{"id":1727,"date":"2025-11-17T10:44:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-17T16:44:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/?p=1727"},"modified":"2025-11-17T12:00:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-17T18:00:50","slug":"warren-buffets-farewell-letter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/warren-buffets-farewell-letter-1727\/","title":{"rendered":"Warren Buffet&#8217;s FareWell Letter"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 > .kt-row-column-wrap{align-content:start;}:where(.kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 > .kt-row-column-wrap) > .wp-block-kadence-column{justify-content:start;}.kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 > .kt-row-column-wrap{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);row-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem);padding-top:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);padding-bottom:var(--global-kb-spacing-sm, 1.5rem);grid-template-columns:minmax(0, calc(30% - ((var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem) * 1 )\/2)))minmax(0, calc(70% - ((var(--global-kb-gap-md, 2rem) * 1 )\/2)));}.kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 > .kt-row-layout-overlay{opacity:0.30;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 2fr) minmax(0, 1fr);}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 > .kt-row-column-wrap{grid-template-columns:minmax(0, 1fr);}}<\/style><div class=\"kb-row-layout-wrap kb-row-layout-id1727_4954e7-13 alignnone wp-block-kadence-rowlayout\"><div class=\"kt-row-column-wrap kt-has-2-columns kt-row-layout-left-golden kt-tab-layout-inherit kt-mobile-layout-row kt-row-valign-top\">\n<style>.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;}.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2 > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:center;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1727_68cb71-b2\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"683\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251110-Warren-BUffetts-Farewell-letter-683x1024.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1735\" style=\"width:204px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251110-Warren-BUffetts-Farewell-letter-683x1024.png 683w, https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251110-Warren-BUffetts-Farewell-letter-200x300.png 200w, https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251110-Warren-BUffetts-Farewell-letter-768x1152.png 768w, https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251110-Warren-BUffetts-Farewell-letter.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<style>.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{display:flex;}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col,.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{border-top-left-radius:0px;border-top-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-right-radius:0px;border-bottom-left-radius:0px;}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{column-gap:var(--global-kb-gap-sm, 1rem);}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col > .aligncenter{width:100%;}.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{align-self:flex-end;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{align-self:auto;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col:before{opacity:0.3;}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{position:relative;}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{align-self:flex-end;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{align-self:auto;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;}}@media all and (max-width: 1024px){.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;}}@media all and (max-width: 767px){.kt-row-column-wrap > .kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{align-self:flex-end;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d{align-self:auto;}.kt-inner-column-height-full:not(.kt-has-1-columns) > .wp-block-kadence-column.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;}.kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d > .kt-inside-inner-col{flex-direction:column;justify-content:flex-end;}}<\/style>\n<div class=\"wp-block-kadence-column kadence-column1727_f3034c-2d\"><div class=\"kt-inside-inner-col\"><nav class=\"is-responsive wp-block-navigation is-layout-flex wp-block-navigation-is-layout-flex\" aria-label=\"Navigation\" \n\t\t data-wp-interactive=\"core\/navigation\" data-wp-context='{\"overlayOpenedBy\":{\"click\":false,\"hover\":false,\"focus\":false},\"type\":\"overlay\",\"roleAttribute\":\"\",\"ariaLabel\":\"Menu\"}'><button aria-haspopup=\"dialog\" aria-label=\"Open menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-open\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.openMenuOnClick\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleMenuKeydown\"\n\t\t\t><svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"M4 7.5h16v1.5H4z\"><\/path><path d=\"M4 