Becoming the "Next Buffett" sounds like an honor, but in reality, it's more like a curse

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The Omaha Prophet has only one, although many claim to be his spiritual successors.

Author: Christofer Herl

Before the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, a banner appeared with Buffett’s portrait and the words “The Next Warren Buffett.”

Key Highlights

• Sam Bankman-Fried, Tang Weizhen, Edward Lampert, and others have been considered potential “Next Buffett,” but ultimately faced fraud convictions or bankruptcy.

Buffett’s loyal followers say he is irreplaceable. But that has never stopped others from trying.

Buffett stepped down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in December 2025, ending a decades-long tenure. During his leadership, he achieved outstanding investment performance, rare acquisition skills, and maintained a humble style rooted in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.

The new Berkshire CEO, Greg Abel, took over in January. But almost from the day the “Prophet” was born in Omaha, imitators have appeared continuously—fans, media, and even self-proclaimed “Next Warren Buffett.”

Few of these Buffett candidates pass the test; some even fail spectacularly. The so-called “Next Buffett Curse,” where those given this title are doomed to fail, may not be pure superstition. But looking at the list, those who believe in this curse have good reasons.

Fortune magazine once questioned on its cover whether Sam Bankman-Fried was the “Next Buffett.” Just months later, his cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in 2022. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and conspiracy and is currently serving time. His appellate lawyers did not respond to requests for comment.

Sam Bankman-Fried

Self-proclaimed “China Buffett” Tang Weizhen labeled himself on LinkedIn. In 2013, he was convicted of defrauding clients in a $50 million Ponzi scheme and sentenced to six years; he was released in 2019. In a statement, he said: “My goal is not simply to imitate a title but to apply a specific investment philosophy. I have always maintained my innocence regarding the 2013 conviction.”

Edward Lampert, who was listed as a Buffett successor candidate by Business Weekly as early as 2004, once stepped out of the hedge fund circle. He acquired the bankrupt Kmart, then merged struggling Sears, becoming a billionaire. But the merged company filed for bankruptcy in 2018. Lampert did not respond to requests for comment.

Many others have eventually succeeded, even if they haven’t reached Buffett’s achievements or become icons of American business. Patrick Watscha, CEO of Fairfax Financial Holdings in Toronto, is called the “Canadian Buffett,” with insurance and other businesses, operating similarly to Berkshire’s diversified model. In 2015, he told The Wall Street Journal: “There is only one Buffett, and he’s in Omaha.”

Chamas Parikhapitiya, known as the SPAC king, told Fortune in 2020 that he hoped to create “our generation’s Berkshire,” but then the high-interest rate environment burst the SPAC bubble.

Earlier this year, this venture capitalist said on a podcast that Buffett’s impressive investment performance partly stemmed from the information asymmetry in the market before the early 2000s regulatory reforms. He is now developing AI-integrated software. Parikhapitiya did not respond to requests for comment.

Parikhapitiya

Buffett claims he has never sought insider information, only referencing public sources like Moody’s manuals. When communicating with CEOs, he usually asks two questions: which competitor he would buy and hold for 10 years, and why; and which company he most wants to short.

“Making money in the stock market doesn’t require insider info,” Buffett said in a phone interview from his Omaha office. His advice to those aspiring to be like him: “Knowing you can live to 95 is helpful because the miracle of compound interest often happens in the last 10 years of life.”

Becoming Buffett is no easy feat. Even he has struggled to replicate his past stock-picking success in recent years, holding a record $373.1 billion in cash and equivalents at retirement. He warned that Berkshire’s size is too large for rapid growth. In 2024, Buffett said the company is “unlikely to produce extraordinary results again.”

The prolonged AI boom has driven stock prices to historic highs, making it difficult for Berkshire (and its followers) to find cheap targets.

One candidate still striving to become the next Buffett is Bill Ackman. The hedge fund manager views real estate firm Howard Hughes as a modern version of Berkshire. His Pershing Square Capital last year acquired nearly 50% of this proposed group. In 2015, Forbes magazine called Ackman a “little Buffett,” and he has called Berkshire chairman his “mentor.”

Bill Ackman

“Warren Buffett has over 60 years of investment record—I aim to surpass it,” Ackman told The Wall Street Journal last year. He declined to comment for this article.

Recently, Ackman filed to list his hedge fund Pershing Square and a new investment fund simultaneously. The new US fund will provide more capital to emulate Buffett’s long-term investment strategy, rather than his previous aggressive approach. Since 2015, Pershing Square’s largest fund has gained over 170%.

Buffett himself says he rarely pays attention to imitators. He said that although his mentor Benjamin Graham inspired him greatly, he became an investor simply because he loved the work.

“At 95, I really can’t think of anything else I want to do,” Buffett said in an interview.

Monish Pabrai manages Pabrai Investment Funds, modeled after Buffett’s pre-Berkshire partnership funds. Before founding his fund, he had never worked at a Wall Street institution, claiming all his investment knowledge came from Berkshire, Buffett, and former Vice Chairman Munger, as well as Buffett’s biographies.

Although he calls himself a “shameless copy” of Buffett, Pabrai ridicules those who compare themselves to Buffett.

“There will never be another Warren Buffett, not in the next thousand years,” Pabrai said. “He is uniquely himself.”

Buffett sometimes takes action to fend off followers. In 1996, Samuel Katz, a self-described “citizen entrepreneur,” wrote to Buffett planning to create a unit investment trust containing Berkshire stock. Buffett was reluctant but eventually launched Berkshire B shares. Katz abandoned his plan, and Buffett later admitted that issuing B shares was beneficial for the company.

In 2006, Berkshire’s lawyers applied to trademark the “Buffett” name, partly to counter websites using Buffett’s name for promotion. The trademark application was later abandoned.

Some who are genuinely related to Buffett also avoid comparisons. Buffett’s sister Doris’s grandson, Alex Rozek, was CEO of the publicly listed holding company Boston Omaha in 2024. Rozek says that while he admires his famous uncle, his company has never received help from Buffett or Berkshire. He also believes people shouldn’t rush to claim they are the next Buffett.

“I’m sure every NFL player or coach wants to win eight Super Bowl rings, but I seriously doubt anyone would start their career saying, ‘I want to be the next Bill Belichick,’” Rozek, who runs fiber broadband company Mac Mountain, said. “I’ve never seen any benefit in doing that.”