Warren Buffett Q&A Transcript || Nightline (1999)

"I don’t want to be in business like playing a gin rummy game — where every time I pick up a card, I’ve got to give up one in my hand."

On February 24, 1999, Warren Buffett sat down with Ted Koppel for an exclusive interview that aired the following week on an episode of the Nightline news program.

Over the past few days, I transcribed (and lightly annotated) his remarks for posterity and future study.

A few notes:

• Each transcript is done entirely by hand — with no AI or software assistance — so any and all mistakes are my own.

• I added footnotes — 25 in all — to provide additional information at relevant points. Hopefully, these will prove useful to readers.

• The full transcript is available to all paid supporters. Free subscribers have access to the first 1,500-ish words. (That’s longer than the typical Kingswell article.)

  • I’ve tried to do my best to ensure that no one feels short-changed.

• Become a paid subscriber today and receive immediate access to this transcript — along with nine other annotated transcripts full of wit and wisdom from the top names at Berkshire Hathaway.

Now, without further ado, here is the complete transcript of Warren Buffett’s appearance on Nightline from 1999…

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(Note: The interview begins with a series of video clips from Warren Buffett’s life¹ and a voiceover introduction from Ted Koppel. Short comments from other notable names in the investing world are interspersed throughout.)

Ted Koppel: He is a man of simple tastes. Not always comfortable with the finer things in life.

Katharine Graham: He met a lobster for the first time in his life and he was attacking the back of the lobster — which, of course, was totally resistant. And I said, “Warren, if you turn it over, you might have better luck.” (Laughs)²

Koppel: But don’t be fooled by the modest office. There’s a $30 billion investment empire behind that door.

Peter Lynch: If you bought the S&P 500 in World War II, you made 54x your money. The stock market has been a good place to be. Warren has beat the hell out of the stock market.

Koppel: And for each brave soul who entrusted the young investor with $10,000 back in the 1950s, each has become a millionaire many times over.

Unidentified Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder: God comes first, my wife comes second, and Buffett comes third. And, really, I’m not too sure about the second and third place.

Koppel: So when he talks, people listen.

Peter Lynch: People have this idea that if they have a good idea, they have to buy it by sundown. And Warren Buffett can wait for months and months, years and years.

Koppel: Tonight, Warren Buffett — the down-home, common sense advice of America’s second-richest man.

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Ted Koppel: Warren Buffett almost never does interviews — and he’s been dodging this one for about six years, which is how long it’s been since he promised me that, one day, he would come on Nightline.³

Having finally agreed, though, he has pulled out all the stops. He said we could come to Omaha in late February and that he would buy us all lunch at his favorite restaurant. Warren likes Dairy Queen so much that he bought the company.⁴

Warren Buffett holds what is whimsically referred to as a major position in a lot of companies: Coca-Cola, Gillette, GEICO, to name just a few. In fact, it’s only fair that you know Warren and I own stock in one another’s companies. My wife and I bought a few shares of Berkshire Hathaway about 12 years ago and Warren owns a few million shares of The Disney Corporation, which of course owns ABC.⁵

I’ll try not to let that get in my way. Warren Buffett can speak for himself…

I always have a feeling that, one of these days, the mask is going to be ripped away  and we’re going to find out that you have a villa in Nice and that you drive hot sports cars around Southern California. What is this Dairy Queen [and] Omaha, Nebraska — living in the same home you’ve lived in for 40 years? Why?

Warren Buffett: It’s what I enjoy. I like just the way I lived thirty years ago and I live that way now. The only difference is that I have a plane [so] I can travel around privately. But in terms of what I eat, the clothes I wear… I may pay more for the clothes, but they look cheap after I put them on. (Laughs) The books I read, the television I watch, whatever it may be, the bridge I play — it’s what I want to do in life.

That’s your passion — bridge?

Yeah, I love bridge.⁶ If I had five cars, would I have a better time than having one car? I’d just have more possessions to keep track of. It doesn’t appeal to me.

But you understand that’s an illusion that a lot of people chase all their lives, especially in this country. This notion that money can buy things for them that otherwise they couldn’t have.

The big thing you want to do is you want to enjoy every day. You want to have a job you love and you want to work with people that you like and admire and trust. And, if you’ve got that, you’re a long way home.

I am getting to do exactly what I love to do every single day. I tap dance to work.

Which is what? What do you do?

Well, not much! (Laughs)

I allocate capital and I keep a bunch of very talented people — who don’t have to work — excited about working, if I can.

My job is to take these outstanding managers that usually come with the businesses that we buy, where they get all kinds of money from me, and keep them as excited about working subsequently as they were before they sold.

Let me take you back to that phrase “allocate money” — is that it?

Allocate capital.

Pretend for a moment that I’m a nine-year-old. A relatively bright one, but not terribly bright. What does that mean?

It means that we’ve got a bunch of businesses around the country and they earn money and, when they earn the money, after they take care of the needs of their businesses, they send it to Omaha.

And it’s my job to take the money they earn and do the most intelligent thing that I can for our shareholders [with it] after they send me the money.

Berkshire Hathaway — for the longest time, I thought you made shirts.

Yeah, well, we don’t. (Laughs)

It has nothing to do with the Hathaway shirt?⁷

No, nothing to do with that. Never has.

So what is Berkshire Hathaway?