15h16v1.5H4z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container\"  id=\"modal-1\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--has-modal-open=\"state.isMenuOpen\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-class--is-menu-open=\"state.isMenuOpen\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-watch=\"callbacks.initMenu\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--keydown=\"actions.handleMenuKeydown\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--focusout=\"actions.handleMenuFocusout\"\n\t\t\t\ttabindex=\"-1\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-close\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-dialog\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-modal=\"state.ariaModal\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--aria-label=\"state.ariaLabel\"\n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-bind--role=\"state.roleAttribute\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button aria-label=\"Close menu\" class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-close\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-on--click=\"actions.closeMenuOnClick\"\n\t\t\t><svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\"><path d=\"m13.06 12 6.47-6.47-1.06-1.06L12 10.94 5.53 4.47 4.47 5.53 10.94 12l-6.47 6.47 1.06 1.06L12 13.06l6.47 6.47 1.06-1.06L13.06 12Z\"><\/path><\/svg><\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"wp-block-navigation__responsive-container-content\" \n\t\t\t\tdata-wp-watch=\"callbacks.focusFirstElement\"\n\t\t\t id=\"modal-1-content\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<ul class=\"wp-block-navigation__container is-responsive wp-block-navigation\"><li class=\"wp-block-navigation-item wp-block-navigation-link\"><a class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__content\" href=\"https:\/\/www.berkshirehathaway.com\/news\/nov1025.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"wp-block-navigation-item__label\">www.berkshirehathaway.com\/news\/nov1025.pdf<\/span><\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><\/nav><\/div><\/div>\n\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.<br>NEWS RELEASE<br>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 2025<br>Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) \u2013<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Today, Warren E. Buffett converted 1,800 A shares into 2,700,000 B shares in order to give these B<br>shares to four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and<br>400,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo<br>Foundation. These donations have been delivered today.<br>Mr. Buffett\u2019s comments to his fellow shareholders follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To My Fellow Shareholders:<br>I will no longer be writing Berkshire\u2019s annual report or talking endlessly at the annual<br>meeting. As the British would say, I\u2019m \u201cgoing quiet.\u201d<br>Sort of.<br>Greg Abel will become the boss at yearend. He is a great manager, a tireless worker and an<br>honest communicator. Wish him an extended tenure.<br>I will continue talking to you and my children about Berkshire via my annual Thanksgiving<br>message. Berkshire\u2019s individual shareholders are a very special group who are unusually generous in<br>sharing their gains with others less fortunate. I enjoy the chance to keep in touch with you. Indulge<br>me this year as I first reminisce a bit. After that, I will discuss the plans for distribution of my<br>Berkshire shares. Finally, I will offer a few business and personal observations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As Thanksgiving approaches, I\u2019m grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95.<br>When I was young, this outcome did not look like a good bet. Early on, I nearly died.<br>It was 1938 and Omaha hospitals were then thought of by its citizens as either Catholic or<br>Protestant, a classification that seemed natural at the time.<br>Our family doctor, Harley Hotz, was a friendly Catholic who made house calls toting a black<br>bag. Dr. Hotz called me Skipper and never charged much for his visits. When I experienced a bad<br>bellyache in 1938, Dr. Hotz came by and, after probing a bit, told me I would be OK in the morning.<br>He then went home, had dinner and played a little bridge. Dr. Hotz couldn\u2019t, however, get my<br>somewhat peculiar symptoms out of his mind and later that night he dispatched me to St. Catherine\u2019s<br>Hospital for an emergency appendectomy. During the next three weeks, I felt like I was in a nunnery,<br>and began enjoying my new \u201cpodium.\u201d I liked to talk \u2013 yes, even then \u2013 and the nuns embraced me.<br>To top things off, Miss Madsen, my third-grade teacher, told my 30 classmates to each write<br>me a letter. I probably threw away the letters from the boys but read and reread those from the girls;<br>hospitalization had its rewards.