Investment guru Nassim Taleb apparently isn’t too impressed with the world’s second richest man, Warren Buffett.
“I don’t want to spend too much time on Buffett,” the hedge fund adviser told online magazine ai5000.
“George Soros has 2 million times more statistical evidence that his results are not chance than Buffett does. Soros is vastly more robust. I am not saying Buffett doesn’t have skill. I’m just saying we don’t have enough evidence to say Buffett isn’t doing it by chance."
Taleb made himself famous with the book “The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable,” which came out in 2007 before the subprime mortgage crisis.
Buffett has made himself famous by providing Berkshire Hathaway shareholders with above-market returns for more than 40 years.
The Oracle of Omaha has received some criticism for recent moves, such as purchasing Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.
But Buffett biographer Alice Schroeder says there is logic behind that acquisition.
“This deal is mostly about managing risk,” she wrote on Bloomberg.
“One of the many motives is to soak up Berkshire’s capital while Buffett is at the wheel. That lowers the danger of his successor doing something dumb.”
Buffett has stated that he wants to ensure Berkshire’s survival for another generation beyond his death.
“Buffett likes companies that make bricks and boots and paint and electric utilities because they are survivors. So are railroads,” Schroeder wrote.
© 2012 Moneynews. All rights reserved.