Billionaire Warren Buffett Steps Down and Takes a Deep Dive Interview With CNBC After Stepping Down; Buffett Briefly Postpones Retirement for a Charity Lunch Auction, Breaks Down His Apple Trimming Calculations, and Warns of the Global Nuclear Weapons Crisis. He also reveals behind-the-scenes details of his exit from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announcing that his $100+ billion estate will be shifted to be jointly managed by three children.
(Background Recap: Buffett Won’t Retire After Stepping Down! Berkshire Continues Buying $17 Billion in U.S. Treasuries This Week, and the “Oracle” Admits the Market Is “When It Drops 50%, That’s When I’m Excited.”)
(Additional Background: Trump Says “Iran Has Returned to the Stone Age”: All Six Major Military Capabilities Are Destroyed, and Rebuilding Will Take 15–20 Years).
Table of Contents
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- Restart the Charity “Retirement Cancel” Lunch Auction
- Life After Stepping Down as CEO and Berkshire’s “Cash Mountain”
- Big Slash in Apple Holdings and America’s “Super Casino”
- Nuclear Proliferation and the Ultimate Geopolitical Warning
- Cutting Ties With Epstein and Exiting the Gates Foundation
- A New Interpretation of the Will: Refusing to Let the “Dead Man’s Hand” Control Wealth
This is Warren Buffett’s first in-depth media interview since stepping down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. On CNBC’s program《Squawk Box》, he and Becky Quick, a veteran anchor he has known for many years, sit down for a wide-ranging conversation.
At age 93, the “Oracle of Omaha” still has a sharp mind and delivers surprising remarks. In this interview, he not only announced he will temporarily cancel retirement and hold another distinctive charity lunch auction; he also, for the first time, spoke openly about his concerns over the current stock market’s overvaluation, his real thoughts on the decision to slash Apple holdings, and his insightful views on Federal Reserve policy and the fragility of the banking system.
In addition, he does not shy away from sensitive topics: from his strong disgust toward the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, to behind-the-scenes details of his exit from the Gates Foundation, to his decision to change his will—refusing to let the “dead man’s hand” continue controlling wealth. And most thought-provoking of all is the grave warning he delivers about today’s global geopolitics and the spread of nuclear weapons.
Below is a verbatim transcript of the highlights from this interview, compiled for you.
Restart the Charity “Retirement Cancel” Lunch Auction
Becky: Warren, welcome! For 22 years, you’ve held a charity lunch auction every year to raise funds for the Glide Foundation in San Francisco. After you held the last auction in 2022, you announced your retirement, when the auction total reached $19.1 million.
But today you’re bringing a surprise: a new auction is coming! This time you, NBA star Stephen Curry (Stephen Curry), and his wife Ayesha Curry (Ayesha Curry) will take part together, and the proceeds will be split evenly between the Glide Foundation and the “Eat. Learn. Play.” fund run by the Currys. Why did you stop back then? And why did you decide to restart now?
Buffett: I stopped because I “didn’t have the stamina anymore.” It’s the same as why I don’t teach—at some point, your body changes, and you should learn to hand the responsibilities to others.
As for why I started in the first place, it was because of my first wife, Susie. She introduced me to Pastor Cecil Williams of the Glide Foundation. Cecil took over a dying church and turned it into a place that brings hope to those “the world has abandoned.” He welcomes everyone—he even serves food to people before the sermon. He never gives up on anyone; he’s serious about it.
For the past two years, this auction was paused. Cecil is about the same age as me, and his health has gotten much worse. His only wish is to keep this program going. If this program disappears, I’ll be very sad. So I decided to do it again. And having Stephen Curry join in is only natural—he’s done a lot for children in Oakland, and he’s a hero to millions of people. By the way, no matter what the winning bid amount is this year, I promise I’ll match it out of my own pocket—half to Glide and half to Curry’s foundation.
Life After Stepping Down as CEO and Berkshire’s “Cash Mountain”
Becky: Since you stepped down as CEO of Berkshire, how has your life changed? Are you still involved in investment decisions?
Buffett: Honestly, it’s not much different. I still go to the office every day, but I’ve basically “finished almost nothing” (laughs)—it takes me much longer to do things than before. Greg (Greg Abel, Berkshire’s current CEO) is very good. It’s a little awkward to say, but the range of business he can handle in a day is more than what I could handle in a week at my peak. This is a handoff decision I should have made long ago.
Of course I’m still involved in investment decisions, but I will absolutely never make any decision that Greg thinks is wrong. If he disagrees with something, we won’t do it.
Becky: Berkshire now has more than $350 billion in cash and Treasury bills. Are you the largest holder of Treasury bills? Why not deploy this capital?
Buffett: We might be the largest bidder for Treasury bills. This week, we just bought $17 billion in Treasury bills. We’re not buying because we haven’t found any cheap and attractive opportunities.
If there’s a big drop, then we’ll deploy. We’re not getting in to profit from a 5% or 6% rebound. Our goal is to “own businesses.” We’ve held American Express for 30 years and we’ve held Coca-Cola for almost 40 years. We always want to have plenty of cash on hand, and I never want to buy anything blindly just because “others think the market will go up.”
