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Who really said it

Go for a business that any idiot can run, because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it

Not Warren Buffett — actually Peter Lynch Peter Lynch Born 1944 · American investor who ran Fidelity’s Magellan Fund, 1977–1990
Disputed In copyright

The line is Peter Lynch’s, from his 1989 bestseller One Up On Wall Street, where he wrote that when somebody says any idiot could run a business, “that’s a plus as far as I’m concerned.” Quote Investigator ↗ traces the compact wording that circulates today to Lynch in USA Today on 7 March 1989 — and notes that when Buffett used the idea in 2008 he credited it vaguely to “they,” not to himself.

Last verified 30 Jul 2026 · how we verify · spot an error?

For presentations

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Disputed credit — copy with the correction

“Go for a business that any idiot can run, because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it” Peter Lynch, not Warren Buffett. Lynch wrote the idea in One Up On Wall Street (Simon and Schuster, 1989, chap. 8); the compact wording appears in USA Today, March 7, 1989, per Quote Investigator. Buffett used the adage in 2008 but credited it to "they." Via quotle.info

The slide-ready mistake: crediting this to Warren Buffett. Use the credit shown above instead.

Can you use it?

Still under copyright (rights held by Peter Lynch and John Rothchild / Simon & Schuster). A short, credited quote is generally fine for talks, teaching, and internal decks; for commercial, published, or large-scale reuse, get permission.

Image direction — grounded in this quote’s real context; paste into your image tool

In context

Evoking the world of Peter Lynch — American investor, fund manager & author. Theme: "Go for a business that any idiot can run, because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it". Atmospheric and restrained, cinematic directional light, a muted period-appropriate palette, fine grain and texture. Compose with generous empty space for the quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Minimalist

Minimalist editorial slide for the quote "Go for a business that any idiot can run, because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it". Clean background, a single muted accent color, generous negative space, subtle paper or linen texture, no literal illustration — let the words carry it. Reserve clear space for a serif quote and a small credit line. No lettering in the image itself.

Provenance

Where it actually comes from

Work
One Up On Wall Street
Author
Peter Lynch with John Rothchild
First published
1989 · Simon and Schuster, New York
Compact wording
USA Today, 7 March 1989, p. 4B (as cited by Quote Investigator)

When somebody says, ‘Any idiot could run this joint,’ that’s a plus as far as I’m concerned, because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it. Chapter 8

That is the book form. The tighter sentence people quote today — “Go for a business that any idiot can run…” — is the version Lynch gave USA Today in March 1989, which is why the two wordings differ slightly. Both are cited to Lynch by Quote Investigator ↗.

Scanned first edition
One up on Wall Street (Simon and Schuster, 1989) at the Internet Archive
Quote Investigator: Go for a Business that Any Idiot Can Run

The paper trail

  • Quote Investigator ↗ answered a reader who had met the idea in a 2008 Buffett interview: Buffett “was not asserting originality” and credited it to “they,” while Lynch had put it in print in 1989. QI cites the book as chapter 8 of the Simon and Schuster edition, text checked against the First Fireside Edition, 2000, p. 130.
  • QI also cites the compact wording to “Track Companies, Not Markets,” USA Today, 7 March 1989, p. 4B — the form that matches how the line is quoted today. See the QI write-up ↗.
  • Wikiquote’s Peter Lynch page ↗ carries the book sentence sourced to One Up On Wall Street (1989), while its Buffett page ↗ lists a Buffett-worded version under Misattributed and points to Lynch.
  • The Internet Archive catalogue record ↗ confirms the edition details: One up on Wall Street, Peter Lynch, New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989, 318 pages, ISBN 0671661035.
In copyright

One Up On Wall Street was first published in 1989 by Simon and Schuster, so the text remains under US copyright — nothing here is public domain. The USA Today item of 7 March 1989 in which the compact wording appeared is likewise a 1989 publication and in copyright to its publisher; quotation here is brief and for attribution purposes.

Rights status is our research, not legal advice — and copyright varies by country and edition. For commercial or published use, confirm with the rightsholder. See terms.

Fact-check

The Buffett problem

This is an investing adage with a documented author who is not the famous name attached to it. Buffett never claimed it — the credit was handed to him by other people.

