FA & General Banter, page-18021

A little-known investor has rivaled Warren Buffett's track record by pulling from the Berkshire Hathaway CEO's playbook: Kidd's success largely reflects his willingness to hold stocks for decades.

Wilmot Kidd took over Central Securities in 1974, when the closed-end fund had $34 million in assets under management, Forbes reported. Kidd, now 80 years old and set to retire later this month, has grown that figure to $1.3 billion as of September 30 this year — a 38-fold increase in under 48 years.

Like Buffett, Kidd has bet big on his favorite stocks. Central Securities only had 33 holdings at the end of September, and its 10 biggest positions were worth a combined $755 million — 61% of its portfolio's total value.

Kidd hasn't just embraced Buffett's investing strategy; he's also echoed the Berkshire chief's humility about the amount of luck required for investing success."Skill is just recognizing when you've gotten lucky," Kidd told the Journal. The best investors also double down when they strike gold, and excel at "holding on to what you have and not chickening out," he added.

G