95-year-old Buffett said 7 things: Now is not the time to buy the dip, nuclear weapons will eventually be used

Author: Curry, Deep Tide TechFlow

Yesterday, Buffett accepted an exclusive interview with CNBC in the U.S. interview.

This was his first long conversation since stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on January 1 of this year. At 95 years old, having steered the company for sixty years and passing the baton to Greg Abel, he could have chosen not to speak.

But he talked about Apple, the Federal Reserve, Bill Gates and Epstein, Iran's nuclear weapons, and also announced that his charity lunch, which had been paused for four years, would be resumed.

There was a lot of information, so let's discuss it piece by piece.

1. Went to work on the first day of retirement

Buffett said he still goes to the office every day.

Before the market opens each day, he calls Berkshire's Director of Financial Assets, Mark Millard, to discuss market dynamics and trading strategies. Millard's office is about six meters away from his, and after the call, he goes to execute trades. When asked if there have been any new operations recently, Buffett said yes, he made a tiny trade, but did not disclose what he bought.

He also drew a line: he would not make any investments that Abel disagreed with, and Abel receives a daily summary of investment activities.

This arrangement sounds like "the final decision-making power is in the hands of the new CEO," but understood another way, it also means that the 95-year-old former CEO is present every day, participating and trading, while the successor works six meters away from him.

Buffett praised Abel repeatedly in the interview, saying that Abel does more work in a day than he did in a week at his peak, and that he would rather let Abel manage his money than give it to any top investment advisor in the U.S.

Officially retired. But this "retirement" feels more like a transition from CEO to someone sitting beside.

2. Sold Apple too early, but not buying now

In this interview, Buffett admitted one thing: Berkshire sold its Apple shares too early.

His exact words were: "I sold it too soon. But, I bought it even sooner, so."

Translated, it means he sold early, but bought even earlier, so he still made a profit. According to him, Berkshire made over $100 billion in pre-tax profits from its investment in Apple.

The timeline is as follows: Berkshire began buying Apple around 2016, and the position grew to a peak of over $170 billion, making it Berkshire's largest single holding in history.

Between 2023 and 2024, Berkshire cut its Apple position by about two-thirds. By the end of last year, according to SEC filings, Berkshire held about 22.79 million shares of Apple, valued at approximately $62 billion, still accounting for 22.6% of the entire portfolio, remaining the largest holding.

Buffett said that Apple is better than any company wholly owned by Berkshire.

Berkshire's railroad company BNSF has a market value higher than its Apple holdings, but Apple still ranks first in the holding list. He also praised Apple CEO Tim Cook as a "fantastic manager," saying Cook knows how to get along with everyone in the world.

But when asked if he would increase his position again, Buffett gave a conditional answer: it's not impossible, if Apple's price drops to a certain level, Berkshire would buy a lot. But not now, "not in this market."

Apple has already fallen over 14% from its peak this year, but in Buffett's view, it hasn't reached the price he is willing to act on.

3. Dropped 50% three times, what's this drop?

The U.S. stock market hasn't looked good this year. As of the day of the interview, the Dow Jones had dropped about 5% for the year, the S&P 500 was down about 6%, and the Nasdaq had fallen about 9%. Apple itself has also retreated over 14% from its high this year.

Buffett's reaction to this was: there's nothing to get excited about.

He said that since taking over Berkshire, the company's stock price has dropped more than 50% at least three times. Compared to those, this drop is nothing.

He also did not show any intention to make large moves. For him, the current market is far from those historical moments that "created great opportunities."

In just a few words, he was saying not to panic, but also not to expect him to bottom-fish right now.

4. The inflation target should be zero

When asked whether the Federal Reserve is currently more concerned about inflation or employment, Buffett did not take a direct side but made a broader statement: he hopes the Federal Reserve's inflation target is zero.

His logic is that once you say you can tolerate 2% inflation, that number compounds significantly over time. Moreover, for ordinary people, if you save money and earn 2% interest, you still have to pay taxes on that 2%, which means your purchasing power is actually declining.

Buffett also said that compared to employment data, he is more concerned about the dollar's status as the global reserve currency and the stability of the banking system.

He praised Federal Reserve Chairman Powell for his decisive actions in March 2020 during the pandemic, saying that if it had been delayed by two or three weeks, it would have been a disaster, "once the dominoes start falling, they fall faster than anyone thinks." In Buffett's mind, Powell and Paul Volcker, who tamed inflation with aggressive rate hikes in the 1980s, are the two most respected figures in the history of the Federal Reserve.