<br>The highlight of my recovery \u2013 which actually was dicey for much of the first week \u2013 was a<br>gift from my wonderful Aunt Edie. She brought me a very professional-looking fingerprinting set,<br>and I promptly fingerprinted all of my attending nuns. (I was probably the first Protestant kid they<br>had seen at St. Catherine\u2019s and they didn\u2019t know what to expect.)<br>My theory \u2013 totally nutty, of course \u2013 was that someday a nun would go bad and the FBI<br>would find that they had neglected to fingerprint nuns. The FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, had<br>become revered by Americans in the 1930s, and I envisioned Mr. Hoover, himself, coming to Omaha<br>to inspect my invaluable collection. I further fantasized that J. Edgar and I would quickly identify<br>and apprehend the wayward nun. National fame seemed certain.<br>Obviously, my fantasy never materialized. But, ironically, some years later it became clear<br>that I should have fingerprinted J. Edgar himself as he became disgraced for misusing his post.<br>Well, that was Omaha in the 1930s, when a sled, a bicycle, a baseball glove and an electric<br>train were coveted by me and my friends. Let\u2019s look at a few other kids from that era, who grew up<br>very nearby and greatly influenced my life but of whom I was for long unaware.<br>I\u2019ll begin with Charlie Munger, my best pal for 64 years. In the 1930s, Charlie lived a block<br>away from the house I have owned and occupied since 1958.<br>Early on, I missed befriending Charlie by a whisker. Charlie, 6 \u2154 years older than I, worked<br>in the summer of 1940 at my grandfather\u2019s grocery store, earning $2 for a 10-hour day. (Thrift runs<br>deep in Buffett blood.) The following year I did similar work at the store, but I never met Charlie<br>until 1959 when he was 35 and I was 28.<br>After serving in World War II, Charlie graduated from Harvard Law and then moved<br>permanently to California. Charlie, however, forever talked of his early years in Omaha as formative.<br>For more than 60 years, Charlie had a huge impact on me and could not have been a better teacher<br>and protective \u201cbig brother.\u201d We had differences but never had an argument. \u201cI told you so\u201d was not<br>in his vocabulary.<br>In 1958, I bought my first and only home. Of course, it was in Omaha, located about two<br>miles from where I grew up (loosely defined), less than two blocks from my in-laws, about six blocks<br>from the Buffett grocery store and a 6-7-minute drive from the office building where I have worked<br>for 64 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Let\u2019s move on to another Omahan, Stan Lipsey. Stan sold the Omaha Sun Newspapers<br>(weeklies) to Berkshire in 1968 and a decade later moved to Buffalo at my request. The Buffalo<br>Evening News, owned by a Berkshire affiliate, was then locked in a battle to the death with its<br>morning competitor who published Buffalo\u2019s only Sunday paper. And we were losing.<br>Stan eventually built our new Sunday product, and for some years our paper \u2013 formerly<br>hemorrhaging cash \u2013 earned over 100% annually (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was<br>important money to Berkshire in the early 1980s.<br>Stan grew up about five blocks from my home. One of Stan\u2019s neighbors was Walter Scott, Jr.<br>Walter, you will remember, brought MidAmerican Energy to Berkshire in 1999. He was also a valued<br>Berkshire director until his death in 2021 and a very close friend. Walter was Nebraska\u2019s<br>philanthropic leader for decades and both Omaha and the state carries his imprint.<br>Walter attended Benson High School, which I was scheduled to attend as well \u2013 until my dad<br>surprised everyone in 1942 by beating a four-term incumbent in a Congressional race. Life is full of<br>surprises.<br>Wait, there\u2019s more.<br>In 1959, Don Keough and his young family lived in a home located directly across the street<br>from my house and about 100 yards away from where the Munger family had lived. Don was then a<br>coffee salesman but was destined to become president of Coca-Cola as well as a devoted director of<br>Berkshire.<br>When I met Don, he was earning $12,000 a year while he and his wife Mickie were raising<br>five children, all destined for Catholic schools (with tuition requirements).<br>Our families became fast friends. Don came from a farm in northwest Iowa and graduated<br>from Omaha\u2019s Creighton University. Early on, he married Mickie, an Omaha girl. After joining Coke,<br>Don went on to become legendary around the globe.<br>In 1985, when Don was president of Coke, the company launched its ill-fated New Coke.<br>Don made a famous speech in which he apologized to the public and reinstated \u201cOld\u201d Coke. This<br>change of heart took place after Don explained that Coke incoming mail addressed to \u201cSupreme<br>Idiot\u201d was promptly delivered to his desk. His \u201cwithdrawal\u201d speech is a classic and can be viewed on<br>YouTube. He cheerfully acknowledged that, in truth, the Coca-Cola product belonged to the public<br>and not to the company. Sales subsequently soared.