Yahoo Finance ‘Incalculable’: The biggest lesson Bill Gates learnt from Warren Buffett
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has shared a touching tribute to long-time friend Warren Buffet on his 90th birthday, revealing the most important lesson he learnt from the Oracle of Omaha in their 10,649 days of friendship.
“Of all the things I’ve learned from Warren, the most important thing might be what friendship is all about,” Gates wrote in a blog post.
“As Warren himself put it a few years ago when we spoke with some college students, ‘You will move in the direction of the people that you associate with. So it’s important to associate with people that are better than yourself.
“‘The friends you have will form you as you go through life. Make some good friends, keep them for the rest of your life, but have them be people that you admire as well as like.’”
Gates credited his long-standing friendship with the Berkshire Hathaway CEO to an extensive list of common interests, and admiration for one another.
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“A person that I admire as well as like—that's the perfect description of how I feel about Warren,” he said.
The tech billionaire said Buffett had an “unshakeable sense of right and wrong”, always made time for extracurricular activities, and had “a phenomenal eye for talent”.
Gates said most of the managers at Berkshire stayed for decades – often past retirement age. In fact, the vice chairman of insurance operations at Berkshire Hathaway, 69-year-old Ajit Jain, who joined Berkshire back in 1986, is even touted to be Buffett’s successor.
Jain took on the role of vice chairman of insurance operations in 2018, with Buffett calling his and Gregory Abel’s promotion to CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy “part of the movement toward succession,” at Berkshire.
“Ajit has created tens of billions of value for Berkshire shareholders. If there were ever to be another Ajit and you could swap me for him, don't hesitate. Make the trade!" Buffett said in an annual letter to shareholders in 2017.
Gates’ tribute to Buffett even revealed the impact the investing guru had on the world by committing to give virtually all of his wealth back to society: “incalculable”.
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