Do you often follow other people’s advice?
It probably depends on who’s offering it. However, one study revealed something very interesting — people are motivated more by giving advice than by receiving it.
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Often, people don’t even want advice — they are not seeking a solution to their problems, but merely want to be heard.
But what about when an expert offers advice on business? When the stakes are high, do you look to an authority figure? And even if you do, is following someone’s advice enough to succeed?
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“It’s not the size of the dog in the fight, it’s the size of the fight in the dog,” the great Mark Twain once said. Basically, you have to have it in you to win the game.
One man who had it in him to actually beat Wall Street is the legendary Warren Buffett. Often dubbed the most successful investor of our time, Buffett has frequently shared advice on investment strategies, but his Chairman’s Letter of Berkshire’s 2022 annual report revealed something particularly interesting.
As of May 2025, Buffett’s estimated net worth is $160.2 billion.
Image source: Zuchnik/WireImage via Getty Images
The genius strategy that made Warren Buffett the 5th richest man
You don’t have to be part of the investing world to have heard of Buffett, the fifth-richest man in the world, or his conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway.
As of May 2025, Buffett’s estimated net worth is $160.2 billion.
It all started in 1965 when he gained control of Berkshire Hathaway. Since then and until 2023, the company’s shareholder returns amounted to a compound annual growth rate of 19.8% (CAGR), which compares to 10.2% (CAGR) for the S&P 500.
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In those 58 years, Berkshire’s stock price had a negative performance in only 11 years. In 1985, the company’s A-listed shares were worth $1,880 per share. And now — $771,315 per share.
How is this possible?
When Buffett explains it, it almost sounds simple.
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In the above-mentioned Chairman’s Letter, Buffet wrote that his and his late partner Charlie Munger’s goal “is to make meaningful investments in businesses with both long-lasting favorable economic characteristics and trustworthy managers.”
The key point is in italics, writes Kiplinger.
“Charlie and I are not stock-pickers; we are business-pickers.”
Retiring at age 94, Buffet vows to go to the office every day
New investors commonly think in terms of stocks instead of businesses. They are more concerned about how the market is reacting to the stocks as opposed to the business itself.
Buffett, on the other hand, is focused on how well that company can make money as a business. The stock market is not the same as gambling, where a one-time event, a game, or a race is important. In the stock market, it’s about future earnings.
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The legendary investor rarely sells. He prefers to hold good stocks forever, because he is not buying a stock, he is investing in a business and becoming a silent partner.
Now, Buffett is retiring at the age of 94. He will step down from his position as CEO at the end of the year, but he still plans to go into the office every day.
He says he wants to continue to contribute investment ideas, and that his interests have not changed. This tells us more about Buffett: he is not only a successful businessman and the best investor of our time — but also a born investor.
At the end of the day, it comes down to finding the one thing you were born to do. And as Buffett once said, “The most important investment you can make is in yourself.”
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