{"id":41118,"date":"2026-10-01T23:56:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T15:56:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/?p=41118"},"modified":"2026-03-22T15:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T07:32:20","slug":"questions-buffett-asks-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/","title":{"rendered":"Two questions Buffett asks CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #ffffff;color:#ffffff\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#Buffetts_famous_%E2%80%9CDesert_Island%E2%80%9D\" >Buffett&#8217;s famous &#8220;Desert Island&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#Buffetts_explanation_of_the_%E2%80%9CDesert_Island%E2%80%9D\" >Buffett&#8217;s explanation of the &#8220;Desert Island&#8221;<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#Buffett_repeatedly_mentioned_%E2%80%9CDesert_Island%E2%80%9D\" >Buffett repeatedly mentioned &#8220;Desert Island&#8221;<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#1999_Berkshire_annual_meeting\" >1999 Berkshire annual meeting<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#On_investing_in_1973\" >On investing in 1973<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#The_%E2%80%9COvarian_Lottery%E2%80%9D_speech\" >The &#8220;Ovarian Lottery&#8221; speech<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2026\/10\/01\/questions-buffett-asks-ceo\/#Relative_articles\" >Relative articles<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buffetts_famous_%E2%80%9CDesert_Island%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Buffett&#8217;s famous &#8220;Desert Island&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Two questions Buffett asks CEO:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;Which company would you most like to short?&#8221;<\/strong>\u00a0This question identifies the weakest competitor, usually the one with the poorest management or least sustainable business model.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>&#8220;If you had to buy a competitor&#8217;s stock with all your money and hold it for 10 years, which company would you choose and why?&#8221;<\/strong>\u00a0This question aims to find the &#8220;best&#8221; competitor with the most sustainable competitive edge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buffetts_explanation_of_the_%E2%80%9CDesert_Island%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Buffett&#8217;s explanation of the &#8220;Desert Island&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/steadycompounding.com\/transcript\/brk-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In 2025 Berkshire shareholder meeting, Buffett said<\/a> (text in italic):<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>But I will give you one tip. I found that when I was very young, I would drive around to various companies all over the country. Because I was very young and these were offbeat companies, they didn\u2019t have investor relations departments then, almost every CEO would see me because they figured they\u2019d never see me again. And they weren\u2019t getting calls like that.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>I would ask them two questions. I would explain to them \u2013 it\u2019s not a bad idea, incidentally \u2013 if you\u2019re going to walk into somebody\u2019s office and you say you want 10 minutes of their time, take an hourglass and stick it on the desk of the person you\u2019re talking to and turn it up so it\u2019s going to go for 10 minutes. You say you\u2019re going to leave in 10 minutes unless they ask you to stay. That sets the terms.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>But once you have that, if they\u2019re in the coal business, which happened to be one that I was interested in 70 years ago or so, you just ask them one question: if they were to be stuck on a desert island and they had to own only one of their competitors\u2019 stock during the 10 years they were going to be on that island, which one would it be, and why? And then after they give you that answer, you ask the same thing if they were to short one of their competitors\u2019 stock, which would it be and why?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Because every manager likes to talk about their competitors. They\u2019re like little school kids when they get into talking about their competitors. I probably learned more about various industries by just making sure that they didn\u2019t think I\u2019d stay too long and that in the meantime they would have the floor and talk about their competitors. I kept my own mouth shut in those days. That\u2019s a lesson I\u2019ve lost somewhere along the line.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Buffett_repeatedly_mentioned_%E2%80%9CDesert_Island%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>Buffett repeatedly mentioned &#8220;Desert Island&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/steadycompounding.com\/transcript\/brk-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">2025 Berkshire shareholder meeting<\/a> was Buffett&#8217;s most recent interpretation of the &#8220;desert island survival&#8221; problem. He had actually mentioned it in many places before, which shows how important the &#8220;desert island&#8221; problem is. Investors can use these two questions to quickly filter suitable investment companies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1999_Berkshire_annual_meeting\"><\/span>1999 Berkshire annual meeting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The Bill Gates conversation (<a href=\"https:\/\/drive.google.com\/file\/d\/1Zvbdxhn139_sOAKrxUdB9Q9zfr9dPXwu\/view\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">1999 Berkshire annual meeting<\/a>):<\/strong> Buffett recalled asking Bill Gates the first time they met in 1991: &#8220;If you&#8217;re going to go away on a desert island for 10 years, you had to put your stock in two companies in the high-tech business, which would they be?&#8221; Gates named two very good stocks, and Buffett noted they would have made more money had he bought them than from buying Coca-Cola.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"On_investing_in_1973\"><\/span><strong>On investing in 1973<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.fool.com\/investing\/general\/2013\/05\/02\/warren-buffett-the-original-tweeter.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">On investing in 1973 (bear market frustration)<\/a>:<\/strong> Buffett quipped about the lack of buying opportunities: &#8220;I feel like an oversexed guy on a desert island. I can&#8217;t find anything to buy.