However, he also had criticisms of the Federal Reserve. The 2% inflation target, in his view, is a mistake, as it tells everyone that saving money is not as good as spending it.

5. The charity lunch is back

What prompted Buffett to change his mind was the death of one person.

Cecil Williams, founder of the Glide Foundation, passed away in 2024. Glide is a charity in San Francisco that helps the homeless, where Buffett's late ex-wife, Susan, volunteered for many years. Since 2000, Buffett has auctioned off the opportunity to have lunch with him once a year, with all proceeds donated to Glide. This lunch has been held for 22 years, and after the last one in 2022, Buffett announced it would no longer continue.

Image: The person in the middle is Cecil Williams.

But Cecil's passing made him change his mind. Buffett said that when Cecil passed away, he believed Glide should not cease to exist.

This new lunch will have a different format.

Buffett will no longer attend alone; his partners will be NBA four-time champion Steph Curry and his wife Ayesha Curry. The auction will start on May 7 on eBay, with a starting bid of $50,000. The winning bidder can bring up to seven guests to Omaha on June 24 for lunch with the three of them. Half of the auction proceeds will be donated to Glide, and half to the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation founded by the Currys, a charity organization helping youth in Oakland.

The last auction related to the crypto world was in 2019, when Tron founder Justin Sun spent $4.57 million. Since then, Buffett has donated the Bitcoin that Sun gifted him.

6. No longer in contact with Gates

This was Buffett's first public comment about Bill Gates since stepping down.

He said that since the Epstein-related documents were made public, he has not spoken to Gates. His exact words were: "I don't want to be in a position where I know things … to be called as a witness." He doesn't want to know too much and doesn't want to be subpoenaed.

Buffett and Gates' relationship has lasted for decades. The two co-founded the "Giving Pledge" in 2010, calling on the world's wealthiest individuals to commit to donating the majority of their wealth to charity. Since 2006, Buffett has donated over $43 billion to the Gates Foundation.

Gates' interactions with Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein pleaded guilty to sex crimes in Florida in 2008. Since the end of last year, the U.S. Department of Justice and Congress have released a large number of related documents, and emails and photos between Gates and Epstein have also been exposed.

According to previous reports from The Wall Street Journal, Gates apologized to Gates Foundation staff in February this year, admitting to having had interactions with Epstein and acknowledging an extramarital affair. Gates has accepted an invitation from the U.S. House Oversight Committee to testify on this matter, but the date has not yet been determined.

When asked if he still considers Gates a good friend, Buffett's tone was very restrained. He mentioned their past in co-founding the Giving Pledge but immediately added:

"I think there's no need to say much until things are clarified."

7. Nuclear weapons will eventually be used

At the end of the interview, the topic turned to Iran.

Buffett said there are currently nine countries with nuclear weapons in the world. During the Cold War, there were only two, the U.S. and the Soviet Union, and everyone was already very tense. But at that time, the decision-makers on both sides could at least be considered rational. Now, the situation is completely different.

He specifically mentioned Iran and North Korea. He said the most dangerous situation is when the person with the nuclear button is about to die or is facing great humiliation. In such circumstances, no one can predict what decision a person might make.

When asked how he would advise handling Iran's uranium enrichment issue if he were an advisor to the U.S. president, Buffett did not give specific advice but said something that sounded fatalistic: within the next hundred years, maybe two hundred years, nuclear weapons will be used. He doesn't know how it will happen specifically, but he believes it's a probability issue—the more countries that have nuclear weapons, the higher the probability.

Regarding whether Iran should have nuclear weapons, he simply said: if Iran has nuclear bombs, things will be harder to manage than if they didn't.

A 95-year-old man, who has witnessed the end of World War II, the entire Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union… leaves a thought-provoking judgment at the end of the interview.

The interview lasted about an hour, covering everything that could be discussed.

But the detail that caught my attention the most throughout the process was: Buffett is 95 years old, has been retired for three months, and not a single word in front of the camera was about "reflection" or "summarizing a lifetime."

All his words were looking forward.

Whether to buy more Apple, how to set the Federal Reserve's target, how the situation in Iran will develop, how to handle the new charity lunch… The host sitting across from him, Becky Quick, gave him many opportunities to reminisce, but he never took any.

You rarely see someone who has already handed over power, whose interest in the future still outweighs their interest in the past.

The Oracle of Omaha may still be the Oracle of Omaha. It's just that before, he voted with money, and now he votes with judgment.