Original link: https://ljf.com/2023/07/08/1271/
2016 Daily Journal Shareholders’ Meeting Speech
Shareholder: What is the most fulfilling thing you have done in your life?
A person, in old age, can have many memorable achievements, such a life is very meaningful.
Shareholders: Who are the people you particularly respect?
If others entrust their children to you when making a will, then you must be a person worthy of respect. Who to entrust their children to, and who is worthy of entrustment, on this issue, people seldom make mistakes.
In everyone’s life, there are two or three good opportunities that belong to him. The key lies in whether you can grasp the opportunity when it comes.
Shareholders: How do you view the current investment environment? How has the investment environment changed now compared to when you were running SECCO in the early 1980s?
To achieve good investment performance, you must have enough patience. Have enough patience to wait, and when the opportunity comes, make a decisive move and buy in large quantities.
Shareholders: What are some business models that Berkshire Hathaway considered or tried, but then abandoned?
In the early days of Berkshire, we could find many small and medium-sized stocks worth investing in. We invested through the float of insurance companies and obtained rich returns.
Shareholders: What kind of development will BYD achieve in the next 10 years?
When we invest in BYD, we are actually making a venture capital investment. BYD is a legendary company.
BYD has the right time and place. Our investment in BYD has the nature of venture capital. Berkshire generally does not invest in venture capital, and BYD is a special case.
Shareholders: Specialized thinking and interdisciplinary thinking are two different thinking models. How can we integrate these two thinking models?
The world is diverse, and only by integrating multiple models can we correctly understand reality.
We should first rely on specialized thinking to solve livelihood problems, and then rely on interdisciplinary thinking to correctly understand reality.
Shareholders: You told us to find ways to avoid the mistakes that most people make. As you said, one way is not to participate in the auction. May I ask, in your daily life, what other unique habits or methods do you have that can help you make fewer mistakes?
Warren, me, Rick Guerin, the three of us had a lot of time to think. Our schedule is not very full.
To persevere in pursuing wisdom and persevere in waiting for the opportunity, we should devote our whole life to it. You can also take these two points as your life goals.
The advantage of a lot of reading and thinking is that if you do a good job of reading and thinking, you don’t need to do anything else.
Shareholders: If you could give some advice to you when you were young, what advice would you give?
The suggestions I give are all clichés, for example, be a good person, be honest, and be ethical. By fulfilling these clichés, we can live a simpler and more peaceful life.
Some people have left a notoriety for a lifetime, and others go to his funeral not to mourn him, but to confirm that he is really dead. What is the point of living like this?
Shareholders: My question is about fear. I was told that you must overcome your fear. How do you feel about fear? Have you overcome your fear?
There are certain situations where anyone who goes into it is terrified, so I always keep myself away from those situations.
Shareholders: I see General Motors in Berkshire’s portfolio. Is there any significant difference in the automotive industry compared to 10 years ago?
The automobile industry is definitely a standard general commodity industry, and the business is extremely difficult and the competition is extremely fierce. Life isn’t much better for automakers than it used to be. In the future, the automotive market may even shrink.
Shareholders: Mr. Buffett has said that he believes that our society should solve the problem of income inequality. Senator Sanders campaigned on tackling income inequality. In our generation, there are many Sanders supporters. How do you view the issue of income inequality?
From the perspective of history and reality, countries that pursue absolute equality are like a pool of stagnant water. Countries that give up absolute equality have instead embarked on a thriving development path. Take China as an example. China used to pursue egalitarianism. As a result, three-quarters of the people lived in abject poverty, and even the problem of food and clothing was difficult to solve. The Chinese at that time achieved absolute equality, but they were hungry all day long. Later, China carried out reforms, and it soared into the sky, creating an economic miracle of 10% annual growth. Compared with the past, the gap between the rich and the poor in China is now larger, not as absolute as in the past, but the overall living standards of the Chinese people have improved.
When talking about equality in a democratic society, Aristotle said that people would not feel unbalanced if someone gained more wealth by genuine merit. Tiger Woods makes a lot of money, but people don’t mind because he is the greatest golfer in the world. In the same way, great inventors, skilled surgeons, their high incomes, people also take it for granted. However, some people find it unacceptable that some people rely on ill-gotten gains to rise above ordinary people.
What we are facing is not a problem of social inequality, but a problem of ill-gotten wealth. Many people made ill-gotten gains, especially in the financial field.
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