Widely regarded as the best investor in history, Warren Buffett surprised everyone at Berkshire Hathaway’s 60th annual shareholder meeting by announcing his plan to step down as CEO.

While not totally unexpected at age 94, Buffett still exhibited an amazing mind and wit for four hours before making the announcement, and got a standing ovation that would make rock stars envious.

Berkshire Hathaway’s Board of Directors approved his recommendation to have heir apparent Greg Abel take over as president and CEO, with Buffett continuing to serve as chairman and as adviser.

The fact that Buffett announced this change at the annual meeting speaks volumes about his commitment to shareholders, whom he has always treated as partners.

According to CNBC, Buffett’s return of 60 years = 5,502,284%. By comparison, the S&P 500 has risen 39,054%.

These total returns translate into an annualized return of 19.9% for Berkshire Hathaway versus 10.4% for the S&P 500. WOW!

“The stock market is a good place to focus your efforts if you’ve got the proper temperament and a terrible place if you get frightened by markets that decline and get excited when stock markets go up.  People have emotions — but you’ve got to check them at the door.” WARREN BUFFETT

Buffett has been one of my heroes — and I thought you might enjoy seeing some fun facts and great ideas from the “Oracle of Omaha.”

• The nearby quote from this year’s shareholder meeting highlights one of Buffett’s fundamental tenants of investing: Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful. Check your emotions at the door — easy to say, but not to do.  

• Unlike mutual funds, exchange-traded funds, hedge funds or private equity funds, Berkshire Hathaway doesn’t charge investors management fees of ongoing expenses. The company has just 27 employees in its corporate offices in Omaha, Nebraska, including Buffett. 

• “Opportunities come infrequently. When it rains gold, put out the bucket, not the thimble.”

• “Successful investing takes time, discipline and patience. No matter how great the talent of effort, some things just take time. You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant.”

• “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say NO to almost everything.”

• “You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don’t do too many things wrong.”

• “When trillions of dollars are managed by Wall Streeters charging high fees, it will usually be the manager who reaps outsized profits, not the clients. Both large and small investors should stick with low-cost index funds.”

Buffett’s philosophy seems simple, but living it sure isn’t. A wonderful sense of humor, sincere humility, a simple lifestyle and intense integrity are key.

Buffett willingly gives credit to others and freely admits mistakes. Consider some of his best — and worst — investments over the years:

Winner: Coca-Cola (KO). Berkshire invested $1.3 billion in 1988 for a 9.3% stake in Coca-Cola, which Warren said expected to own for a long time. That stake is now valued at about $25 billion and produced dividend income of $770 million last year alone. And Buffett says he often drinks five Cherry Cokes a day. (Not too sure about the health impacts of this; he must have very good genes.)

Loser: US Airways. Oops, this one didn’t go well. Buffett invested in US Airways in 1989 and the industry promptly turned down. A lucky rebound allowed him to exit with a modest profit. Buffett said he should have listened to airline entrepreneur and fellow billionaire Richard Branson, who said, “If you want to be a millionaire, start with a billion dollars and launch a new airline.”

Winner: Apple (AAPL). Buffett began buying Apple shares in 2016, initially investing $31 billion. The value of this investment has soared more than 800%, hitting more than $174 billion before Berkshire started trimming the holding. Buffett credited Apple CEO Tim Cook for making Berkshire shareholders more than he had even done.

Loser: Salomon Brothers. A 1987 purchase of Salomon Brothers, a major Wall Street investment bank. A Treasury note-rigging scandal forced Buffett to step in as chairman. The business never really fully recovered and it was later sold to Travelers.

Winner: GEICO. Buffett’s relationship with GEICO began in the 1950s, and he eventually bought the whole insurer in 1995. Buffett has long credited growth and cash flow from Berkshire’s insurance businesses for its ability to fund other big investments.

Winner: MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company. 1999 saw the purchase of a 75% interest in MidAmerican Energy Holdings Company, a Midwest utility, the beginning of a major emphasis on utility businesses later renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Besides being a winning investment, the acquisition added Abel to the Berkshire organization.

Loser: Berkshire Hathaway. Ironically, the company’s namesake came from Buffett’s dreadful purchase of a struggling New England textile business. He notes he bought the company because it looked cheap — and a childish disagreement with the company’s management over a very small price difference. The company continued to lose money until he shut it down. Buffett was quoted as saying “they lost their jobs, and I found myself with a terrible business about which I knew very little. I became the dog who caught the car.” Buffett commented that Berkshire Hathaway would be worth twice as much today if he’d simply invested in insurance companies from the start.

Winner: See’s Candies. An investment of $25 million in See’s Candies, made in 1972, had generated $1.65 billion of pre-tax earnings by 2011, a very “sweet deal.”

Besides being an amazing investor, Buffett offers some wonderful insights into life that have always seemed important to me. Truly words to live by.

Consider some of his wisdom:

• “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.”

• “It’s better to hang out with people better than you. Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you’ll drift in that direction.”

• “Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”

• “Someone once said that in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence,and energy. And if you don’t have the first, the other two will kill you. You think about it: It’s true. If you hire someone without integrity, you really want them to be dumb and lazy.”

• “Honesty is a very expensive gift. Don’t expect it from cheap people.”

Finally, I am reminded of how luck plays a role in success, as highlighted in Malcolm Gladwell’s 2008 book Outliers and noted in an excellent May 3 Wall Street Journal article about Buffett by Jason Zweig.

Buffett admits to having won the “ovarian lottery” by being born in the United States. He also was lucky to have been born in 1930, when he could learn under security analysis pioneer Benjamin Graham and participate in the country’s period of unmatched post-World War II economic growth.

And Buffett’s extraordinary mind, memory and passion for the stock market gave him a big edge that exists less today as virtually unlimited data from artificial intelligence is now universally available.

While there is no substitute for Buffett’s unique talents, good timing sure helps. It will be interesting to watch the next chapter in Berkshire Hathaway’s history as he steps back.

Strong traditions and values will be important, and having a $334 billion cash reserve sure won’t hurt. It will be fascinating to see how Abel and team employ this cash over the next few months or years.

Meanwhile, Buffett will be going to work every day and will still provide his wisdom and insights. Stay tuned!