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- Warren Buffett discussed the federal response to the pandemic, the challenges facing small businesses, his unwavering faith in America, and his ukelele collection at a private event last week.
- The famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO spoke at a virtual Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses event to celebrate the graduation of 10,000 entrepreneurs from the program, and guide alumni on how to navigate the pandemic.
- A closer look at Buffett’s comments can be found here.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Warren Buffett has barely said a word since Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in May. The billionaire investor and Berkshire CEO finally broke his silence at a Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses event last week.
Buffett — a member of the organization’s advisory council — spoke at the virtual event to celebrate the graduation of 10,000 entrepreneurs from the program, and offer advice to alumni on how to weather the pandemic.
He discussed the federal government’s response to the pandemic, the enormous challenges facing small businesses, his belief in a bright future for America, and his ukelele collection, according to a transcript of his comments that Goldman provided to Business Insider. A closer look at what he said can be found here.
Here are Buffett’s 10 best quotes from the event, lightly edited and condensed for clarity:
1. “I would like to say to the woman that manufactures ukeleles, that I have 22 ukeleles. I can just say that, as my number of ukeleles has gone up, my net worth has gone up. So maybe that’ll sell a few ukes for you.”
2. “I saw those people choke up about how they felt. They were tears of joy. And I’ll tell you, I choked up a little myself, and that’s why I kept going to them” — explaining why he’s agreed to speak at six of the small-business program’s graduations so far, despite turning down scores of invitations to college and university graduations.
3. “You’ve run into a headwind. It’s more like a hurricane in a country that’s generally supplied a tailwind to entrepreneurs and to its citizenry in general” — describing the scale of the pandemic threat to small businesses.
4. “They did exactly what they should have done because we were developing truly major problems in financial markets” — praising the Federal Reserve’s efforts to stabilize the US economy when the pandemic struck in the spring.
5. “Frankly, the small businesses generally need plenty of help now.”
6. “I would recommend the Republicans, Democrats, whomever, go to work to help small businesses because they are the future of this country.”
7. “The clouds will go away. The government should help them go away and in a hurry.”
8. “If I could pick anytime to be born, I would want to be born now, and I would want to be born in America.”
9. “As long as I hear the stories of the people that talked a little earlier and the people I’ve met at the six graduations I’ve gone to, I can’t help but be an enormous bull on America.”
10. “I figure my next 90 years ought to be very good.”
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