Bill Gates shared this Warren Buffett that he should have ‘learned a lot sooner’

Bill Gates reflected on the lessons that he has learned from the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffett.

Bill Gates and Warren Buffett have been friends for over three decades. The Microsoft founder reflected on the lessons that he has learned from the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in this time. Sharing one such advice, Bill Gates said the he wished he had learned this a lot sooner and it is also something that everyone must inculcate- clearing up your schedule to be happier and productive.

Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, speaks during the 2024 CERAWeek by S&P Global conference in Houston, Texas. (Bloomberg)

Bill Gates said, “It took far too long for me to realise that you don’t have to fill every second of your schedule to be successful. In hindsight, it’s a lesson I could have learned a lot sooner had I taken more peeks at Warren Buffett’s intentionally light calendar.”

For 25 years, Bill Gates said that he “had every minute packed” on his schedule until he stepped down in 2000. At the time, he was also a tough boss who would send requests to employees even at 2 am.

He earlier said in an interview, “I thought that was the only way you could do things. I remember Warren showing me his calendar... he [still] has days that there’s nothing on it. You control your time ... It’s not a proxy of your seriousness that you fill every minute in your schedule.”

Warren Buffett said in the same interview, “I can buy anything I want, basically, but I can’t buy time."