Today marks the end of the glorious career of Warren Buffet

Today marks the end of the glorious career of the most successful money manager in the history of our civilization.

He did nothing except bring common sense to investing.

He taught an entire generation to think clearly and simply, and proved that by acting on simple principles you can make billions.

He never used Excel in his career, nor did he ever buy a Bloomberg Terminal.

If he could not value a business on a napkin or within a single page, he would not invest in it.

He taught people to invest in things that never change, such as See’s Candies or Coke.

He sacrificed certain large returns because they did not match his investing principles.

Buffett was the ultimate insider on Wall Street. 
He knew how and which tech stocks could perform well, yet he stayed away from tech bets because that was not his known game.

This is a great example of his strict discipline.

Most people do not know that he is one of the greatest writers. Millions of people read his investing letters worldwide. He thinks clearly, so he wrote brilliantly.

All of Buffett’s investing philosophy can be summarized in two points:

Do not bet against the American market, and do not step forward if you do not understand the business deeply enough.

He taught that in investing you do not have to win 100% of the time, not even 80%, not 50%, not even 30%.

You can win by being correct only 10% of the time, but make sure that when you win, you win big enough to cover past losses.

In 60 years, Berkshire traded around 400 stocks, but only 12 to 15 were exceptional, just 3 to 4%.

Without those 12, Berkshire would have been just an average money manager.

He single handedly proved the entire business school and economics departments wrong. You can make money by being correct with facts and logic. You do not need dozens of theories and hundreds of formulas.

He proved you do not need a 130 IQ to succeed in investing. An average person can win if he keeps learning about businesses he is interested in.

The most important lesson you can take from Buffett is this: no one reads more than Buffett, and he never stopped learning new things, a true example of a lifelong learner.

Forget everything else. Read him, listen to all his lectures and annual meetings, and you will surely be a great investor. It is almost guaranteed.

A couple of dozen investors became billionaires simply by copying his framework and lessons.