Warren Buffett and Jay-Z On The Power of Luck | Forbes

look we all know hard works essential disciplines essential staying powers essential but there's that element there that you can't quantify but you know it's there warn you you you've had some a lot of luck I mean I'm not just being born in the United States in 1930 the odds were like thirty to one against me I may know that I didn't have anything to do with picking the United States and as I emerged and having decent genes for certain things and in my own case I was sort of wired for capital allocation and being wired for capital allocation a couple hundred years ago and Nebraska wouldn't admit a thing and and even now being born in various parts of the world that wouldn't have been much but here I was in this soon to be very rich capitalistic system and and it just so happened that what I did paid off enormously in a market system like we have and I if I'd had a talent in some other area that was way less commercial I mean I would have I would have had a good time doing it but it wouldn't have paid off like this but of course Jay said it perfectly when he talked about you know he's in there recording for himself and the money comes afterwards I mean I I got to do what I love I mean and it doesn't get any luckier than that if you can spend your lifetime and I'm 80 now and doing things you love every single day I mean I would be doing what I did what I do now and I would have done in the past if the payoff had been in seashells or shark's teeth or anything else it if you can go to work every morning I tap-dance to work you know and I come down and I every day is exciting so that is lucky I mean that didn't have to happen that way if I'd been born in 1930 if I'd been born a female if I'd been born black I would not have had the same opportunities that that I had I mean that would it's just a chance I mean I my my parents love my sisters just as much as they love me my sisters are just a smarter smarter than I am in all of that but they didn't have the same expectations in the 30s for for a young smart girls they had for a young smart guy and so I I've had all kinds of like I had the luck of I got turned down by Harvard well getting turned on down by Harvard then I got to study under Ben Graham at Columbia which changed my life all kinds of things worked out so I just hope they say lucky lucky for 80 years you where you grew up you could have easily of yeah you've discussed with your friends who did something and by golly they they were put away and didn't community yeah I mean there are very few people that from my neighborhood you know in my environment that make it out I mean forget about being to be successful to make it out alive you know ought to be incarcerated you know for they have a great friend you know who just came home was one of the most beautiful people you ever meet you know he's you know he just came home from doing 13 years and we were we were together every single day you know it had it not been for music and um music taking me out you know at the right time you know my life could very easily have been his very easily we've together every single day mentioned a story about London you yeah so um they did you know we were in two different things we were into a lot of Street things and uh you know just so happened I had a talent to make music and uh a guy by the name of jazz what started out with really early you know he got it the opportunity he got to deal with EMI he had died but so needed to go to London the record his album and uh you know I went along with him and we way for two months well then that two months there was a sting operation and he took you know my friend I'm talking Mike took him away for thirteen years and the only reason I was in there because I was away you know doing this music stuff

Channel: Forbes

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Keywords: Forbes, Forbes Media, Forbes Magazine, Forbes Digital, Business, Finance, Entrepreneurship, Technology, Investing, Personal Finance, Warren Buffett, Jay Z, Luck, Berkshire Hathaway, Money, Stock Market, warren buffett, jay-z, billionaire, billionaires, steve forbes, berkshire hathaway, advice, interview with, tips, advice from, investing, investor, rich, wealth, money, fortune, net worth, who is, fortunes, hip hop, 400, billions, talk, rap, artist, entrepreneur, businessman

Id: OF4JCmqF6ec

Length: 3min 56sec (236 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 22 2010