Warren Buffett's son speaks exclusively to Campden about next-gens
Next-generation members should follow their passions and not live their lives with a sense of entitlement, the son of high-profile investor Warren Buffett exclusively told CampdenFB this week.
Emmy award-winning musician, author and philanthropist Peter Buffett said next-gens needed to forge their own path in life, based on what interests them, instead of simply entering the family business.
His father didn’t embark on a career in business because he wanted to make money, but rather it was because he loved investing, said Peter. The 53-year-old, who authored Life Is What You Make It: Finding Your Own Path to Fulfillment, was also encouraged by his parents to follow his own passions.
He reiterated his comments at an Institute of Private Investors next-gen event, held in New York in October, when he said he received little financial support from his parents - he was given just $90,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock when he was 19, despite his father being one of the world’s richest men. IPI is a Campden-owned company.
However, he added that his parents were very supportive emotionally.
“The support, the privilege, really comes from having two parents who said and believed I could do anything,” Peter told the IPI event. “That support didn’t come in the form of a cheque. It came in the form of love and nurturing and respect for us finding our way, falling down [and] figuring out how to get up ourselves.”
A growing number of young wealthy are now following their own paths, said Charlotte Beyer, founder and chief executive of IPI. Many are becoming entrepreneurs and investing in companies of their own, as well as investing in emerging ventures.
Even if they are not initially successful, Peter said next-gens need to persevere.
“I learned more in difficult times about myself and my resiliency than I ever would have if I’d had a pile of money and I could have glided through life,” he said at the IPI event, which was hosted by law firm Withers Bergman.
Read our exclusive interview with Peter Buffett, where he delves into the future of Berkshire Hathaway and explores next-gen options, in our November issue of CampdenFO.
