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Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

SMT Perspectives and Prospects: Warren Buffett’s Perpetual Wisdom, Part 1
(Editor’s note: This is part one of a two-part series on the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting.)
Over the years, I have cherished the lessons by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
This year, I was among the more than 40,000 who attended the May 3 meeting. Millions more from around the world, including from the UK, Germany, Japan, China, Panama, and Guatemala, tuned in remotely and via CNBC’s livestream.
Last year had special meaning when Buffett took the stage alone. His longtime friend and trusted business partner, Charlie Munger, had passed away on Nov. 28, 2023, a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday.
This year held another poignant moment: During the closing remarks of the five-hour Q&A session, Buffett made a surprising announcement: He is stepping down as CEO in December, though he will remain on the board.
During the meeting, Buffett responded to an array of questions, alternating between those submitted by audience members (selected by lottery within each arena zone) and those chosen by CNBC from viewers around the globe.
All questions and answers were spontaneous, and Buffett addressed them with great insight. This month, I’ll share comments on life lessons. Next month, I’ll focus on his comments about the United States, capitalism, and investment.
Ultimate Pride and Achievement
Buffett’s statement says it all: “Berkshire has a special reputation that when there are times of trouble for the government, Berkshire is an asset and not a liability, which is very hard to have because usually the public and government get very negative on business if there’s a time like that.”
The company’s massive stock portfolio holds substantial shares of Apple, American Express, and Chevron, among others. Berkshire has grown from Buffett’s investment vehicle to a sprawling conglomerate with nearly 400,000 employees and $335 billion in cash. During Buffett and Munger’s tenure, the Company’s compounded annual gain from 1965 to 2024 was 19.9% vs. the S&P 500's 10.4%; its overall gain is 5,502,284% vs. the S&P 500's 39,054% 1. This is indeed the ultimate pride and indisputable achievement.
Buffett on Munger
Buffett paid heartfelt tributes to Munger’s pivotal role in shaping Berkshire Hathaway and their enduring partnership and friendship. He described Munger as the “architect” of Berkshire while likening himself to the “general contractor” who executes Munger’s vision, often exhibiting his deep respect and affection for Munger.
“Charlie liked learning, he liked a wide variety of things,” Buffett said. “He has gone everywhere with his mind. Charlie was a remarkable teacher. He was never satisfied with just superficial things about any subject. He really wanted to understand it, and he always would tell me that you shouldn’t take a position on anything until you can describe the arguments against it better than the person who is arguing with you—that you should be able to argue their case better than they can.”
Well said! Indeed, it epitomizes why they are “winners” in good and bad times.
Life and Setbacks
Mr. Buffett was asked how he overcame major setbacks or low points in his life. He replied that everyone has setbacks; it’s part of life. He urged us to focus on the good things in our lives, rather than the bad, because bad things do happen. It can often be a wonderful life, even with some bad breaks. He said to look at the bright side of things as much as you can.
“Who you associate with is just enormously important,” he said. “Don’t expect that you’ll make every decision right on that, but you are going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people that you work with, that you admire, that become your friends. They’re people who make you want to be better than you are. You want to hang out with people who are better than you and who you feel are better than you are.
“That’s something you learn later in life—it’s hard to appreciate how important some of those factors are until you get much older. If someone is helpful to you, figure out ways to be helpful to them. So, you get a compounding of good intentions and good behavior. If you live in the United States, with 8 billion people in the world and 330 million in the United States, you’ve already won the game to a great degree. Just keep making the most of it. You’ll learn all the time, but you’ll not only learn how to be successful at business, you’ll learn how to be successful at life. So, that’s my recommendation, and for some reason, apparently, you live longer too.”
Munger: Mistakes to Avoid in Life
Before he passed away, Munger was asked about what mistakes to avoid in life. He gave a comprehensive illustration blended with intriguing tales. His teaching on mistakes to avoid in life can be distilled into two key points:
- Mistake 1: Overspend your income
- Mistake 2: Live your life full of jealousy and resentment
In appreciation of Charlie Munger’s inspiration, teaching, and influence, and celebration of his life of wit and wisdom, please refer to my past columns where I have selected his brilliant, memorable quotes.2, 3, 4, 5
Age and Aging: The Inevitable
The inevitable now arrives. Buffett, now 94, was asked: “How would you know the day you became old?” He replied that he didn’t start getting “old” until about 90. He observed just how much energy his appointed successor brought to each working day and how his own days had slowed. He began to occasionally lose his balance, and suddenly, the newspapers he read looked like they were printed with too little ink. However, Buffett said he feels good every day, and doesn’t have any trouble making decisions—it feels no different than 20, 40, or 60 years ago.
The Announcement and Replacement
At the end of the meeting, Buffett surprised everyone, including his successor, by announcing that he plans to step down as CEO in December. The new CEO will be Greg Abel.
“The difference in energy level and just how much he could accomplish in a 10-hour day compared to what I could accomplish in a 10-hour day—the difference became more and more dramatic,” Buffett said of Abel. “He just was so much more effective at getting things done, making changes in management where they were needed, helping people that needed help somewhere, but in all kinds of ways. It was unfair, really, not to put Greg in the job. The more years that Berkshire gets out of Greg, the better.
