Warren Buffett on morality and business a shift against the tide – FT

The sage of Omaha is known as the kind grandfather of capitalism. He does not have the blingy lifestyle of other billionaires who splash out on big yachts, fancy cars and palaces to live in. With Microsoft founder Bill Gates; Warren Buffet founded The Giving Pledge whereby billionaires give away at least half of their fortune for good causes. He has gone even further pledging to donate 99% of his wealth. With his philanthropic background in mind, the latest statement by Buffett on morality and business comes as a surprise and appears to be against the current tide in business for a shift away from shareholder capitalism towards stakeholder capitalism where the stakeholders not include those who own a company but also its employees, suppliers and the environment. In an interview with the Financial Times, Buffett said it was "wrong for companies to impose their view of doing good on society." – Linda van Tilburg

By Thulasizwe Sithole

Berkshire Hathaway has invested into green companies including $30bn in wind turbines and infrastructure in Iowa. The aim of this investment is to turn Iowa into the wind capital of the world or the "Saudi Arabia of wind." The investment reflects the philosophy that moving away from fossil fuel towards renewable energy is because of companies' responsibility to society of "doing well by doing good." The FT reports that was the latest trend in the corporate world that was printed in annual reports and advertisements – "sincerely or not".

Warren Buffet however said it was rubbish and that he invested in wind because of tax credits and that without the production tax credits, Berkshire Hathaway would not have invested in wind energy generation. During an interview with the FT, Buffet said, "it was wrong… for companies to impose their views of doing good on society. What made them think they knew better." He went on to state that it was hard to measure the effect of "doing good" and when he compared the 20 largest companies; it would be hard to determine who was behaving the best. "I like to eat candy. Is candy good for me or not. I don't know."

___STEADY_PAYWALL___