- Billionaire Warren Buffett admits he didn’t pay attention to all his classes in college—instead, he prioritized building connections with the professors that mattered. Seeking out “sympathetic teachers” is important for success, he said at this weekend’s Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting.
With a net worth of nearly $170 billion, Warren Buffett is one of the envied investors in the world. But as a young person, he wasn’t the star student most would have expected..
The 94-year-old has become known for his advice to young Gen Z investors—but it’s not always necessarily focused on one’s exact investment strategy. Buffett recently shared wisdom on valuing the people around you—a practice he first embodied with his teachers in school.
“I went to three different universities and I went to high school in Washington, and at each place I found about two or three really outstanding people,” Buffett said at the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting this past Saturday. “I just spent my time with them and didn’t pay much attention to the other classes.”
Buffett first enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in the late 1940s—an Ivy League institution heralded as one of the best business schools in the world. However, he was not so impressed; two years into his studies, he transferred back home to the University of Nebraska in Lincoln because he wanted insight he couldn’t find.
“The teachers at the [Nebraska] university turned me on. There wasn’t a class that disappointed me. I was close to my professors, who actually taught the classes; at my previous undergraduate college, graduate students taught the classes,” he recalled in 2001.
While studying accounting at the University of Nebraska was something he said was “vital” to the rest of his career, he credited the connections built getting a master’s at Columbia Business School as sources of inspiration.
“I was interested in what they [my professors] were saying and they found it entertaining that I was so interested,” Buffett said last weekend. “So I would look around at what really fascinates you.”
“I think having curiosity and finding sympathetic teachers is very useful,” Buffett added.
Buffett’s biggest teacher was his right-hand-man
Buffett’s shareholder meetings have become one of the most closely watched in the investment world. While Buffett broke the internet by announcing that Greg Abel would take over as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway by the end of the year, he mentioned his late right-hand-man Charlie Munger just as much.
As two billionaires overcame challenges together, Buffett said he was inspired by Munger’s constant drive to learn.
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“Charlie was never satisfied with just superficial things about any subject,” Buffett said. “He really wanted to understand it and he always would tell me that you shouldn’t take a position on anything until you can describe the arguments against it better than the person who is arguing with you—that you should be able to argue their case better than they can.”
Munger was a “remarkable teacher,” Buffett reminisced—something he echoed even when his business partner was still alive.
“Every time I’m with Charlie, I’ve got at least some new slant on an idea that causes me to rethink certain things,” Buffett said to CNBC in 2016. “We’ve had so much fun in the partnership over the years.”
Buffett is the ultimate educator for many investors
While many Americans do not have positive feelings about billionaires, Buffett is one exception. According to a 2023 survey from CNBC, Buffett is the most popular billionaire.
Moreover, even billionaires themselves look up to Buffett for inspiration.
“There’s never been someone like Warren, and countless people, myself included, have been inspired by his wisdom,” wrote Apple CEO Tim Cook on X. “It’s been one of the great privileges of my life to know him.”
On top of being humble, his popular image also likely centers on his own willingness to spread his wealth and knowledge—something Berkshire Hathaway heir Greg Abel admits has made his shoes nearly impossible to fill.
“I love thinking of Warren truly as a teacher and I get the opportunity to continue to learn every day,” Abel said at the 2025 shareholder meeting. “Warren and I have strong dialogue every week and we’re always talking around opportunities in Berkshire or things that are going on globally or in the U.S..; each one’s truly a learning moment.”