Big Slash in Apple Holdings and America’s “Super Casino”
Becky: The Dow and the Nasdaq have recently pulled back. Do stocks look cheaper to you now? You recently sold a lot of Apple (Apple) stock that performed extremely well—do you regret it?
Buffett: No, the stock isn’t any cheaper. As for Apple—well, I did sell a bit too early, but I also bought it very early. I think on that investment, after accounting for taxes, we already made more than $100 billion.
I don’t regret it because I don’t have the ability to predict what stocks will do next week or next month. Apple is still our largest single investment, and it’s a business that’s a better deal than any company we fully own. Tim Cook (Tim Cook) took over the burden left by Steve Jobs, and he’s done an exceptional job. Consumers love Apple too much for politicians in Washington to go around destroying a product that every voter loves.
Becky: People see Apple as a technology company, but you’ve always treated it as a consumer company. What do you think about the current trend in artificial intelligence (AI)?
Buffett: I don’t pay attention to that, because I’m not good at technology—I’ll admit that I’m not great even with phones! But I do understand consumer behavior. People think they know exactly how the market will move—it’s crazy. Basically, the U.S. economic system has become an “incredible super casino.” People like gambling, even gambling in the market using odds that are bad for them. American capitalism works extremely well, but that doesn’t mean you’ll win when you’re “fighting the house” in a casino.
Nuclear Proliferation and the Ultimate Geopolitical Warning
Becky: Nikki Haley (Nikki Haley, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations) just said on our show that she believes the president should take action now to identify the facilities in Iran that are enriching uranium. That’s an extremely controversial position. If you were president today, or if you were advising the president, what would you say about a problem like that?
Buffett: I don’t know whether this would happen in the next 100 years or 200 years—no one can be sure. But in any case, eventually some triggering event will occur that leads nuclear weapons to be genuinely used. And we can’t possibly take back the nuclear arsenals that already exist in today’s world, and humanity can’t bear the consequences of using them.
If you think the standoff during the Cold War between us and the Soviet Union was already dangerous—just know that back then Khrushchev (Khrushchev) might have still been someone who was completely rational, and JFK (JFK) too. But what about now? When we have to deal with leaders like North Korea—well, you know, those kinds of leaders who not only criticize everyone else’s hairstyle, but also behave unpredictably—that’s where the real danger lies.
We created nuclear weapons the way you open Pandora’s box—we can’t undo it. I once asked an American president what he would do, if faced with a nuclear threat during the Cold War, with only 10 minutes to decide. The president told me, “I think about this every day.”
Cutting Ties With Epstein and Exiting the Gates Foundation
Becky: Since 2006, you’ve donated nearly $60 billion, most of which has gone to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. What do you think about the Jeffrey Epstein (Jeffrey Epstein) files that recently came to light, and his connections with certain wealthy individuals?
Buffett: Human behavior can be really shocking sometimes. Epstein was a convicted guy—a high-profile “master scammer.” He knew exactly how to find other people’s weaknesses—whether it was sex, money, or power—and then exploit those weaknesses to extort them.
I’m very glad that guy didn’t stay in Omaha back then, or that I didn’t live in New York. If I had lived in New York, I might have run into that damn guy at some party! People always ask to take a picture with me, and I usually agree. Oh my God—I can’t even bring myself to get near that guy. He’s not just a scammer; he’s also involved in heinous sex trafficking.
Becky: You stepped down as a trustee of the Gates Foundation in 2021. Was that related to these controversies, or the divorce of the Gates couple?
Buffett: I’m very clear about what things I don’t know. As one of three trustees, we meet only once a year. When the divorce lawsuit happened, that’s when I realized there were a lot of things going on inside the foundation that I didn’t know at all. I resigned in less than a month. Since this whole thing broke, I didn’t want to put myself in a situation where I might be summoned as a witness. Recently, I haven’t spoken to Bill Gates at all.
A New Take on the Will: Refusing to Let the “Dead Man’s Hand” Control Wealth
Becky: You’re 93 now. Originally, you planned to donate your remaining massive wealth to five foundations, but I heard you changed your mind?
Buffett: Yes. I decided to put this money into a trust that is jointly supervised by my three children (Susie, Howie, Peter). I don’t think it’s right to have these foundations “still driving wealth” after people have passed away. I don’t want a “dead man’s hand” to control all of this.
I’ve seen too many rules established after someone’s death that become absurd as times change—sometimes even leading to endless lawsuits. This money will go into a trust, and my three children must “agree unanimously” to use it to address the most urgent problems that society needs to solve at the time. If they can’t reach a consensus, then not a single cent will move. They’re also all around 60 and 70 now, and they have enough wisdom to make these decisions.
Becky: Final question: are you a Democrat or a Republican?
Buffett: I’ve been both. My father was a very steadfast Republican, and when I was young I also voted Republican. Later I shifted to the Democratic Party, but now, I’m an Independent. I think we’ll talk about it here—we’ve already revealed enough! (laughs)
Becky: Warren, thank you so much for your time.
Buffett: This was a lot of fun.