&#8221; Then in 1974, after the market crashed: &#8220;I feel like an oversexed man in a harem. This is the time to start investing.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_%E2%80%9COvarian_Lottery%E2%80%9D_speech\"><\/span><strong>The &#8220;Ovarian Lottery&#8221; speech<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/tilsonfunds.com\/BuffettUofFloridaspeech.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The &#8220;Ovarian Lottery&#8221; speech (University of Florida, 1998)<\/a>:<\/strong> Buffett used the desert island as a metaphor for humility about his own skills: &#8220;If all of us were stranded on a desert island somewhere and we were never going to get off of it, the most valuable person there would be the one who could raise the most rice over time. I can say, &#8216;I can allocate capital!&#8217; You wouldn&#8217;t be very excited about that.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"142\" height=\"90\" src=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Two-questions-Buffett-asks-CEO-Custom.jpg\" alt=\"Two questions Buffett asks CEO\" class=\"wp-image-41137\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Relative_articles\"><\/span>Relative articles<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/04\/07\/how-buffett-decide-on-ceos\/\">How Buffett decide on CEOs?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/10\/18\/buffett-manage-berkshire\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How does Buffett manage Berkshire?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-admin\/post.php?post=16354&amp;action=edit\"><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/12\/31\/ceo-return\/\">The pros and cons of CEO returning, Boomerang CEO<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/06\/04\/shares-ceo-owns\/\">The more shares CEO owns, the higher stock return<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/03\/06\/founder-ceo-firms\/\">Founder-CEO firms stock shown better performance<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/10\/04\/underperforming-ceo\/\">&#8220;Why Can Underperforming CEOs Keep Their Jobs?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/05\/13\/investment-mistakes\/\">Investment mistakes Buffett made in his first 25 years<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/03\/07\/mistakes-of-omission\/\">Mistakes of omission and mistakes of commission<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/01\/18\/institutional-imperative\/\">Institutional imperative &#8211; the good, bad, and ugly<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/12\/30\/mergers-and-acquisitions\/\">Why most mergers and acquisitions end in failure?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/04\/07\/buffett-deserves-study\/\">Why Buffett deserves further study<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/09\/27\/imitating-fastest-effective\/\">Imitating great investors is the fastest and most effective way<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/11\/07\/cigar-butt-investment\/\">Problems with Cigar Butt Investment<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/02\/04\/minority-stake\/\">Why Buffett prefers minority stake to entire company?<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2025\/02\/22\/berkshire-shareholder-letter\/\">Buffett&#8217;s 2025 Berkshire Shareholder Letter<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/02\/25\/2024-shareholder-letter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buffett&#8217;s 2024 Annual Shareholder Letter<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/02\/26\/2023-shareholder-letter\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Buffett&#8217;s 2023 Annual Shareholder Letter<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2024\/05\/05\/2024-berkshire-shareholders-meeting-transcript-and-video\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2024 Berkshire shareholders meeting transcript and video<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/05\/09\/shareholders-meeting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">2023 Berkshire shareholders meeting transcript and video<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/02\/17\/charlie-munger-2023-djco\/\">Charlie Munger speaks at 2023 Daily Journal Shareholders Meeting<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/07\/26\/buffetts-first-tv-interview\/\">Buffett&#8217;s first TV interview<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2023\/04\/17\/buffett-squawk-box\/\">Full transcript of Buffett&#8217;s interview with CNBC&#8217;s Squawk Box<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2021\/11\/17\/outsiders\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Outsiders, one of the greatest investment books for managment team<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/2022\/12\/17\/dear-shareholder\/\">Dear Shareholder<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><em><strong>Disclaimer<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><em>The content of this site is the author\u2019s personal opinions and is for reference only. I am not responsible for the correctness, opinions, and immediacy of the content and information of the article. Readers must make their own judgments.<\/em><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><em>I shall not be liable for any damages or other legal liabilities for the direct or indirect losses caused by the readers&#8217; direct or indirect reliance on and reference to the information on this site, or all the responsibilities arising therefrom, as a result of any investment behavior.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two questions Buffett asks CEO: &#8220;Which company would you most like to short?&#8221;, &#8220;If you had to buy a competitor&#8217;s stock with all your money and hold it for 10 years, which company would you choose and why?&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":41137,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,222,204],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buffett","category-ceo","category-moats-and-competitive-advantages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41118"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41152,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41118\/revisions\/41152"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/41137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.granitefirm.com\/blog\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}