Why Warren Buffett Doesn’t Sell Companies

For a long time, I was an avid reader of Warren Buffett’s materials. I’ve read everything and anything I could get my hands on. One thing I always thought was peculiar was that Buffett has said that Berkshire Hathaway (the company he runs) doesn’t sell the companies that it buys. To my knowledge, they’ve stuck to that principle. 

In the world of buying and selling businesses, if you have the chance to sell a business for a profit, you do it. It’s standard, and expected. In Buffett’s case, the amount of money and profit that can be made through the sales of some of his businesses will, without a doubt, be over $100 billion. 

So why doesn’t Warren Buffett sell companies? 

I finally know the answer, and here’s the best way I can explain it. In the book The Alchemist, Santiago, the main character, finally runs into the Alchemist at the end of the book. He takes him through an agonizing struggle. They’re both imprisoned, they lose all their money, and the Alchemist literally forces Santiago to make a sandstorm by asking the Wind for it. Santiago succeeds and they are set free. Before they part ways, the Alchemist sits down, takes out a pan and turns metal into gold.

It turns out the Alchemist could make gold whenever he wanted to fix his problems, but he didn’t. Instead, he lived simply, he bought the best wine and food, and shared with his guests. All he did, even with his unlimited power to create wealth, is help people by teaching them to go through their struggles and come out the other side. 

Warren Buffett doesn’t sell companies because it’s not difficult for him to. He’s done it before. There’s no challenge in it. It might even cause more aggravation than he needs. He can make a few billion dollars whenever he wants. He would rather spend time with people he likes, doing things he likes, and he’s said as much in interviews. 

I’ve personally met hundreds of business owners. Those who I admire all seem to have the same attitude towards the idea of trying to accumulate “more”. Once the market has acknowledged their value and they’re able to generate money consistently, they generally choose not to go after more. It’s not interesting to them any more. It doesn’t make a difference in their lives. 

I know it doesn’t seem like it now, but when you finally achieve what you first set out to, you won’t be interested in it anymore. That’s a good thing to remember before you ascribe too much long term importance to what you’re currently doing.