Warren Buffet is right now the second richest man in the world. Unlike most rich people, Warren Buffet is known to lead a very simple life. He lives in a small house and drives a small car and known to give much to philanthropy. Over the years, he had turned a small portfolio of $100K into many billions of dollars. Many books have been written on his investing style. The thing that we love him most is his charity and philanthropy. Each year on eBay, Buffett auctions off an invitation to lunch. The proceeds go to GLIDE, a charity that runs a number of anti-poverty programs in San Francisco. This year’s winning bid, from a man from Singapore named Andy Chua, was more than double last year’s of just over $1 million. The highest ever was in 2012, at $3.5 million. Since the auction began 15 years ago, it has raised nearly $16 million for the organization GLIDE. GLIDE serves more than 850K free meals in San Francisco area annually. It also operates a health clinic.
In a recent article published, Guy Spier discusses the 5 lessons that he learned from his $650K lunch with Warren Buffet. This is what he says: “The lunch made me realize that I had previously undervalued the power of making sure that I am around people who are better than me, and around whom I can improve. These days I am lucky enough to think nothing of buying a transatlantic plane ticket and enduring the resulting jet-lag, if it means being able to spend quality time with someone whom I admire and from whom I can learn. The cost of that lunch and the risk associated with it taught me that the value of relationships, and the time and energy it takes to sustain them, are in fact priceless.”
Watching and studying successful people is one of the best methods to succeed in life. This principle applies in the world of investing much more than in any other field. If you want to become a successful investor, you should develop the habit of studying successful investors.