Why Warren Buffett Said No to Lehman and AIG in 2008

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is famous on Wall Street for having the cash to make deals happen, even during a crisis. But in 2008, he turned down both Lehman Brothers and AIG when they asked for help. In an interview with WSJ, he explains why.

[jackgreen]

You know you've made it when a bank calls you for a loan.

[jlepp]

My brother asked for 20 bucks once . I told him to send me fax .

[jayjay]

Warren Buffet is like the Yodah of Wall Street, the yield is strong in this one

[DanI-yphq]

Considering that Lehman and AIG went to mr. Buffett to ask for help, you understand the power that this man actually has. His decisions could have had influence literally on the world's financial sector, yet he is so humble and down to earth. Mr. Buffet is in his own league of intellectualism and values!

[paull]

Imagine a bank of that size calling looking for a loan

[ImOldandSoAreMyBooks]

Here’s the first lesson: If you’re asking for help and someone gives you a set of instructions, you should follow the instructions.

[ChristopherAbelman]

You make an excellent case! . I’ll add 1 more point… Seeing my monthly dividend income grow is EXTREMELY motivating to continue investing . Buying growth makes sense intellectually, but during a bear market, watching my growth portfolio shrink…the motivation isn’t as high as it is for dividend investing. A lot of this is psychological!

[SP-dfnm]

"A flip phone I still have"
Yet the average American is taking loan to pay for his new iPhone.

[michaelbecker]

“Once they lose confidence, it’s all over” - Yes!

[slovokia]

“Once they lose confidence, it’s all over” - that should be on a bumper sticker.

[followme]

Save yourself 5 minutes folks: he said “no” because after 5 minutes of analysis he knew they were in a hole that was only getting deeper and he didn’t want to get pulled in

[joses.a.]

No matter how many degrees you have, last few seconds in this video is a lesson worth 1000 times more....Trust-Confidence.

[-optimist-]

You can only see who are the truly rich when the crisis comes.

[GeneDexterExperience]

My takeaway here is they didn’t send the fax.

[tylerkeller]

You've got to respect a man like Buffet. One of the wealthiest men on the face of the planet, which in turn also makes him one of the most powerful. Yet he still remains humble and has somehow managed to avoid it leading to corruption.

[lailaalfaddil]

Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!

[Daveliuhk]

there is a very big lesson here life mr Buffett said: for regular businesses, they sell products, for financial institutions, they sell confidence. Once confidence is gone, the financial institutions are worthless.

Always invest in businesses that create real products, never invest companies that create air.

[gaurav]

0:46 they show warren's well worn, but not yet torn shoes. pure gold. AIG and Lehman begging Warren for money is just like greed asking for forgiveness from integrity and discipline. And Warren denying help feels like justice being served. People talk about value, integrity and honesty in books, but Mr. Warren Buffet embodies it everyday. A legend that we need even more, in the kind of times we live in.

[Boutit]

I'd also forget how to use my phone if you called asking me for a couple billion 🤔

[rigelgutierrez]

He knew both companies were crooked beyond repair. That’s why.