Buffett said that his health can’t be better. He loves his work

Buffett, now 91, was interviewed on Thursday and talked about his health, retirement plans, investment values and other topics.

He is in good health and has no retirement plan

Buffett said in an interview that his “health can’t be better”. When asked about his successor, Buffett said there was already one - apparently referring to Greg Abel, an executive at Berkshire Hathaway

“He’s not ready yet. I’m still working overtime, just outside.”

Buffett said 40000 people would attend Berkshire’s annual general meeting later this month, noting that “this may be the largest number of people to attend Omaha in history”. Berkshire’s annual shareholders’ meeting is also called “capitalist Woodstock Festival” by Buffett. Many Berkshire shareholders are eager to meet Buffett and 98 year old vice chairman Charlie Munger in person at the meeting. This year may be their last annual meeting together.

Wearing a blue sports jacket, gray slacks and red tie, Buffett, who drinks coke, said he loves his job, calling it “the most interesting job in the world”. Buffett said that he gets up before 7 o’clock every morning to watch the news and CNBC, and then arrives at the headquarters of Berkshire Hathaway before the opening of the stock market at 8:30 local time.

He thinks about Berkshire even when he’s not in the office, he said:

“I’ve been working for Berkshire.”

He said that the Berkshire trader sitting next to his office can execute billions of dollars of transactions every day. The company regularly buys $5 billion of U.S. Treasury bonds every week, which may make it the largest regular buyer of U.S. Treasury bonds. Most of Berkshire’s nearly $150 billion in cash is ultra safe U.S. Treasury bonds because Buffett is unwilling to risk the company’s huge liquidity pool.

Buffett admitted that his age had a certain impact on him. He said that he “will forget other people’s names, and his reading speed is not as fast as before”. He called himself a “rotting machine”, but said he still “felt great”. The CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is still very sharp and has an extraordinary memory.

Praise cook and musk

Buffett praised Apple CEO cook as a “great manager”. For apple, Berkshire’s number one heavyweight stock, Buffett pointed out that although apple only produces about 25% of the world’s smartphones, “apple produces the most useful and ambitious products for people.” But for his limitations in technology, Buffett joked, “I really don’t know how to send e-mail.”.

Buffett also praised Tesla CEO musk, saying that musk has competed with general motors, Ford and other companies in the automotive industry with only “one idea”, and he is winning.

Investment philosophy: buy companies instead of stocks

Today, Berkshire’s market value is $760 billion, and Buffett admits that he has not earned the return he did when he founded Buffett’s investment partnership for $105100 in 1956. Buffett said:

“Even if I do a great thing with $5 billion, it’s only 1% of Berkshire’s net worth.”

Buffett tells the story of his first stock purchase on March 11, 1942, when he was 11 years old. He bought three preferred shares of cities services for $114.75. Before that, Buffett had prepared for this investment. At the age of 11, “I read all the books about the stock market in the Omaha public library”. “I read books on technical analysis and read everything.” Facts have proved that this investment is successful and the beginning of more investment. Since then, Buffett has never invested less than 80% in American business.

It was not until he was 18 or 19 that Buffett discovered the work of his mentor Graham that he realized that he had focused on the wrong thing, that is, he had been buying stocks, not the company.

Buffett pointed out that after buying the company, you can no longer care about the stock price fluctuations in the next few days and months, but focus on the progress of the company.