{"id":4792,"date":"2013-06-18T11:34:19","date_gmt":"2013-06-18T11:34:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vanderbilt.edu\/magazines\/vanderbilt-business\/?p=4792"},"modified":"2015-07-14T19:49:16","modified_gmt":"2015-07-14T19:49:16","slug":"meeting-warren-buffett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.owen.vanderbilt.edu\/vanderbiltbusiness\/meeting-warren-buffett\/","title":{"rendered":"Meeting Warren Buffett"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Vanderbilt<\/a>
Vanderbilt students gained wisdom straight from the Oracle himself. Here the group gathers with Warren Buffett after lunch.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few times a year, the second richest man in the U.S. invites students from business schools to meet and ask him anything. On February 22, Owen students traveled to Omaha, Neb., for a day with Warren Buffett. We enlisted second year MBA student Stephanie Dozier to give us a first-person account of the rare opportunity to meet the chair and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. She and her fellow students also filled social media and blogs with information about their visit.<\/p>\n

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We almost didn\u2019t make it. The week of our planned trip to meet with Warren Buffett, a major snowstorm went through the country. Omaha was expected to receive 12 inches of snow the evening we were to arrive, so everyone who could got excused from class on Thursday (the final day of Mod 3) and flew out early in the morning instead of late afternoon.<\/p>\n

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The group chosen for the trip consisted of 10 MBA students (five first years and five second years), three MAcc students, three MSF students, four EMBA students and our adviser, Phil Woodlief, adjunct professor of management. We each applied to be chosen, but the selection was random. I had applied because I knew it would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet a brilliant man whom I tremendously respected. We had prepared for months in advance, reading The Essays of Warren Buffett<\/em> (a compilation of letters to shareholders), discussing what we\u2019d learned about him as an investor and a person, and carefully crafting and choosing questions for the Q&A session. Still, throughout all that, it seemed more like an exercise than preparation for something we would actually do.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>But there we were, on a Friday morning in snowy Omaha, rising early to visit the Nebraska Furniture Mart, a Berkshire Hathaway company. We toured the largest furniture store in the U.S. and listened to stories of how it was founded by Mrs. B, a Russian immigrant who could neither read nor write. And our tour guide? Mrs. B\u2019s great-grandson, the head of real estate development for the company. This was an example of what we\u2019d already learned\u2014Buffett chooses great companies with great management, and continues to give that management free rein to succeed.<\/p>\n

After our tour, we headed to Berkshire Hathaway Headquarters for the meeting with Buffett. We were there with six other business schools, including University of Pennsylvania\u2013Wharton and University of Wisconsin\u2013Madison. NYU\u2019s Stern School of Business was supposed to join us, but the weather had led to their cancellation.<\/p>\n

Buffett opened the room for questions, going alphabetically by school. The questions posed varied, with topics ranging from financial- and investment-related queries to advice for facing challenges, choosing good companies and prioritization, as well as his thoughts on social responsibility and emerging markets. One of our Owen group, MSF candidate Matthew Trautman, was excited to ask Buffett about his private jet\u2014which Buffett has openly called both “indefensible and indispensable.” On that topic, Buffett said that “it\u2019s about the only thing that costs money that makes my life better.”<\/p>\n

It was great to hear his financial perspective from him, but the real value from the experience came in listening to his philosophy on life and career. Some of the key takeaways from the two-hour session with Buffett include:<\/p>\n