Wall Street reflects on Warren Buffett’s wisdom

It’s the end of an era.

Today, Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) CEO Warren Buffett, 95, officially hands the reins over to his hand-picked successor Greg Abel.

The official passing of the torch concludes Buffett’s decades-long investing career, one in which he did everything from buying a major US railroad (Burlington Northern) and striking up a friendship with Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates to offering up scores of pithy comments in annual shareholder letters.

“Berkshire’s culture is pretty simple,” Howard Buffett said in a 2024 episode of Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid Unfiltered podcast. “You do what you say you’re going to do and you do it when you say you’re going to do it. You’re honest about it. You make mistakes, and you accept responsibility for those mistakes. It’s really not that complicated.”

Howard is in line to succeed his legendary father as the Berkshire chairman.

Through it all, Buffett championed the art of value investing, which is rooted in an unwillingness to overpay for acquisitions or stock investments and was taught to him by mentor Benjamin Graham.

He also inspired generations of money managers up and down Wall Street.

Here’s what some of them told Yahoo Finance about the wisdoms they have taken away from the “Oracle of Omaha.”

“Actually, a little known fact is that I managed a $100 million portfolio for Cologne Reinsurance, which was acquired by Buffett at Berkshire,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO and chief investment officer of Laffer Tengler Investments. “And so for a year they kept us on and we managed money for Warren Buffett. I think it was out of the kindness of his heart because we were new. I mean, we generated great returns for the firm. But he has a perspective. And, I would say that kindness matters in this business. There’s a lot of people that are not humble. They don’t learn from their mistakes. And they’re not the kind of people you want to hang out with. He has never engaged in that and he has been steady at the helm.”

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“Buffett’s lessons that stick with me and shaped how I invest are stay in your circle of competence, keep it simple, and let compounding do the heavy lifting,” said Keith Lerner, chief investment officer at Truist. “Compounding is silent but relentless. That’s why it’s called the ‘eighth wonder of the world’ and why long-term thinking is the ultimate edge. The resilience and adaptability of Corporate America and the U.S. economy are extraordinary; they have weathered immense challenges and kept moving forward. When fear takes over, that is when opportunity knocks; be greedy when others are fearful. Respect risk along the way; leverage can turn small mistakes into big ones fast. A long-term focus, simplicity, taking advantage of extremes and prudence win over time.”