It was 50 years ago that Warren Buffett took over Berkshire Hathaway. Yet believe it or not, there are some things the world's second richest man doesn't like about his job.
"One thing I don't like is when I have to make a change in management," Buffett told CNBC's On the Money in an interview. "When I have to tell somebody I think somebody else can do a better job."
Berkshire's chief called having to fire someone "pure agony, and I usually postpone it and suck my thumb and do all kinds of things before I finally carry it out."
At the helm of the Omaha-based conglomerate since 1965, he's built it into the fourth-largest publicly-traded company, trailing only Apple, Google and Exxon Mobil in market capitalization. That perch has afforded him a certain degree of autonomy, he explains.
"I don't have to do anything I don't believe in." Buffett says. "All my decisions are elective."
Eating like a six year old
Berkshire Hathaway owns more than 80 businesses, including household names like Geico, See's Candy, and Burlington Northern. It also holds major stakes in giants like IBM, American Express and Coca-Cola.
Surprisingly enough, the latter is a daily staple in the octogenarian's diet. "I get about 700, 750 calories a day from Coca-Cola," he says, often plowing through about five cans a day.
"If you look at me, you're looking at about one-quarter Coca-Cola," Buffett joked. Yet Coke is not his only unique food selection: The 84-year-old also also feasts on Utz Potato Stix and, famously, ice cream. He defends adhering to what he calls "a happy diet," explaining there's a method behind it that involves actuary tables.
"As I told people, I looked up mortality by age, and found six-year-olds died less than any other age group," Buffett said. "I'll eat what they eat."
Yes to tax credit, no to minimum wage hike
With a net worth of more than $72.7 billion dollars, Buffett is currently the second-wealthiest man in America, with only Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates having a higher net worth at $79.2 billion.
Having so much in the bank, Buffett might be considered an odd spokesman for wage inequality. However, the CEO said that while the market system is "a pretty darn good system for allocating labor and resources," it won't provide for "the bottom twenty percent of the country."
Part of that reason is the creative destruction of the free market, he suggested.
"The economy is getting more and more specialized", Buffett said, meaning some people will "get left way beyond, while a great many people prosper."
The Oracle of Omaha says one answer he sees that could help income inequality is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC)—a benefit that subsidizes low-income workers by reducing the amount of tax owed from wages earned.
Buffett sees the EITC as a way for "a very rich society to take care of those who just don't fit in that well to the society, from an economic standpoint." He added that "you want people to work… but we can do a lot better for those people while at the same time people like myself…enjoy ridiculous incomes."
Buffet says he's not against the idea of raising the minimum wage across the country. Still, he believes it "distorts supply and demand. If I thought a twenty-dollar-an-hour minimum wage would solve things for people, I'd be all for it."
Buffet says he sees another outcome of that possible policy. "All it means is you'd have lot more people unemployed."
On the Money airs on CNBC Sundays at 7:30 pm, or check listings for airtimes in local markets.