about almost everything
Warren Buffett and Becky Quick covered so many topics in an interview that aired on CNBC’s two-hour Tuesday night special that I couldn’t write a cogent summary.
“Warren Buffett: Life and Legacy” included discussion of Berkshire Hathaway’s inability to find a large company to buy as its cash reserves approach $400 billion, new CEO Greg Abel, the company’s future and past, the difficulty of giving away billions of dollars, and the immense role of luck in his success. It is not a comprehensive list.
However, here are some short clips and quotes that caught my attention.
Buffett on what it takes to find a good business: “You don’t need a genius, you don’t need Greek symbols to understand the value of a business. If[Greg Abel]left high school like all my managers did, he’d be just as smart as he is now.”
“(Director) Steve Burke ultimately said, ‘We don’t have to sit there for three months and stare at our navels and all that. This is the right decision,'” Buffett said at Sunday’s board meeting, as the board considered his recommendation to name Greg Abel as the company’s next CEO. And they voted to do so. ”
Greg Abel speaks at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, 2025.
CNBC
Why being a member of a company’s board of directors is the best job in the world:
“Being a director. I mean, it’s the best job in the world. You get paid $250,000, $300, even up to $500,000 a year if you do something that’s so much fun. Usually they provide transportation, they give you a car to take you everywhere. And everyone’s polite. And everyone likes that job. I mean, who wouldn’t?”
Why he stopped betting on horses when he was in high school: “One of the first things you learn in horse racing One thing is, you can win a race, but you can’t win a race…I had a few horses in mind, but I lost money on the first race.And I did the stupidest thing you can imagine…I just kept betting on every race.And when I got home I was $50 poor, that was all I had…
I went to Howard Johnson’s house and found a few dollars left. I bought myself a fancy meal and sat on the train thinking and thinking. And that was the end of the race. ”
Buffett said this about Berkshire’s management over the decades.
“Everything I had hoped for worked out…That doesn’t mean everything we’ve done worked out. But I couldn’t imagine it being more fun to run Berkshire. And Charlie and I probably had more fun with the things that didn’t work out than the ones that didn’t.”
On being a sideline teacher: “I loved it. My teaching style appealed to me, and I loved my own ideas…I just enjoyed teaching. I still do, except for a few years ago when I ran out of gas.”Ad for new parents Vice: “The only advice I would give to newlyweds is to never be sarcastic to your kids. I mean, it might be sarcastic to you, but it’s going to be a whip on the back for them.” Never forget. ”
“The second half of your life is supposed to be smarter than the first half. And if things go well, you should be a better person in the second half of your life.”
On being kind: “I want someone to ask me whether being kind can hurt another person in any way, and…Wouldn’t the world be better off if I could just say to myself every morning: ‘Today, good or bad things will happen, but I can be kind to anyone?'”
Exclusive clip from Warren Buffett Watch
Even though it was a two-hour special, there were more interviews than hours, and the producers had to make a difficult decision.
For Warren Buffett readers, check out the clip she wanted included in the final cut. Buffett explains why he hasn’t spoken out about politics in recent years:
Becky Quick: You haven’t commented much publicly lately. Basically, you save it for the annual general meeting, where all the shareholders come together.
Warren Buffett: Yeah.
Becky Quick: Why is that?
Warren Buffett: Well, for one thing, I made a statement like this a few years ago, I don’t know, maybe five or six years ago, someone asked about taking a political position. And I said, don’t put your citizenship in a blind trust. but –
Becky Quick: As CEO.
Warren Buffett: And as a CEO, yes.
Even though you have 300,000 or 400,000 employees and millions of shareholders, you have a right to speak out, and I took that position.
But I reconsidered that opinion in my mind. People will do that, so it’s very tribal. I saw it in our gift program once.
But there’s no reason why anyone answering the phone at GEICO or serving customers at Nebraska Furniture Mart should have to deal with people who have a negative opinion of the company because of something I said.
And, you know, here I am. If I want to speak out as a private citizen, I should resign from Berkshire.
But I don’t really want to — I’m so identified with Berkshire that as long as I’m speaking at annual meetings and things like that, people are going to associate it with Berkshire’s voice to some degree.
And employees have no such qualifications. Companies don’t deserve it. So I pulled out of it.
Buffett’s children’s philanthropy and Buffett’s growth
Mr. Buffett had a very difficult conversation with his three adult children about unanimously deciding how to transfer his vast net worth after his death.
While visiting Omaha to interview her father, Becky sat down with Howard, Susan, and Peter Buffett to discuss the mission, their own philanthropy, and what it was like growing up in the famously unassuming Buffett household.
A large portion was aired during the special, but here’s the full text of the conversation:
In this excerpt, they recall how their father was “wise” about giving them pocket money.
Howard Buffett: You know, I earn this allowance by cleaning gutters, mowing lawns, raking leaves, things like that.
But he — but Warren got pretty smart and started giving it to us quarterly. And he bought a slot —
Susan Buffett: Ten cents!
Howard Buffett: Yeah.
Susan Buffett: It was a dime slot machine.
Howard Buffett: Yeah. And he bought —
Susan Buffett: He got it all back.
Howard Buffett: So he bought a slot machine, and he got most of his pocket money back. He has given me back a lot, at least for me.
In Wednesday’s Inside Wealth Report for Squawk Box, Robert Frank explained why Buffett’s children may have the toughest jobs in philanthropy:
In case you missed it
“Warren Buffett: Life and Legacy” will be rebroadcast on CNBC this Sunday, January 18th at 3pm ET and Monday, January 19th at 7am ET.
Buffett and Berkshire on the Internet
Some links may require a subscription.
berkshire stock watch
BRK.A stock price: $740,750
BRK.B stock price: $493.29
BRK.BP/E (TTM): 15.78
Berkshire Market Capitalization: $1,064,618,103,867
Berkshire Cash as of September 30: $381.7 billion (up 10.9% from June 30)
Excluding railroad cash and outstanding Treasury bills: $354.3 billion (4.3% increase from June 30)
There have been no repurchases of Berkshire stock since May 2024.
(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise noted)
Berkshire’s Top Stock Holdings – January 16, 2026
Berkshire’s top U.S. and Japanese listed stocks by market capitalization, based on the latest closing prices.
Holdings are as of September 30, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s November 14, 2025 13F filing. However, the following cases are excluded.
A complete list of holdings and current market value is available on CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
Question or comment
If you have any questions or comments about the newsletter, please send them to alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, we do not forward questions or comments to Mr. Buffett himself.)
If you haven’t subscribed to this newsletter yet, you can sign up here.
I also highly recommend Buffett’s annual letter to shareholders. It’s collected here on Berkshire’s website.
— Alex Crippen, Warren Buffett Watch Editor
