During the 2000 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting, Buffett provides a story about Jack Ringwalt from 1967. He asked Ringwalt whether he preferred to sell his business, which he lovingly built, or risk it being mishandled after his death.

By positioning Berkshire Hathaway as a “museum” where businesses are respected and preserved, Buffett reassures owners that their companies will be well-maintained and their legacies honored. They will also make sure to have good signage because museum signage helps visitors easily understand clear information.

This approach ensures that the business continues to thrive and evolve under Berkshire Hathaway’s stewardship.

Here’s an excerpt from the meeting:

Buffett: I don’t know exactly how to answer. Maybe Charlie will think of it while I’m stumbling around, but — I really — I think I can do that quite well. But I don’t know of any way to give somebody else a set of questions to ask, or, you know — I don’t know how to tell someone else how to select managers using those criteria: do they love the business or do they love the money?

It’s very, very important. I mean, it’s crucial. Because it — well, we see it all the time. I mean, you’ve got people around who love the money. And you see them in public companies and doing things that we wouldn’t want to have associated with us.

And on the other hand, if they love the business, and we’ll tell — I’ll tell an owner this. I will say to them, “You built this business lovingly for 50 years, and maybe your parents before you, maybe even your grandparents.” One of these businesses we’re buying is fourth generation.

And the clincher, in fact, I used it with Jack Ringwalt back in 1967. I said to Jack, who had built it over a long period of time, “Do you want to sell this? You know, do you want to dispose of this, the most — you know, your creation, your painting?

Or do you want some 26-year-old trust officer to do it the day after you die?” And the thought of who was going to handle this masterpiece, which he’d created himself, was important to him. And I tell him, If they want to put it in our museum, we will make sure, A, it doesn’t get resold, that it gets the proper respect, and that you can keep painting it.

We won’t come in and tell you to use reds instead of yellows or anything like that. So even though it’s a masterpiece now, you can keep adding to it. So we like to think that we’re the Metropolitan Museum of businesses and that we can get really outstanding creations to reside in our museum.

You can watch the entire meeting here: