95-year-old Buffett says 7 things: Now is not the time to buy the dip; nuclear weapons will be used sooner or later.

Author: Kellee, Deep Tide TechFlow

Yesterday, Warren Buffett sat down for an interview with CNBC in the United States.

This was his first long-form interview since stepping down as Berkshire Hathaway’s CEO on January 1 of this year. At 95, having led the company for sixty years and passing the reins to Greg Abel, in theory, he could have chosen not to speak anymore.

But he talked about Apple, the Federal Reserve, Bill Gates and Epstein, and even announced that his charity lunch would resume after a four-year hiatus.

There was a lot of information. Let’s go through it one by one.

1. Went to work on the very first day of retirement

Buffett said he still goes to the office every day.

Every morning before the market opens, he calls Berkshire’s financial assets director, Mark Millard, to discuss market trends and trading plans. Millard’s office is about six meters away from him; after the call, he goes to execute trades. When asked if he had made any new moves recently, Buffett said yes—he made a tiny (small buy of one lot), but he didn’t disclose what he bought.

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

This arrangement sounds like it’s saying “final decision-making authority is in the hands of the new CEO,” but understood differently, it also means that the 95-year-old former CEO is present every day, participating daily, and trading daily, while the successor works more than six meters away.

In the interview, Buffett praised Abel repeatedly. He said Abel’s daily work exceeds what he did at his peak in a week. He said he’d rather have Abel manage his money than give it to any top investment advisor in the U.S.

On paper, he has retired. But this “retirement” is more like shifting from CEO to someone sitting beside him.

2. Sold Apple too early, but now he’s not buying

Buffett admitted in this interview that Berkshire’s reduction of its Apple stake was 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’s pre-tax profit from its Apple investment exceeds $100 billion.

The timeline is as follows: Berkshire began buying Apple around 2016. 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 holdings by about two-thirds. As of the end of last year, SEC filings show Berkshire held approximately 22.79 million shares of Apple, with a market value of about $62 billion, still accounting for 22.6% of the entire portfolio, remaining its largest position.

Buffett said Apple is better than any company Berkshire fully owns.

Berkshire’s railroad subsidiary, BNSF, has a market value higher than Berkshire’s Apple holdings, but Apple remains the top position. He also praised Apple CEO Tim Cook as a “fantastic manager,” saying Cook doesn’t know how he manages to get along with everyone around the world.

When asked whether he would add to the position, Buffett gave a conditional answer: it’s not impossible. If Apple’s price drops to a certain level, Berkshire would buy heavily. But not now—“not in this market.”

Apple has already fallen over 14% from its high this year, but in Buffett’s view, it’s not yet at the price point where he’s willing to buy.

3. Down 50% three times—what is this little move now

U.S. stocks haven’t looked good this year. As of the day of the interview, the Dow was down about 5% year-to-date, the S&P 500 down about 6%, and the Nasdaq down about 9%. Apple itself has retreated more than 14% from its high earlier this year.

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

He said that since he took over Berkshire, the company’s stock price has fallen more than 50% at least three times. Compared to those, the current decline is nothing.

He also showed no signs of making a big move. For him, the current market is still far from those “big opportunity” moments in history.

In just a few words, he’s saying don’t panic, and don’t expect him to be bottom-fishing now.

4. The inflation target should be zero

When asked whether the Federal Reserve is more worried about inflation or employment, Buffett didn’t pick a side. Instead, he said something bigger: he hopes the Fed’s inflation target is zero.

His reasoning is that once you say 2% inflation is tolerable, that number compounds over the long term in a very astonishing way. And for ordinary people, earning 2% interest on savings and paying taxes on that means their purchasing power is actually shrinking.

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

He praised Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s decisive actions during the COVID-19 outbreak in March 2020, saying that if they had delayed by two or three weeks, it would have been a disaster: “Once the dominoes start falling, they fall faster than anyone can imagine.” In Buffett’s mind, Powell and Paul Volcker—who famously tamed inflation with aggressive rate hikes in the 1980s—are the two most respected figures in Fed history.

However, he also criticized the Fed. In his view, the 2% inflation target is a mistake—you’re essentially telling everyone that saving money is worse than spending it.

