University of Berkshire Hathaway: 30 Years of Lessons Learned from Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger at the Annual Shareholders Meeting

by Daniel Pecaut

But by owning great businesses, it is less essential to have Buffett and Munger there. GEICO will keep selling auto insurance. Burlington Northern will keep shipping stuff by rail. These companies will all keep going without them. In doing this, they have intentionally created Berkshire to extend their success past their own lifespans.

By selling, Buffett is not predicting a decline, though that will surely come someday. He is simply acting on his observation that the intrinsic business values of his holdings are fully reflected in current market prices.