“My interests are still the same, I have no intention, zero, of selling one share of Berkshire Hathaway. It will get given away. The decision to keep every share is an economic decision because I think the prospects of Berkshire will be better under Greg’s management than mine.”
Buffett owns about a 16% stake in Berkshire Hathaway, worth more than $157 billion.
Greg Abel will assume the reins on Jan. 1, 2026. He joined Berkshire in 1999 and was promoted to vice chair in 2018. Buffett has since put him in charge of Berkshire’s noninsurance operations. We look forward to Greg Abel’s leadership.
Paramount Partnership and Friendship
“Charlie never sought to take credit for his role as creator but instead let me take the bows and receive the accolades,” Buffett said of Munger. “Even when he knew he was right, he gave me the reins, and when I blundered he never—never— reminded me of my mistake.”6
What a peerless and unmatched relationship. It is so admirable, enviable, and genuinely inspiring.
A Learning 13-year-old
A 13-year-old boy, along with his 15-year-old brother and their father, won the lottery in their section. The boy asked what high school class or activity helped influence Buffett to become who he is today.
“The teachers you get in your life have an incredible impression on you, and a lot of them are the formal teachers you have, but some are informal teachers too,” Buffett responded. “You hope you’re learning from everybody you find who’s well-intentioned and has had a lot of experience.
“I’d read the books that were around that nobody else ever read. I discovered the public library, and I read every book there was on investments, literally, in the Omaha Public Library. I enjoyed learning about that. If Charlie were reading about electricity, he would want to know everything that Thomas Edison knew and more, and go through the same thought processes and understand how everything worked. I didn’t care how it worked. I just cared whether it worked. That’s a limitation. I’m confessing here, I’m not bragging.
“As Charlie would say, people would always ask – ‘If you could only have lunch with one person, living or dead, who would it be?’ Charlie would say, ‘I’ve already had lunch with all of them because I’ve read all their books.’ I think having curiosity and finding sympathetic teachers is very useful. I would say that I went to three different universities, and I went to high school in Washington, and at each place, I found about two or three really outstanding people. I just spent my time with them. I would say my school experiences were good, but I attribute it much more to the individual than to the institutions.”
He concluded his response, “Make the most of the people you meet who will make you a better person and probably forget about the rest to quite an extent. The world is not going to adapt to you. You’re going to have to adapt to the world.”
Aspiring 14-year-old
Buffett was asked by an aspiring 14-year-old boy what piece of knowledge he should learn so Berkshire would hire him in the future. Buffett said that if you work hard, you will find the things you love in life, which will lead to that. “Young man, we truly look forward to the day you’re part of Berkshire; keep a lot of curiosity and read a lot.” I also found it inspiring that Buffett often said, “As Charlie would say,” and would quote things he and Charlie had talked about in the past.
Next month, I’ll share more quotes and comments from this inspiring meeting. I’ll talk about the future of the United States, the global economy, investing, and real estate. Don’t miss it.
References
- Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., 2024 Annual Report.
- “A Dose of Wisdom,” by Jennie S. Hwang, SMT007 Magazine, July 2024.
- “Pearls of Wisdom,” by Jennie S. Hwang, SMT007 Magazine, July 2023.
- “In Search of Wisdom,” by Jennie S. Hwang, SMT007 Magazine, August 2022.
- “Learn from the Wise,” by Jennie S. Hwang, SMT007 Magazine, July 2019.
- Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., 2023 Annual Report.
Appearances
Dr. Jennie Hwang will lead the following IPC Professional Development webinar and SMTA courses:
- “Artificial Intelligence—Essentials” July 17 and 19
- “Artificial Intelligence—AI-Powered Future Manufacturing,” Aug. 6
- “Reliability of Electronics—Role of Intermetallic Compounds,” Aug. 19 and 21
- “Reliability of Electronics—Tin Whisker,” Sept. 23 and 25
- “Reliability of Electronics—Solder Joint Reliability,” Oct. 20
- “PoP Packaging and Assembly—Materials, Processes, Reliability,” Nov. 11 and 13
- “BTC Packaging and Assembly—Materials, Processes, Reliability,” Nov. 18 and 20
This column originally appeared in the July 2025 issue of SMT007 Magazine.
More Columns from SMT Perspectives and Prospects
SMT Perspectives and Prospects: Artificial Intelligence, Part 5: Brain, Mind, IntelligenceSMT Perspectives and Prospects: Artificial Intelligence, Part 4—Prompt Engineering
SMT Perspectives and Prospects: The AI Era, Part 3: LLMs, SLMs, and Foundation Models
SMT Perspectives and Prospects: A Dose of Wisdom
SMT Prospects and Perspectives: AI Opportunities, Challenges, and Possibilities, Part 1
SMT Perspectives and Prospects: Critical Materials—A Compelling Case, Part 3
SMT Prospects and Perspectives: AI—A Prelude to Opportunities, Challenges and Possibilities
SMT Perspectives and Prospects: Pearls of Wisdom