<br>You can watch Don on CharlieRose.com in a wonderful interview. (Tom Murphy and Kay<br>Graham have a couple of gems as well.) Like Charlie Munger, Don forever remained a Midwestern<br>boy, enthusiastic, friendly and American to the core.<br>Finally, Ajit Jain, born and raised in India, as well as Greg Abel, our Canadian CEO-to-be,<br>each lived in Omaha for several years late in the 20th Century. Indeed, in the 1990s, Greg lived only a<br>few blocks away from me on Farnam Street, though we never met at the time.<br>Can it be that there is some magic ingredient in Omaha\u2019s water?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I lived a few teenage years in Washington, DC (when my dad was in Congress) and in 1954 I<br>took what I thought would be a permanent job in Manhattan. There I was treated wonderfully by Ben<br>Graham and Jerry Newman and made many life-long friends. New York had unique assets \u2013 and still<br>does. Nevertheless, in 1956, after only 1\u00bd years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander again.<br>Subsequently, my three children, as well as several grandchildren, were raised in Omaha. My<br>children always attended public schools (graduating from the same high school that educated my dad<br>(class of 1921), my first wife, Susie (class of 1950) as well as Charlie, Stan Lipsey, Irv and Ron<br>Blumkin, who were key to growing Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Jack Ringwalt (class of 1923),<br>who founded National Indemnity and sold it to Berkshire in 1967 where it became the base upon<br>which our huge P\/C operation was constructed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Our country has many great companies, great schools, great medical facilities and each<br>definitely has its own special advantages along with talented people. But I feel very lucky to have<br>had the good fortune to make many lifelong friends, to meet both of my wives, to receive a great start<br>in education at public schools, to meet many interesting and friendly adult Omahans when I was very<br>young, and to make a wide variety of friends in the Nebraska National Guard. In short, Nebraska has<br>been home.<br>Looking back I feel that both Berkshire and I did better because of our base in Omaha than if<br>I had resided anywhere else. The center of the United States was a very good place to be born, to<br>raise a family, and to build a business. Through dumb luck, I drew a ridiculously long straw at birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Now let\u2019s move on to my advanced age. My genes haven\u2019t been particularly helpful \u2013 the<br>family\u2019s all-time record for longevity (admittedly family records get fuzzy as you work backwards)<br>was 92 until I came along. But I have had wise, friendly and dedicated Omaha doctors, starting with<br>Harley Hotz, and continuing to this day. At least three times, my life has been saved, each with<br>doctors based within a few miles from my home. (I have given up fingerprinting nurses, however.<br>You can get away with many eccentricities at 95 . . . . . but there are limits.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those who reach old age need a huge dose of good luck, daily escaping banana peels, natural<br>disasters, drunk or distracted drivers, lightning strikes, you name it.<br>But Lady Luck is fickle and \u2013 no other term fits \u2013 wildly unfair. In many cases, our leaders<br>and the rich have received far more than their share of luck \u2013 which, too often, the recipients prefer<br>not to acknowledge. Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment<br>they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or,<br>worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In<br>many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters<br>would have had one even worse.<br>I was born in 1930 healthy, reasonably intelligent, white, male and in America. Wow! Thank<br>you, Lady Luck. My sisters had equal intelligence and better personalities than I but faced a much<br>different outlook. Lady Luck continued to drop by during much of my life, but she has better things<br>to do than work with those in their 90s. Luck has its limits.<br>Father Time, to the contrary, now finds me more interesting as I age. And he is undefeated;<br>for him, everyone ends up on his score card as \u201cwins.\u201d When balance, sight, hearing and memory are<br>all on a persistently downward slope, you know Father Time is in the neighborhood.<br>I was late in becoming old \u2013 its onset materially varies \u2013 but once it appears, it is not to be<br>denied.<br>To my surprise, I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing<br>difficulty, I am at the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people. Occasionally, I<br>get a useful idea or am approached with an offer we might not otherwise have received. Because of<br>Berkshire\u2019s size and because of market levels, ideas are few \u2013 but not zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my<br>family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.