Here's how Warren Buffett wants to be remembered when he dies
Legendary investor Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B), doesn’t want to be remembered for his investing acumen and massive fortune when he dies.
Instead, the 87-year-old multibillionaire would rather be remembered as a teacher.
“That would be very flattering, I would feel, if that was on my tombstone,” Buffett told Yahoo Finance’s Andy Serwer.
Throughout his life, he’s personally benefitted from teachers, many of whom he encountered outside of the classroom.
“I think teaching is an important activity,” he said. “And I enjoy it myself too.”
Earlier this year, Buffett hosted 220 students from 11 universities, including Stanford, UCLA, and Peking University in China.
“[They] can ask me anything they want. We don’t just talk about investments and all, we talk about life. And, I enjoy it and the students seem to enjoy it. So, that’s what I like to do.”
Buffett added that there’s nothing that’s really complicated about his investment style. He has long argued that investors — both small and large — would be better off putting money in low-cost index funds like Vanguard S&P index fund.
“I’ve just been at it a long time,” he said of his investing. “I mean, just look at it, if I’d put that $114 in the S&P, I’d have $400,000 now.”
At age 11, during the first quarter of 1942, Buffett purchased three shares of Cities Service with $114. The stock fell from $38.25 to $27. When the stock climbed back up to $45 per share Buffett sold his position. Eventually, the stock soared to $202 per share.
Rather, if he had put that $114 into the S&P 500 at that time and reinvested the dividends, he would have made $400,000.
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Julia La Roche is a finance reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter.