Today’s article is inspired by a discussion between Mohnish Pabrai and students at the London School of Economics.

Mohnish Pabrai is a widely followed investor in the Indian community and famous for his book, “The Dhandho Investor.” He is a disciple of Warren Buffett’s value investing principles.

We became interested in the discussion because Pabrai brought up the topic of trying to identify businesses that will still be around 200 years from now.

So, are you aware of any such businesses? 

Well, if Pabrai is to be believed, one of the companies that Berkshire Hathaway holds in its portfolio i.e. Burlington Northern Railway, will still be around 200 years from now.

That’s right. Mohnish Pabrai feels that a railroad company like Burlington Northern Railway has a great shot of being around even 200 years from now.

Pabrai was fully aware that the underlying technology of transporting goods may change to a better one. However, since the company owned the rights of way and also owned the land, it will continue to get business as long as we humans have the need to transport large amounts of goods by land.

Well, it is at this point that father of value investing Charlie Munger chimed in and opined that he has a similar viewpoint about Berkshire’s utility business as well.

Berkshire has a large utility business with lots of power companies. And Munger is perhaps right in his assessment as we humans will always be in need of energy to power our economies.

Therefore, while the source of energy may change from wood to coal to oil & gas and finally to solar & wind, there will always be a need for utility companies to manage the energy generation plants and to transmit the power from its source to the end user.

Lastly, will Buffett’s favourite stock Coke still be around 200 years from now? Well, Pabrai believes that there’s a good chance that Coke may survive but there’s also a decent chance that it may not.

Of course, the purpose of this exercise is not to identify which stocks may survive 200 years and which may not. Nobody is going to live that long.

The purpose for Pabrai was to point out this characteristic of the capitalist system which is quite brutal for businesses. Competition is fierce and if one is not constantly reinventing oneself or constantly trying to bring in more efficiency and productivity, one can quickly go out of business.

Therefore, the challenge for us investors as per Pabrai is to look for businesses that will be as dominant 5, 10 and 20 years from now as they are today.

And this is what makes investing fun and challenging because trying to figure out these things is not straightforward at all.

Finding companies with sustainable moats or competitive advantages is one way of dealing with this. However, there are two issues that one may have to confront here.

The first is the ability to distinguish between a competitive advantage that’s very short-lived in nature and the one that is long-term sustainable. Because we recently saw how a government regulatory order killed IEX’s monopoly in the power exchange market.

Therefore, one’s chance of zeroing in on such a business is not very encouraging to be honest.

The second issue is that of valuations. First, you don’t know how much to pay for such businesses. Second, such businesses are seldom available cheap as everyone knows that it is a good business and everyone wants to own them.

Therefore, try as you might, your strategy of finding companies with sustainable moats and investing in them at attractive valuations, may not lead to superior long term returns after all.

So, What’s the Takeaway?

The idea of finding businesses that can last 200 years is intellectually stimulating. It makes you think deeply about capitalism, competition, and what really keeps a company going decade after decade.

But as investors, our job isn’t to predict the next 200 years. Or even the next 50. The world moves too fast, and most businesses simply aren’t built to last that long.

Even companies with strong moats and industry dominance can get disrupted—by regulation, by technology, or by changing consumer preferences. Coke might survive. Or it might fade away. IEX looked unstoppable—until one order changed everything.

So where does that leave us?

Some investors love the challenge of hunting for moats, testing their durability, and buying great businesses at fair prices. That’s one valid approach.

But another equally valid path is more agnostic. You don’t try to find businesses that will survive forever. Instead, you look for mispriced bets. You spot temporary neglect or misunderstood value, buy at a discount, and sell when the market recognises what you saw.

This isn’t about predicting longevity. It’s about recognising opportunity.

Both styles require skill, discipline, and a sound framework. And in the end, the best investing strategy is the one that matches your temperament—and gives you the highest odds of long-term success.

The real question isn’t “Will This Stock Last 200 Years?”

It’s: “Is there a smart reason to own it today… and a clear exit when the time is right?

Happy Investing.

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