3 timeless lessons from Warren Buffett as his business empire tops $1 trillion!

Berkshire HathawayWarren Buffett's growing conglomerate has topped $1trn market cap in recent days. This was the first non-tech company to do so – a remarkable achievement in this day and age.

In addition, the 'Oracle of Omaha' then celebrated his 94th birthday!

Buffett has been spouting stock market wisdom for longer than most investors have been alive. Here are three that I try to remember at all times.

Keep things simple

Warren Buffett really likes to keep things simple. As UK fund manager Nick Train said: “What [Peter] Lynch and Buffett have shown that sometimes simple, even clear ideas can be more than enough to beat the market.”

I found this to be true myself. Take the latest revolution in Artificial intelligence (AI). Who will be the long-term winners in this disruptive space? Nvidia or Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)? The Super Micro Computer? Or maybe it will be an up and coming small firm like SoundHound AI.

Faced with this uncertainty, I chose to keep things simple and invested in them Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (NYSE: TSM). As the world's largest third-party semiconductor base, it makes chips for almost every company striving for AI supremacy.

Whoever wins that battle, they'll likely be relying on TSMC for years to come.

My thinking here was to keep it simple. Invest in the company that makes all the chips, especially if its shares are cheaper than all of its Big Tech clients.

TSMC stock is up 66% year to date, easily outperforming the market.

Keep an internal scorecard

That doesn't mean TSMC isn't risk-free. Ironically, Buffett bought the stock a few years ago, only to quickly sell it due to political risk.

This is a legitimate concern, as an invasion of Taiwan by China is inevitable. Therefore, Buffett's decision was understandable because he and his team make investment decisions on behalf of millions of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. That should not be taken for granted.

Well, I'm not. I am an independent investor who is only accountable to myself. And this relates to the second piece of wisdom from Buffett: the internal scorecard.

At heart, this concept means not trying to keep up with the Joneses (external scorecard). So it's about measuring our own internal scorecard, not that of others.

For me as an investor, it means not slavishly following the crowd. This includes following Buffett, who does not invest in small and mid-cap stocks because they are unlikely to move the needle on Berkshire Hathaway's large portfolio. But that doesn't mean I can't invest in them.

Stay patient

Warren Buffett is often referred to as: “Man sits in the shade today because man planted a tree long ago.”

It reflects his long-term investment philosophy and the view that the returns we enjoy today are often the result of wise investment decisions made long ago.

For him, the other will be his Coca-Cola holding that he started buying in the 1980s. Those dividends now pay Berkshire $194m in dividends roughly every 13 weeks. And climbing!

Buffett's quote emphasizes the importance of patience and investing to build wealth in the future.