Warren Buffett Says Bill Gates 'Treated Me Better Than I Think He's Probably Treated Anybody Else' — Despite Now Keeping His Distance

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Renewed attention around Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has brought his decades-long relationship with Berkshire Hathaway Chair Warren Buffett back into focus, and Buffett was asked directly where things stand.

In an interview on CNBC last week, host Becky Quick asked, “You said you haven’t talked to Bill about any of the issues that have come out. Are you still good friends with him?”

“We’ve had great times together,” Buffett said. “But he’s treated me better than I think he’s probably treated anybody else.”

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A Measured Answer Focused On Personal Experience

Buffett did not directly define the current state of the relationship. Instead, he limited his response to his own experience over time.

He referenced the way Gates treated him personally and kept his comments within that scope. He did not address broader questions about the relationship or any outside developments.

Buffett’s answer stayed confined to what he said he had directly experienced.

Staying Within What He Can Account For

Buffett also addressed why he has not spoken with Gates since the files related to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released.

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He said he has not talked to Gates at all “since the whole thing was unveiled.”

“For one thing, I don’t want to be under, my memory is no good anymore,” Buffett said. “I don’t want to be under oath in terms of trying to remember everything over 30 years or 20 years.”

He followed that by pointing to his limited involvement in related philanthropic efforts.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it, except I put the money in,” Buffett said.

Buffett said he prefers to stay within what he can directly account for rather than risk recalling decades of interactions in a legal setting.

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Gates Described the Friendship in Similar Terms

In a Gates Notes blog post from 2016, Gates described the relationship in positive terms at the time.

He wrote that Buffett helped him and his family “do two things that are impossible to overdo in one lifetime: learn more and laugh more.”

Gates also wrote that he was “always impatient for the plane doors to open because I know Warren will be waiting with a new story or a joke and I’ll be learning and laughing with him all over again.”

He added that he and his then-wife, philanthropist Melinda French Gates, would often ask, “What would Warren do?” when making decisions.

Buffett’s recent remarks remained limited to his own experience. He did not expand beyond that or characterize what the relationship looks like now.

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This article Warren Buffett Says Bill Gates 'Treated Me Better Than I Think He's Probably Treated Anybody Else' — Despite Now Keeping His Distance originally appeared on Benzinga.com