- Warren Buffett, CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has developed a legendary reputation as an investor.
- ChatGPT explained the three biggest takeaways investors can learn from Buffett's many decades of success.
Warren Buffett, CEO and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has developed a legendary reputation as an investor and business mogul.
He has often told investors not to follow his own moves, which include big bets on iconic names like Apple, Coca-Cola and American Express. Instead, he has urged people to park money in an index fund, "forget it and get back to work."
But for those who want to invest like the "Oracle of Omaha," here are three rules that helped Buffett become Buffett, according to OpenAI's viral language bot, ChatGPT.
Invest in what you understand
"Never invest in a business you cannot understand," Buffett has said. It's one reason he didn't jump into the dot-com bubble in the initial stages of the boom.
He has admitted, however, that he regretted not buying Alphabet and Amazon when their stocks were cheaper, though he did eventually purchase shares of the latter.
His biggest holding is tech giant Apple, but he still leans heavily on classic household brands like Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz.
Buy and hold
The average US investor holds a stock for about 10 months, whereas Buffett has held his top five portfolio positions for an average of 17 years.
"Our favorite holding period is forever," Buffett has famously said.
This strategy, ChatGPT said, allows for the power of compounding to "work its magic over time."
Still, Buffett recently went against this rule as he sold roughly 86% of his stake in Taiwan Semiconductor just a few months after buying, according to fourth-quarter 13F filings earlier this month.
Meanwhile, in early 2020 and 2021, the famed investor's company virtually eliminated his 8.4% stake in Wells Fargo, after being a shareholder for more than 30 years.
And in 2018, Berkshire also dumped its entire stake in IBM after holding it since 2011 and watching its market cap tumble.
Patience is key
Buffett has emphasized the importance of patience in investing. The market changes rapidly, and getting caught up in fluctuations can distract from a long-term vision.
In Buffett's words: "The stock market is a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient."