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We compiled 20 key quotes from the Berkshire Hathaway 2023 AGM. Enjoy!
1. On where to find opportunities:
"What gives you opportunities is other people doing dumb things...I would say there’s been a great increase in the number of people doing dumb things"- WB
1. On where to find opportunities:
"What gives you opportunities is other people doing dumb things...I would say there’s been a great increase in the number of people doing dumb things"- WB
@DisruptorStocks @BeckyQuick @BrianSozzi @SquirrelMacro @Benzinga @NaeimKhanjani @JackFarley96 @TSOH_Investing @CharlieMunger00 @QCompounding 2. On the economy:
"In the general economy, the feedback we get is that perhaps the majority of our businesses will actually report lower earnings this year than last year" - WB
"In the general economy, the feedback we get is that perhaps the majority of our businesses will actually report lower earnings this year than last year" - WB
3. On tackling inflation:
"Your best defense is your own earning power" - WB
"Your best defense is your own earning power" - WB
4. On kindness:
"I've never known anybody that was basically kind the died without friends. And I've known plenty of people with money that have died without friends, including their family" - WB
"I've never known anybody that was basically kind the died without friends. And I've known plenty of people with money that have died without friends, including their family" - WB
5. On banks & incentives:
"I don't think having a bunch of bankers, all of them are trying to get rich leads to good things" - CM
"I think that the incentives in bank regulation are so messed up, and so many people have an interest in having them messed up" - $WB
"I don't think having a bunch of bankers, all of them are trying to get rich leads to good things" - CM
"I think that the incentives in bank regulation are so messed up, and so many people have an interest in having them messed up" - $WB
6. On the importance of cash:
"They were saying cash is trashed back in 2000, '07 and '08...Anybody who thinks cash is trash ought to look at the Federal Reserve balance sheet,...believe me, cash is not trash" - $WB
"They were saying cash is trashed back in 2000, '07 and '08...Anybody who thinks cash is trash ought to look at the Federal Reserve balance sheet,...believe me, cash is not trash" - $WB
7. On Elon Musk:
"He would not have achieved what he has in life if he hadn't tried for unreasonably extreme objectives,. He likes taking on the impossible job and doing it. We're different. Warren and I are looking for the easy job that we can identify"
"He would not have achieved what he has in life if he hadn't tried for unreasonably extreme objectives,. He likes taking on the impossible job and doing it. We're different. Warren and I are looking for the easy job that we can identify"
8. On Occidental Petroluem:
"There’s speculation about us buying control, we’re not going to buy control...We will not be making any offer for control of Occidental, but we love the shares we have. We may or may not own more in the future" - WB
$OXY
"There’s speculation about us buying control, we’re not going to buy control...We will not be making any offer for control of Occidental, but we love the shares we have. We may or may not own more in the future" - WB
$OXY
9. On Apple:
"I don't understand the phone at all, but I do understand consumer behavior....Apple is a better business. Our railroad is a very good business. It was not remotely as good as Apple's business." - $WB
"I don't understand the phone at all, but I do understand consumer behavior....Apple is a better business. Our railroad is a very good business. It was not remotely as good as Apple's business." - $WB
10. On knowing the edge of your smartness:
"We're not so smart, but we know where the edge of our smartness is" - CM
"We're not so smart, but we know where the edge of our smartness is" - CM
11. On being long-term focused:
"The world is overwhelmingly short-term focused & if you go to an investor relation call...the management is interested in feeding them expectations that will slightly be beaten" - WB
"The world is overwhelmingly short-term focused & if you go to an investor relation call...the management is interested in feeding them expectations that will slightly be beaten" - WB
12. On value investing:
"I think value investors are gonna have a harder time now that there's so many of them competing first a diminished bunch of opportunities. So my advice to value investors is to get used to making less" - CM
"I think value investors are gonna have a harder time now that there's so many of them competing first a diminished bunch of opportunities. So my advice to value investors is to get used to making less" - CM
13. Some advice on investing:
"You should never have a night when you're worried about investing. I mean, assuming you have any money to invest at all" - WB
"You should never have a night when you're worried about investing. I mean, assuming you have any money to invest at all" - WB
14. On emotions:
WB: Have we ever made an emotional decision?
CM: No
WB: That's in business we're talking about...You don't want to be a no-emotion person in all of your life. But you definitely want to be a no-emotion person when making an investment or business decision"
WB: Have we ever made an emotional decision?
CM: No
WB: That's in business we're talking about...You don't want to be a no-emotion person in all of your life. But you definitely want to be a no-emotion person when making an investment or business decision"
15. On buybacks:
"...every year, the number of our shares go down. So if we own more businesses, and the businesses make more money, your -- shareholders, as owners of Berkshire increases every year without you laying out any money" - WB
"...every year, the number of our shares go down. So if we own more businesses, and the businesses make more money, your -- shareholders, as owners of Berkshire increases every year without you laying out any money" - WB
16. On Commercial Real Estate:
"We are starting to see the consequences of people who could borrow it 2.5% and find out it doesn't work at current rates and they hand it back to somebody that gave them all the money they needed to build" - WB
"We are starting to see the consequences of people who could borrow it 2.5% and find out it doesn't work at current rates and they hand it back to somebody that gave them all the money they needed to build" - WB
17. On how they do estate planning:
WB: "If the children are growing and when the will is read to them, it's the first they've heard about what the deceased thought about things, the parents have made a terrible mistake"
CM: "Just hold the god***n stock [Berkshire]"
WB: "If the children are growing and when the will is read to them, it's the first they've heard about what the deceased thought about things, the parents have made a terrible mistake"
CM: "Just hold the god***n stock [Berkshire]"
18. On TSMC:
"Taiwan Semiconductor is one of the best-managed companies and important companies in the world. And there is not -- and I think you'll be able to say the same thing 5 or 10 or 20 years from now -- I don't like its location, and I've reevaluated that" - WB
"Taiwan Semiconductor is one of the best-managed companies and important companies in the world. And there is not -- and I think you'll be able to say the same thing 5 or 10 or 20 years from now -- I don't like its location, and I've reevaluated that" - WB
19. On a corporate raider coming to Berkshire:
WB: "It's fair to say we think about it plenty, but I don't worry enormously"
CM: "I think if you take care of each day's responsibilities pretty well & think ahead as well as you can, then you just take the results as they fall"
WB: "It's fair to say we think about it plenty, but I don't worry enormously"
CM: "I think if you take care of each day's responsibilities pretty well & think ahead as well as you can, then you just take the results as they fall"
20. On advice to CEOs:
"..control your destiny, which we've been able to do at Berkshire....we feel no pressure from Wall Street. We don't have investor calls. We don't have to make promises. We get a chance to make our own mistakes & occasionally find something that works well"
"..control your destiny, which we've been able to do at Berkshire....we feel no pressure from Wall Street. We don't have investor calls. We don't have to make promises. We get a chance to make our own mistakes & occasionally find something that works well"
21/21. Thanks for reading! To get more quotes like these, subscribe to our weekly newsletter: thetranscript.substack.com/subscribe
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Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla
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May 8, 2023
Nice $BRKA thread: