- Warren Buffett said he would step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
- Despite his vast wealth, Buffett is known for his folksy demeanor and wry sense of humor.
- Here are 20 of Buffett's most legendary quotes.
Famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett, 94, plans to step down at the end of this year.
Buffett's estimated net worth of $196 billion makes him the fifth-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's billionaires index.
Buffett is known for many things — his fast-food-heavy diet, his reading habit, his philanthropy, and his value-focused investing style.
People around the world are so fascinated by Buffett that they'll spend millions of dollars just to eat lunch with him. While you may not have that much money lying around, you can still learn from his folksy wisdom.
We've rounded up 20 of Buffett's best quotes.
'Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years'
Source: Forbes
'Don't watch the market closely'
"Don't watch the market closely," Buffett said during a wild bout of market volatility back in 2016.
He continued: "If they're trying to buy and sell stocks, and worry when they go down a little bit … and think they should maybe sell them when they go up, they're not going to have very good results."
Source: CNBC
"A $5 dinner is, in many cases, better than a $100 dinner."
Buffett told Forbes that he knew he would make money because he had learned investment strategies that would work.
"My wife and I decided then, we were going to enjoy life," Buffett said. "We were going to have everything we would possibly use or need, but incidentally, I think a $5 dinner is, in many cases, better than a $100 dinner."
Source: Forbes
'Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago'
Source: Forbes
'I read and think'
"I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think," he said.
He continued: "That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”
Source: Time Magazine
'Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing'
Source: Forbes
'You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong'
Source: CNBC
Buffett said he'd give his children 'enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing'
The perfect amount to leave to your kids, he told Fortune in 1986, is "enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."
Source: Fortune
'The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing at yellow'
"When major declines occur, they offer extraordinary opportunities to those who are not handicapped by debt," Buffett wrote in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders in 2017, highlighting the argument against ever borrowing money to buy stocks.
He continued: "No one can tell you when these will happen. The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing at yellow."
Source: Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders
'It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it'
Source: Forbes
'You cannot make a good deal with a bad person'
“You cannot make a good deal with a bad person,” Buffett once told Suzy Welch, a bestselling management author and CNBC contributor.
Welch told CNBC it was Buffett who gave her the career advice that has helped her more than any other she’s received.
Source: CNBC
'Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down'
Source: Forbes
Only invest in 'simple businesses' that you understand
In his 2014 letter to shareholders, Buffett laid out six criteria he applied to measure a company's fundamentals. One criterion is that he only invests in "simple businesses."
"If there’s lots of technology, we won’t understand it," he said
Source: Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders
'Stocks [have] been so much more attractive than bonds'
"The one thing I'm sure of is that over time, stocks from this level will beat bonds from this level," Buffett told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in 2017. "Stocks [have] been so much more attractive than bonds for a long time now."
Source: CNBC
'Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Don't forget rule No. 1'
Source: Forbes
'The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything'
Source: CNBC
'It's better to hang out with people better than you'
"It's better to hang out with people better than you," Buffett once said. "Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction."
Buffett and Bill Gates once had a close friendship.
Source: Forbes
'Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings'
"Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings," Buffett said in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in 2018. "There’s nothing being produced in the way of value from the asset."
He continued: "It’s something where people who are of less-than-stellar character see an opportunity to clip people who were trying to get rich because their neighbor’s getting rich buying this stuff neither one of them understands."
Source: Fortune
'Price is what you pay. Value is what you get'
Source: Forbes
'You don't find out whose been swimming naked until the tide goes out'
Buffett told investors in a 1994 company meeting that "people have found out — who were speculating on bonds with below margins recently — that you don't find out whose been swimming naked until the tide goes out."
"Essentially, that's what happens in reinsurance, you don't find out who is swimming naked until the wind blows," he said.
Source: Warren Buffett Archive