<br>Let\u2019s explore them.<br>What Comes Next<br>My children are all above normal retirement age, having reached 72, 70 and 67. It would be a<br>mistake to wager that all three \u2013 now at their peak in many respects \u2013 will enjoy my exceptional luck<br>in delayed aging. To improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my<br>entire estate before alternate trustees replace them, I need to step up the pace of lifetime gifts to their<br>three foundations. My children are now at their prime in respect to experience and wisdom but have<br>yet to enter old age. That \u201choneymoon\u201d period will not last forever.<br>Fortunately, a course correction is easy to execute. There is, however, one additional factor to<br>consider: I would like to keep a significant amount of \u201cA\u201d shares until Berkshire shareholders<br>develop the comfort with Greg that Charlie and I long enjoyed. That level of confidence shouldn\u2019t<br>take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors.<br>All three children now have the maturity, brains, energy and instincts to disburse a large<br>fortune. They will also have the advantage of being above ground when I am long gone and, if<br>necessary, can adopt policies both anticipatory and reactive to federal tax policies or other<br>developments affecting philanthropy. They may well need to adapt to a significantly changing world<br>around them. Ruling from the grave does not have a great record, and I have never had an urge to do<br>so.<br>Fortunately, all three children received a dominant dosage of their genes from their mother.<br>As the decades have passed, I have also become a better model for their thinking and behavior. I will<br>never, however, achieve parity with their mother.<br>My children have three alternate trustees in case of any premature deaths or disabilities. The<br>alternates are not ranked or tied to a specific child. All three are exceptional humans and wise in the<br>ways of the world. They have no conflicting motives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have assured my children that they do not need to perform miracles nor fear failures or<br>disappointments. These are inevitable, and I have made my share. They simply need to improve<br>somewhat upon what generally is achieved by government activities and\/or private philanthropy,<br>recognizing these other methods of redistribution of wealth have shortcomings as well.<br>Early on, I contemplated various grand philanthropic plans. Though I was stubborn, these did<br>not prove feasible. During my many years, I\u2019ve also watched ill-conceived wealth transfers by<br>political hacks, dynastic choices and, yes, inept or quirky philanthropists.<br>If my children simply do a decent job, they can be certain that their mother and I would be<br>pleased. Their instincts are good and they each have had years of practice with very small sums<br>initially that have been irregularly increased to more than $500 million annually.<br>All three like working long hours to help others, each in their own way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children\u2019s foundations in no way reflects any<br>change in my views about Berkshire\u2019s prospects. Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations<br>I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire\u2019s next CEO. He understands many of our<br>businesses and personnel far better than I now do, and he is a very fast learner about matters many<br>CEOs don\u2019t even consider. I can\u2019t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member<br>of government \u2013 you name it \u2013 that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine.<br>Greg understands, for example, far more about both the upside potential and the dangers of<br>our P\/C insurance business than do a great many long-time P\/C executives. My hope is that his health<br>remains good for several decades. With a little luck, Berkshire should require only five or six CEOs<br>over the next century. It should particularly avoid those whose goal is to retire at 65, to become lookat-me rich or to initiate a dynasty.<br>One unpleasant reality: Occasionally, a wonderful and loyal CEO of the parent or a<br>subsidiary will succumb to dementia, Alzheimer\u2019s or another debilitating and long-term disease.<br>Charlie and I encountered this problem several times and failed to act. This failure can be a<br>huge mistake. The Board must be alert to this possibility at the CEO level and the CEO must be alert<br>to the possibility at subsidiaries. This is easier said than done; I could cite a few examples from the<br>past at major companies. Directors should be alert and speak up is all that I can advise.<br>During my lifetime, reformers sought to embarrass CEOs by requiring the disclosure of the<br>compensation of the boss compared to what was being paid to the average employee. Proxy<br>statements promptly ballooned to 100-plus pages compared to 20 or less earlier.