Warren Buffett never made anything but money -- and friends with Apple

AppleInsider

Apple's Tim Cook has praised investor Warren Buffett, who has announced he's stepping down from the firm he's led for six decades.

Tim Cook (left) and Warren Buffett at Apple Park -- image credit: Apple

Steve Jobs was famously dismissive of anyone who wasn't a "product person," and even included Tim Cook in that description. But both he and Cook have said that they learned business from a man who never made a single product, and instead became rich through investing in people who did.

There's never been someone like Warren, and countless people, myself included, have been inspired by his wisdom. It's been one of the great privileges of my life to know him. And there's no question that Warren is leaving Berkshire in great hands with Greg. pic.twitter.com/7p5zXtq5hP

-- Tim Cook (@tim_cook)

May 3, 2025

On Saturday, May 3, 2025, Buffett surprised the shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway company by saying he was stepping down as CEO. Not just surprised, either, as CNBC reports one shareholder saying he was "stunned."

There's an argument that the news came without any warning, but then Buffett is now 94, so come on. It's also not as if he's retiring -- after 60 years running Berkshire Hathaway, he won't be CEO, but he will stay on as chairman.

The company's vice chairman Greg Abel is to take over as both CEO and president from 2026. Like the pro he is, Tim Cook used his tweet paying tribute to Buffett, to also praise Abel.

Buffett has been repeatedly selling off Berkshire Hathaway's stock in Apple, although he once said a particular round of sales had been "probably a mistake."

He has also consistently praised both Apple and in particular Tim Cook, who he describes as a "fantastic manager."

Reportedly, stocks in in the $1.2 trillion Berkshire Hathway fell by 2% after the announcement.



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tiredskills

"He was very clear to me, he said 'let me just cut through it, if you believe that your stock is undervalued, you should buy your stock,'" Cook said, recounting the call. "I thought that was just the simplest way to look at it."

Smart guy.  Too many financially illiterate people say stock buybacks are a clandestine way to inflate the stock.  They aren't really, and certainly not in the longer term.  They're a way to capitalise on under-appreciated company value to the benefit (mainly) of long term shareholders.  When applied appropriately they're an excellent way to return value by cutting out some of the day trading.

wdowell

Id actaully argue that people like Buffet and Tim Cook's obsession with the stock price is the worst thing that has happened to Apple. As the Epic court case saga shows all too clearly Tim seems to prioritise maximising the money above all else and at all cost of other elements of customer experiences etc 

ddawson100

wdowell said:

Id actaully argue that people like Buffet and Tim Cook's obsession with the stock price is the worst thing that has happened to Apple. As the Epic court case saga shows all too clearly Tim seems to prioritise maximising the money above all else and at all cost of other elements of customer experiences etc 

I'm not sure that's right. Sure, the moment you issue stock, every holder is going to be obsessed with the number and the value of their holding. Tim's compensation is tied to the performance of the stock and this is common for executives. But neither of them is obsessed.

On the other hand, I'm not sure I've seen any statements where Cook spends any time commenting on the performance of the stock while he does spend a lot of time talking about the business opportunities, risks, strategy, and is always praising people and products and customers. Warren Buffet never comments on day-to-day fluctuations and has even said, "What has happened in the last 30, 45, 100 days is really nothing... This is not a huge move."

mikethemartian

He is OK as billionaires go but if you have ever had to deal with GEICO you realize he isn’t all that great.