Warren Buffett turns 90 years old today. It’s hard to believe that my close friend is entering his tenth decade. Warren has the mental sharpness of a 30-year-old, the mischievous laugh of a 10-year-old, and the diet of a 6-year-old. He once told me that he looked at the data and discovered that first-graders have the best actuarial odds, so he decided to eat like one. He was only half-joking.
Here’s a short birthday video in honor of his dietary preferences:
Of all the things I’ve learned from Warren, the most important thing might be what friendship is all about.
As Warren himself put it a few years ago when we spoke with some college students, “You will move in the direction of the people that you associate with. So it’s important to associate with people that are better than yourself. The friends you have will form you as you go through life. Make some good friends, keep them for the rest of your life, but have them be people that you admire as well as like.”
A person that I admire as well as like—that’s the perfect description of how I feel about Warren. Happy birthday, my friend.
