CEOs celebrate Buffett as he closes on a 5,500,000% run

Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks to the press as he arrives at the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb., May 4, 2019. Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images

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Apple Inc.’s Tim Cook called him inspiring. Bank of America Corp.’s Brian Moynihan praised his lessons on life and business. JPMorgan and Chase Co.’s Jamie Dimon said he’s “everything that is good about American capitalism.”

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As Warren Buffett called an end to his historic run atop Berkshire Hathaway Inc., luminaries from the technology and banking worlds rushed to praise the man whose lessons they partially credit for their success.

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The famed investor delivered a more than 5,500,000 per cent return on Berkshire’s stock as he turned a once-failing textile firm into the most valuable company in the world that isn’t either a tech giant or state oil producer. In the process, he became the rare investor who crossed over into public consciousness through his folksy wisdom and witticisms.

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Buffett has drawn scores of imitators and become synonymous for many of the investing themes that still dominate the financial industry: being greedy while others are fearful, practicing patience in allowing investments to compound and identifying insurance as a source of stable funds.

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Cook, Moynihan and Dimon were among those who said they’d personally learned from Buffett.

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“There’s never been someone like Warren,” Cook said on social media after Buffett surprised his investors with the announcement that he’d step down as CEO by year-end. “Countless people, myself included, have been inspired by his wisdom.”

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Berkshire racked up many measures of its success and heft as it branched into more and more sectors, with some 180 operating businesses now driving annual revenue of nearly US$400 billion. The conglomerate holds railroads, power utilities, gas stations, auto dealerships, home builders, chemical producers and real estate brokers. It also has household brands including Geico, Dairy Queen, Fruit of the Loom, Duracell, Helzberg Diamonds and See’s Candies.

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Buffett is known most widely for his public stock-picking prowess, and a small group of stocks — Apple Inc., American Express Co., Coca-Cola Co., Bank of America Corp. and Chevron Corp. — accounted for some 70 per cent of its US$263 billion stock portfolio. As Buffett put it, “one wonderful business can offset the many mediocre decisions that are inevitable.”

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Berkshire has also built up a formidable pile of cash, now at a record US$347.7 billion at the end of the first quarter. That’s bigger than all of the Ivy League university endowments combined. It also owns roughly five per cent of the Treasury bills in circulation and last year paid what Buffett himself called the biggest corporate tax bill in U.S. history at nearly US$27 billion.

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Lately, Buffett has been waiting for a big opportunity to deploy his growing cash pile, a decision he apparently will pass to Greg Abel, his hand-selected successor as chief executive.

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While Cook and others have expressed confidence in Abel, his boss will be a tough act to follow.

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“Warren Buffett represents everything that is good about American capitalism and America itself — investing in the growth of our nation and its businesses with integrity, optimism, and common sense,” Dimon said. “I’ve learned so much from him to this very day, and I am honored to call him a friend.”

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“His life lessons delivered to young and old are as valuable as his business acumen,” Moynihan said. “I have personally learned so much from him and look forward to continuing to benefit from his insights.”

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Here’s a look at what Buffett built — with his longtime business partner, the late Charlie Munger — over his six-decade run.

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5,502,284 per cent: Overall gain from 1964 to 2024 in per-share market value of Berkshire Hathaway. (The same figure for the S&P 500 stock index, with dividends included, is 39,054 per cent.) That translates to an annualized return of nearly 20 per cent, almost double that of the S&P over the same period.

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$1.2 trillion: The current market capitalization of Berkshire, the eighth-highest in global public markets

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392,396: Number of people Berkshire companies employed at year-end

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$167 billion: Value of Warren Buffett’s Class A shares in Berkshire Hathaway

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1: Number of times Berkshire paid a dividend between 1965-2024. Buffett wrote in his most recent letter to investors that paying a dividend in 1967 “seems like a bad dream.”

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With assistance from Hannah Levitt and Katherine Doherty

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