I don't think I could go for another three years. I'm leaving it at the right time, I love it, I've absolutely had a wonderful competition and I've loved every minute of it.
What made you decide to stop something you were known for, and how did you know it was time?
Question
What have you come to understand about what it means to be human?
Values & belief
Question
Who helps you get things done?
Craft & work
Question
What would you like to leave your children?
Death & what remains
Question
Which living person do you most admire, and why?
Values & belief
Question
What are bad recommendations you hear in your profession or area of expertise?
Craft & work
Question
In the last five years, what have you become better at saying no to?
Daily life
Well, I ran out of gas. You know, I got to be what, 93 at that time, or something like that. And it just – same reason I gave up teaching. I teach – I was – I taught every year from when I was 21 till 88 or 89, and there just came a period when your body said different things to you, and you should turn it over to somebody, just like I did at Berkshire.
Becky Quick, CNBC “Squawk Box”, recorded in Omaha; CNBC's own transcript of its own broadcast, 31 March 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
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Ellie Simmonds
British Paralympic swimmer, 2008–2021
Recorded
Channel 4, Poolside, Tokyo Aquatics Centre, after the S6 400m freestyle final, BBC Sport, 2 September 2021
source ↗
Desmond Tutu
Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town; chair of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission; Nobel Peace Prize, 1984
I stopped being a teacher when the South African Government introduced a deliberately inferior education for blacks called Bantu education, and I felt I wasn’t ready to collaborate with this apology for an educational system. Our children, the 1976 kids who revolted against apartheid in Soweto, called it “gutter education,” and it was gutter education. I left teaching. Of course, I didn’t have too many option, and mercifully, the Bishop of Johannesburg at that time accepted me for training for the priesthood. So I came to the priesthood, as it were, by default.
Recorded
Academy of Achievement recorded interview, American Academy of Achievement, 12 June 2004
source ↗
Sir Roger Bannister
Middle-distance runner and neurologist; first man to run a mile in under four minutes
No, because I was set for it. My core, my whole life was medicine. I wanted to become a specialist. So for ten years I concentrated solely on medicine. It took ten years to become a consultant in neurology.
Dan Carter
New Zealand international rugby union fly-half, 2003–2015
But I'm ready for what's next after rugby. Being able to not just say that, but to truly feel it, is a privilege. Ultimately, getting to leave your sport on your own terms is all you can really hope for as an athlete.
More from Warren Buffett
View profile →Well, I won't say what I thought about them, particularly related to Bill Gates, but I would say it's astounding to me how human people are. I mean, it, here you had a guy that was a convicted guy, a sensational con man, and the percentage of people that he knocked off. I mean, whether it was, he found their weakness, it might have been sex. It might be power, it might be, whatever it might be.
Recorded
Becky Quick, CNBC “Squawk Box”, recorded in Omaha; CNBC's own transcript of its own broadcast, 31 March 2026
source ↗
We have two pieces of regrettable news this year. First, Gladys Kaiser, my friend and assistant for twenty-five years, will give up the latter post after the 1993 annual meeting, though she will certainly remain my friend forever. Gladys and I have been a team, and though I knew her retirement was coming, it is still a jolt.
Recorded
His letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in the 1992 annual report, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., February 1993
source ↗
This pledge will leave my lifestyle untouched and that of my children as well. They have already received significant sums for their personal use and will receive more in the future. They live comfortable and productive lives.
Recorded
His own pledge letter, written on joining the Giving Pledge in 2010, The Giving Pledge, 2010
source ↗
I think that Jay Powell in when, when the epidemic broke out, I think he acted in March of 2020 and I think if he'd waited two or three weeks, it would have been a disaster. Once the dominoes start toppling, they just start toppling and, and, and, and that line is shorter than anybody thinks, and it topples faster. And I think he did exactly the right thing, and he, he did it even stronger than Volker did. You know, I mean, he, he and Volker are my heroes at the Fed.
Recorded
Becky Quick, CNBC “Squawk Box”, recorded in Omaha; CNBC's own transcript of its own broadcast, 31 March 2026
source ↗
Most investors, of course, have not made the study of business prospects a priority in their lives. If wise, they will conclude that they do not know enough about specific businesses to predict their future earning power. I have good news for these non-professionals: The typical investor doesn't need this skill. ... The goal of the non-professional should not be to pick winners – neither he nor his "helpers" can do that – but should rather be to own a cross-section of businesses that in aggregate are bound to do well. A low-cost S&P 500 index fund will achieve this goal.
Recorded
Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letter, Berkshire Hathaway Inc., 28 February 2014
source ↗
Yeah and we get calls all the time, and there's so many calls, but the like I said, it takes me five seconds to say no. It takes, Greg's a little more polite than I am, but I just as soon get the calls just to see what people are doing. But they aren't offering anything that's at an attractive price, and what they want is a trade.
Recorded
Becky Quick, CNBC “Squawk Box”, recorded in Omaha; CNBC's own transcript of its own broadcast, 31 March 2026
source ↗
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