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The investor uses his annual letter to shareholders to declare he is staying at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway
Veteran investor Warren Buffett is showing no signs of planning to retire, using his annual letter to shareholders to announce that his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate was still on the hunt for big acquisitions. "Our elephant gun has been reloaded and my trigger finger is itchy," he said in the letter, which also painted an upbeat view of the US economy.
Buffett said the housing market would start to recover in the US "within a year or so", as home ownership "makes sense" while interest rates are so low. "All things considered, the third-best investment I ever made was the purchase of my home, though I would have made far more money had I instead rented and used the purchase money to buy stocks. (The two best investments were wedding rings)," Buffett said. "For the $31,500 (£19,540) I paid for our house, my family and I gained 52 years of terrific memories with more to come." The house is now valued at $660,200.
He said the highlight of 2010 – when the shares underperformed the US market with a 13% return – was the acquisition of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company, which contributed $2.2bn to earnings. The group has $38bn of cash that could be used for acquisitions.
Buffett, who is 80, has rarely addressed the issue of his succession, though a 39-year-old fund manager Todd Combs, who joined last year, is regarded by some as the leading candidate. In 2007, he said there were three internal candidates who could potentially replace him, but he made clear in the latest letter than he would continue to manage the majority of Berkshire's holdings for as long as he remained chief executive.
He said that Lou Simpson, the investment manager at insurance arm Geico, is retiring at a "mere 74". Buffett's deputy, Charlie Munger, is 87.
"Four years ago I told you that we needed to add one of more younger investment managers to carry on when Charlie, Lou and I weren't around," he said. "When Charlie and I met Todd Combs, we knew he fitted our requirements."