<br>But the good intentions didn\u2019t work; instead they backfired. Based on the majority of my<br>observations \u2013 the CEO of company \u201cA\u201d looked at his competitor at company \u201cB\u201d and subtly<br>conveyed to his board that he should be worth more. Of course, he also boosted the pay of directors<br>and was careful who he placed on the compensation committee. The new rules produced envy, not<br>moderation.<br>The ratcheting took on a life of its own. What often bothers very wealthy CEOs \u2013 they are<br>human, after all \u2013 is that other CEOs are getting even richer. Envy and greed walk hand in hand. And<br>what consultant ever recommended a serious cut in CEO compensation or board payments?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In aggregate, Berkshire\u2019s businesses have moderately better-than-average prospects, led by a<br>few non-correlated and sizable gems. However, a decade or two from now, there will be many<br>companies that have done better than Berkshire; our size takes its toll.<br>Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know. And, Berkshire<br>has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than almost any company with which I am<br>familiar (and I\u2019ve seen a lot). Finally, Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make<br>its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a<br>supplicant. Over time, our managers should grow quite wealthy \u2013 they have important<br>responsibilities \u2013 but do not have the desire for dynastic or look-at-me wealth.<br>Our stock price will move capriciously, occasionally falling 50% or so as has happened three<br>times in 60 years under present management. Don\u2019t despair; America will come back and so will<br>Berkshire shares.<br>A Few Final Thoughts<br>One perhaps self-serving observation. I\u2019m happy to say I feel better about the second half of<br>my life than the first. My advice: Don\u2019t beat yourself up over past mistakes \u2013 learn at least a little<br>from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them. You can<br>start with Tom Murphy; he was the best.<br>Remember Alfred Nobel, later of Nobel Prize fame, who \u2013 reportedly \u2013 read his own obituary<br>that was mistakenly printed when his brother died and a newspaper got mixed up. He was horrified at<br>what he read and realized he should change his behavior.<br>Don\u2019t count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and<br>live the life to deserve it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts<br>of publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you<br>help the world. <span style=\"color:DodgerBlue; font-weight:bold\">Kindness is costless but also priceless<\/span>. Whether you are religious or not, it\u2019s hard to<br>beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior.<br>I write this as one who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes but<br>also became very lucky in learning from some wonderful friends how to behave better (still a long<br>way from perfect, however). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the<br>Chairman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it\u2019s never too late to<br>change. Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is \u2013 inevitably \u2013<br>capricious and sometimes venal in distributing its rewards.<br>Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you<br>can always be better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br><strong>About Berkshire<\/strong><br>Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and<br>reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services and retailing.<br>Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A<br>and BRK.B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><br>\u2013 End \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>Contact<br>Marc D. Hamburg<br>402-346-1400<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<div style='text-align:center' class='yasr-auto-insert-overall'><\/div><div style='text-align:center' class='yasr-auto-insert-visitor'><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.NEWS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 10, 2025Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) \u2013 Today, Warren E. Buffett converted 1,800 A shares into 2,700,000 B shares in order to give these Bshares to four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and400,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-quote-slug"],"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":false,"span_bottom":false},"number_of_votes":0,"sum_votes":0},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/20251110-Warren-BUffetts-Farewell-letter.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1727"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1748,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1727\/revisions\/1748"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ykim.synology.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}