Warren Buffett’s final day at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway is Wednesday, the Associated Press reported, with the investor set to remain chairman even as Greg Abel is scheduled to take over leadership. The change marks a formal transition after six decades during which Buffett helped build the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate, and it arrives as Berkshire’s annual meetings continue to draw investors who follow Buffett’s recurring guidance.
Buffett’s advice has often been distilled into short, memorable rules, and the Associated Press collected several of his most widely repeated quotes. One of his investing maxims—“Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful”—captures an approach of buying assets when they are out of favor and trading below what he says he estimates to be their worth. In that same set of guidance, Buffett also urged investors to stay within their “circle of competence,” emphasizing that they should understand the industries and businesses they buy.
The AP collection also highlights Buffett’s “Rule No. 1” and “Rule No. 2” framework, which he presented as a pair of reminders for investors: “Rule No. 1: Never lose money” and “Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.” The quote is presented as a core expression of his view that protecting principal matters more than chasing returns. The AP reported that Buffett has reiterated those themes repeatedly over the years and at Berkshire’s meeting events that have become annual touchpoints for his followers.
In addition to investing, Buffett’s quotes included a corporate ethics test he described to a Congressional committee in 1991 and later reiterated. He said he wanted employees, after obeying rules, to ask themselves whether they would be willing to have the contemplated act appear “the next day on the front page of their local paper” to be read by their spouses, children and friends by an “informed and critical reporter.” In the same explanation, he added a warning that he would respond differently depending on whether money or reputation was put at risk—saying he would be “understanding” if employees “lose money for the firm” but would be “ruthless” if they lose “a shred of reputation for the firm.”
Buffett also used crisis and pressure as a lens for evaluating decisions, telling investors, “You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.” The AP’s account frames that maxim as a way to assess whether businesses are making sound calls when conditions tighten—suggesting that good times may conceal weaknesses that become visible only when the environment worsens.
Among the other life-oriented advice in the Associated Press collection is a message about relationships and the direction of one’s life, with Buffett saying: “Who you associate with is just enormously important.” He added that people may not make every decision right, but their lives tend to progress “in the general direction of the people you work with,” those they admire, and those they befriend. The collection also ties that advice to personal choices, saying Buffett told young people they should especially consider who they associate with when choosing a spouse.
The Associated Press also included another Buffett line tied to his long-running stance on U.S. capitalism: “Our unwavering conclusion: never bet against America.” The AP reported that Buffett has reiterated that belief in recent years, including in a 2021 message that the outlet said described the United States as having had “no incubator for unleashing human potential like America.”