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Warren Buffett on owning businesses for decades: interview summary

Watch CNBC's full interview with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett

CNBC Television · Feb 24, 2020 · about 121 min

Uploaded Feb 24, 2020 · 14.2M views (as of Oct 30, 2026)

Good value given

Buffett treats stocks as parts of real businesses.
He looks at what a business will earn over 10 to 20 years.
He has owned American Express and Coca-Cola for decades.
He says you can't predict the market from daily news.
He prefers buying whole businesses when he can.

How does Warren Buffett think about buying stocks?

He says he buys parts of businesses instead of pieces of paper to trade. He looks at what a business will earn over the next 10 or 20 years. He has owned companies like American Express and Coca-Cola for decades, and he says you can't predict the market from the morning newspaper.

Worth watching?Good value given. A long, classic Buffett interview full of plain investing wisdom. His view of stocks as businesses and holding for decades is the core lesson.

ActionableLessons

Actionable

Before buying a stock, write what the business will look like in 10 years.
Ignore daily market news for a week.
List the businesses you'd be happy to own for decades.
Write down why you own each holding.

Lessons

Stocks are businesses.
Time is the investor's friend.
News is noise.
Patience beats prediction.

Quick answer

Warren Buffett sat down with CNBC Television for this interview, published Feb 24, 2020. Here's our summary in our own words: a verdict, the answer to the big question, 5 takeaways, Actionable and Lessons tabs, then the stories, frameworks and how to use them.

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Watch the interview

Watch on YouTube: Watch CNBC's full interview with Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett

Channel: CNBC Television. Published Feb 24, 2020. About 121 minutes.

Who is Warren Buffett?

Warren Buffett has run Berkshire Hathaway since the 1960s.

This is a long CNBC Squawk Box interview with Becky Quick from February 2020.

Key stories from the interview

He explains how he values businesses.
He talks about long-held stocks.
He discusses market news and timing.
He shares thoughts on Berkshire's future.

Frameworks and ideas

Own businesses.
Think in decades.
Ignore headlines.
Buy what you understand.

In their words (paraphrased)

We're buying businesses.
You certainly can't predict the market by reading the daily newspaper.
Where are these businesses going to be five and 10 and 20 years from now?

How to apply this

Write a one-page case for each stock you own.
Check your holdings once a quarter instead of daily.
Read one company's annual letter this month.

Read the biography

Want the longer story? Read our The Snowball summary.

A note on this summary

This page reports what was said in the interview, in our own words. Lines under 'In their words' are paraphrased from the transcript, so check the video for exact wording.

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FAQ: questions people ask

How does Warren Buffett view stocks?

As parts of real businesses he would own for years.

Can you predict the market from the news?

Buffett says no.

Is the Warren Buffett CNBC 2020 interview worth watching?

Good value given. Plain and timeless.