5. The charity lunch is back

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

Cecil Williams, founder of the Glide Foundation, passed away in 2024. Glide is a charity in San Francisco that helps homeless people. Buffett’s ex-wife, Susan, volunteered there for many years. Starting in 2000, Buffett auctioned off the chance to have lunch with him each year, with all proceeds donated to Glide. The event ran for 22 years. After the last auction in 2022, Buffett said he would no longer hold it.

A photo: the person in the middle is Cecil Williams.

But Cecil’s passing changed his mind. Buffett said that when Cecil died, he believed Glide should not disappear.

This time, the format of the lunch has changed.

Buffett will no longer attend alone. His partners are NBA four-time champion Stephen Curry and his wife Ayesha Curry. The auction begins on eBay on May 7, with a starting bid of $50,000. The winner can bring up to seven guests. On June 24, they will go to Omaha for lunch with three people. Half of the proceeds will be donated to Glide, and the other half to the Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation, founded by the Currys, a nonprofit organization that helps youth in Oakland.

The last crypto-related auction was in 2019, when Tron founder Justin Sun spent $4.57 million. After that, Buffett donated the Bitcoin that Sun had given him.

6. No longer in contact with Gates

This is the first time since Buffett’s retirement that he publicly discussed Bill Gates.

He said that since the Epstein-related documents were made public, he hasn’t spoken to Gates anymore. 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 or be subpoenaed to testify.

Buffett and Gates’ relationship has lasted for decades. In 2010, they jointly launched The Giving Pledge, urging the world’s wealthiest to commit to donating most of their wealth to charity. Since 2006, Buffett has donated over $43 billion to the Gates Foundation.

Gates’ dealings with Epstein began in 2011, three years after Epstein’s 2008 Florida sex crime conviction. Since late last year, the U.S. Department of Justice and Congress have released many related documents, and emails and photos between Gates and Epstein have been exposed.

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year, Gates apologized to employees of the Gates Foundation in February, admitting he had interacted with Epstein and acknowledging an extramarital affair. Gates has accepted an invitation from the House Oversight Committee to testify, but the date is not yet set.

When asked whether he still considers Gates a good friend, Buffett’s tone was restrained. He mentioned their past together founding The Giving Pledge, but then immediately said:

“I think there’s no need to say more until things are clarified.”

7. Nuclear weapons will be used sooner or later

At the end of the interview, they discussed Iran.

Buffett said there are currently nine countries with nuclear weapons. During the Cold War, there were only two— the U.S. and the Soviet Union—and tensions were extremely high. But back then, decision-makers on both sides were at least rational. Now, the situation is completely different.

He specifically mentioned Iran and North Korea. He said the most dangerous scenario is when the person controlling the nuclear button is about to die or is facing great shame. In such circumstances, no one can predict what decision they will make.

When asked what advice he would give if he were an advisor to the U.S. president regarding Iran’s enriched uranium, Buffett didn’t give specific suggestions. Instead, he said something that sounds like fatalism: within the next hundred, maybe two hundred years, nuclear weapons might be used. He doesn’t know exactly how it will happen, but he believes it’s a matter of probability: the more countries that possess nuclear weapons, the higher the chance.

Regarding whether Iran should have nuclear weapons, he only said: if Iran gets nuclear bombs, it will be more difficult to handle than if it doesn’t.

A 95-year-old who has seen the end of World War II, the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the dissolution of the Soviet Union… His final judgment in the interview is thought-provoking.

This interview lasted about an hour and a half, covering everything that could be discussed.

But the most noticeable detail for the author was: Buffett is 95, retired for three months, yet in front of the camera, not a single word about “looking back” or “summarizing life.”

All his words are about the future.

Whether Apple should be bought again, how to set the Fed’s goals, how Iran’s situation will develop, what the new charity lunch will be like… The host, Becky Quick, gave him many chances to reflect, but he didn’t take any.

It’s rare to see someone who has already handed over power, yet remains more interested in the future than the past.

The stock market legend may still be a legend, even in old age. It’s just that before, he voted with his money; now, he votes with his judgment.