Key Takeaways

• Long-term thinking beats market timing—he holds his best investments “forever” and is famously patient before buying a company’s shares.

Buffett didn’t get rich chasing the next big thing. He built a trillion-dollar empire by doing almost the exact opposite—waiting patiently, buying stocks with low prices but greater value, and letting time do the heavy lifting.

It sounds simple, but it earned him returns during his six decades as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK.A, BRK.B) that made him legendary on both Wall Street and Main Street. Berkshire shares recorded average annual returns of 19.9% during Buffett’s time at the helm, compared with 10.4% for the S&P 500, an astronomical difference when compounded over 60 years.