From Yahoo Finance · · 1m 40s
NFL star Ndamukong Suh's investing lessons from Warren Buffett
The Super Bowl champion learned two simple principles that transformed his approach to building wealth.
In brief
The Super Bowl champion learned two simple principles that transformed his approach to building wealth. Patience and surrounding yourself with quality people are more important than stock-picking skills for long-term investing success. Originally reported by Yahoo Finance.
From football to finance
Ndamukong Suh, former NFL defensive lineman, became Warren Buffett's protégé 15 years ago while playing for Nebraska. They still talk quarterly about investments.
Building a diverse empire
Suh now partners in HMS Development for real estate and owns hospitality ventures like Pizzanna restaurant. He also hosts the No Free Lunch podcast on investing.
Lesson one: Play the long game
Buffett emphasized patience above all else. Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares rose from $24,600 in 1995 to about $758,300 by 2026, a 2,982% gain.
“We think in decades, act with discipline, and uphold our commitments.”
Lesson two: Choose quality people
Buffett's second critical recommendation was to surround yourself with knowledgeable, genuine friends who can guide your decisions.
“If you can learn to have patience and stick to quality people and identifying that, those two things will serve you right.”
Learning from costly mistakes
Suh rushed into media ventures after hearing about LeBron James' Uninterrupted company. Without proper planning, he made "some terrible investments."
Financial FOMO is everywhere
51% of Americans admit they buy something or invest purely from fear of missing out, according to Empower survey data.
Buffett warns against gambling
Buffett criticized products like one-day options that encourage same-day stock bets, saying there's more money in "cultivating gamblers than cultivating investors."
“Since humans love to gamble so much, there's more money in…actually cultivating gamblers than there are cultivating investors.”
Borrowed money fuels trading frenzy
Single-stock leveraged ETFs have exploded to $250 billion since 2022. Total margin account debt now sits at $1.4 trillion.
Hold forever, if possible
Despite trading trends, Buffett and Suh stick to long-term investing. New Berkshire CEO Greg Abel says they "hold for the long term, preferably forever."
“We will assess value carefully, act patiently, and hold for the long term, preferably forever.”
What to remember
Patience and surrounding yourself with quality people are more important than stock-picking skills for long-term investing success.