Warren Buffett misattributed

Wikiquote’s Buffett page ↗ lists a Buffett-worded version of the adage in its Misattributed section, with the note that while Buffett is fond of repeating it, he also often credits Peter Lynch.

Warren Buffett, 2008 related, not the same line

In a 20 May 2008 Associated Press story, per Quote Investigator ↗, Buffett introduced the idea as something “they say in the stock market” — explicitly attributing it to an unnamed source rather than himself.

Warren Buffett, 2010 different wording

Speaking to the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in May 2010, Buffett said a really good business is one “your idiot nephew could run,” as reported by Yahoo Finance ↗ in March 2016 — his own phrasing, and not the sentence quoted here.

Peter Lynch 1989

Lynch put it in print in One Up On Wall Street, and the compact wording appears under his name in USA Today on 7 March 1989, both cited by Quote Investigator ↗.

Peter Lynch wrote it in 1989; Buffett borrowed the thought and said so. Quote Investigator’s findings ↗.

Context

Why the idea stuck

Lynch’s point was not a joke about executives — it was a screening rule. His 1989 book ↗ sorts companies into six types and argues that an ordinary investor’s edge lies in simple, understandable businesses spotted before Wall Street notices them. A business whose success does not depend on a genius at the top is a business whose success you can actually predict.

The saying then did what good sayings do: it detached from its author. Buffett has used the same thought more than once — in a May 2008 Associated Press story he framed it as something “they say in the stock market,” per Quote Investigator ↗ — and because he is the more famous investor, the line drifted onto his name.

Buffett said “they say.” Lynch was the “they.”

How the credit slipped from Lynch to Buffett

The question that prompted Quote Investigator’s 2010 investigation came from a reader who had encountered the idea in a 2008 Buffett interview and thought it sounded familiar. QI’s answer was that the reader had probably met Lynch’s version first — Buffett was passing along an adage, not coining one.

Buffett kept returning to the same test in his own words. A March 2016 Yahoo Finance piece ↗ quotes him, from a May 2010 interview with the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission, saying of a genuinely good business that “your idiot nephew could run it” — and that article itself points readers to Lynch for the more famous formulation.

Explore

Filed under

More provenance-checked quotes on the same theme, each with its reuse status.

Wisdom Leadership Humility

Go further

Dig deeper

Trusted places to keep pulling the thread — primary archives, fact-checks, and scholarship. We show how we used each one before you leave.

Quote Origin: Go for a Business that Any Idiot Can Runquoteinvestigator.com

The anchor investigation: traces the saying to Peter Lynch in 1989 and shows Buffett crediting it to “they.”
Peter Lynch — Wikiquoteen.wikiquote.org

Carries the book wording sourced to One Up On Wall Street (1989).
Warren Buffett — Wikiquote (Misattributed)en.wikiquote.org

Files a Buffett-worded version of the adage under Misattributed, noting he often credits Lynch.
One up on Wall Street (1989 scan)archive.org

Internet Archive record of the Simon and Schuster, New York, 1989 edition, 318 pages.
One Up on Wall Street — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Background on the 1989 book, its co-author John Rothchild and its million-plus sales.
Peter Lynch — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org

Life dates and the Magellan Fund record, 1977–1990.

The real source

Who Peter Lynch was

Peter Lynch

Born 1944 · American investor, fund manager & author

Peter Lynch managed Fidelity’s Magellan Fund from 1977 to 1990, posting a 29.2% average annual return and growing the fund from about $18 million to $14 billion — the record that made him one of the most-quoted investors alive. In 1989 he distilled his method into One Up On Wall Street, written with John Rothchild, which argued that ordinary investors can beat professionals by noticing good companies before Wall Street does. The book sold more than a million copies, which is exactly why its best one-liners escaped into circulation and started getting pinned on more famous names.

For writers & researchers

Cite this

Primary source

Peter Lynch with John Rothchild, One Up On Wall Street (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1989), chap. 8 — text checked by Quote Investigator against the First Fireside Edition, 2000, p. 130. The compact wording appears in “Track Companies, Not Markets,” USA Today, March 7, 1989, p. 4B, as cited by Quote Investigator.

This verification page

Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘Go for a business that any idiot can run, because sooner or later any idiot probably is going to be running it’?” Last verified 30 Jul 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/go-for-a-business-that-any-idiot-can-run-because-sooner-or/

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