Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1538100
AUGUST 2025 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 13 S M T P E RS P ECT I V ES A N D P RO S P ECTS boxes and all kinds of things that'll do wonderful things for you. That's where people are happiest, where you get the most promises, where the most money is for the people who are pushing things. "It's very important that the United States, in the next hundred years, ensures that the casino does not overtake the cathedral. People like to go to casi- nos because it's just so much more fun. They ring bells when you win, they bring you drinks, and everything else. It's designed to move money from one pocket to another. In the cathedral, they're designing things that will produce goods and services for 300 and some million people, like it's never been done before in history. "It's an interesting system we developed, but it has worked. It dispenses rewards in what seems like a capricious manner. The idea that people get what they deserve in life—it's hard to make that argument. But if you argue with it, that any other system works better, the answer is we haven't found one." Patience vs. Investment vs. Cash Multiple questions were raised regarding the unusually high cash holding by the company: Berk- shire holds over $335 billion in cash and short- term investments, representing about 27% of total assets, a historically high figure compared to the 13% average over the last 25 years. Observers wonder where the company will find its next deal and where the money should be invested. Buffett thoroughly addressed the questions. In a nutshell, he explained that the cash holding stems inevitably from the absence of "good buying opportunities." Patience finds its place here. "The problem with the investment business is that things don't come along in an orderly fash- ion, and they never will," he said. "Charlie always thought I did too many things. He thought if we did about five things in our lifetime, we would end up doing better than if we did 50, and that we never concentrated enough. We would rather have con- ditions develop where we would have like $50 bil- lion in cash rather than $335 billion in treasuries. "But that's just not the way the business works. We have made a lot of money by not wanting to be fully invested at all times. We don't think it's improper for passive investors to make a few simple investments and sit with them for life. But we've decided to be in the business, so we think we can do a little better by behaving in a very irreg- ular manner. If you told me that I had to invest $50 billion every year until we got down to $50 billion in cash, that would be the dumbest thing in the world. "Things get extraordinarily attractive very occasionally. The long-term trend is up. But nobody knows what the market is going to do tomorrow, next week, or next month. Now and then, you find something. Occasionally, very occasion- ally—it'll happen again, I don't know when—we will be bombarded with offerings that we'll be glad we have the cash for. It would be a lot more fun if it happened tomorrow, but it's very unlikely to happen tomorrow. The probabilities get higher as you go along. It's kind of like death: If you're 10 years old, the chances that you're going to die the next day are low. If you get to be 115, it's almost a certainty." He further commented, "You will see a period in the next 20 years that will be a 'hair curler' com- pared to anything you've seen before. That just happens periodically. The world makes big mis- takes, and surprises happen in dramatic ways. The more sophisticated the system gets, the more surprises can come out of left field. That's part of the stock market, and that's what makes it a good place to focus your efforts if you've got the proper temperament for it, and a terrible place to get involved if you get frightened by markets that decline and get excited when stock markets go up. I don't mean to sound particularly critical; I know people have emotions, but you've got to check them at the door when you invest." Stock vs. Real Estate When asked about buying stocks instead of more