My Trip to Omaha

Celebrating the Super Bowl with the Oracle of Omaha

I've said before that one of the best things about attending a top level business school is the exposure you have to top level business leaders.  Anderson brings in a lot of big name guest speakers and gives students the opportunity to interact with them in ways that wouldn't be possible outside of the program.  Through my involvement in the Student Investment Fund, I've attended a few dozen company offices and alumni presentations.  These were interesting to us since we're trying to get into the industry, but most of the people we met with aren't names that I'd go out and brag (blog) about.  Last weekend, however, I did finally meet one especially notable investment professional worth talking about.  In case the big picture at the top didn't give it away, his name is Warren Buffett.  (For those of you who read the news even less than I do and are not in the know, he's widely regarded as the most famous and successful investor of all time, with a net worth of around $40 billion, making him the 3rd richest person in the world).

The story begins back in the Spring of 2011 when we were warned that the previous class of SIF students waited too long to look into joining one of Warren Buffett's MBA student events and missed the opportunity altogether.  We didn't want to be equally lame, so we had one of our classmates (an Omaha native) be in charge of making sure it happened. The first curveball was that Buffet requires at least seven female students to be part of each school's 20 person group to attend his event.  Although Anderson always talks about diversity, there happens to be zero female members of the 11-dude Student Investment Fund.  It's not that last year's recruiting staff hates women, its just that not a single girl applied. Second problem was that if SIF went on the trip, ASAM (Anderson Student Asset Management - another student-run investment group, more quant based, and mostly part-time students) wanted in on the fun too. They have 16 members (2 females).  Arguments ensued over the next 6-9 months over how to split up the trip between the two funds, where the females should come from, and if the two ASAM girls should count as ASAM members or as females or both.  In the end, there were two lotteries run: 1) all male members of SIF and ASAM; and 2) all females at Anderson.  I actually didn't get picked to go on the trip in the first lottery, but someone who did couldn't make it, and I got their spot.  Luck must have been on my side.

Well, maybe not.

Last Thursday (February 16th) I packed my bags for Omaha, as excited as could be.  Friday's activities would involve a full day of Berkshire Hathaway fun: tours of two of their partner companies, a 2-hour Q&A with Buffett, and lunch and picture opportunities with the man himself.  Unfortunately, my plans almost got derailed from the start.  My flight out of LA was delayed about an hour, which caused me to miss my connecting flight.  The next flight to Omaha left the following morning and wouldn't land until a little before noon.  I briefly considered just booking a return flight to LA, but after re-checking the itinerary I decided to head to Nebraska anyway.  Although I'd miss one of the tours and the Q&A session, at least I would be able to make the lunch.  I only spent a few hours in the Salt Lake City hotel that Delta put me up in before my alarm went off at 4 am.  My 5:55 am flight to Minneapolis, my layover, and my flight to Omaha were all relatively uneventful.

Lunch at Piccolo Pete's

I was the first person to arrive at the restaurant, Piccolo Pete's, since the Q&A ran long.  My plan was to wait until my classmates arrived and then sit with them.  In a stroke of good luck, right after Warren walked through the door, my UCLA classmates were right behind him.  Since the restaurant was open seating, that meant we were able to sit down at the featured table.  (There were 8 schools of around 20 students each, so only around 20 students sat at Buffett's table).  Unfortunately because of the large number of people in the room, and my seat in the corner of the table, I couldn't really follow the conversations too much.  But I did hear enough to pick up on his charming and humble personality.  Without knowing who he was, there is no way anyone could think this was was one of the most successful and richest people on the planet sitting at my table.  He just seemed like a classic cheerful grandpa, telling stories about his youth, making cheesy jokes, and playfully chumming it up with the students.  Extremely down to earth and genuine guy.

After lunch we got a chance to take pictures with Buffett.  Since there were 160 students or so in attendance they wanted to keep the process moving quickly, but Buffett was open to posing for funny or alternative poses in addition to the standard serious pose, if requested.  I had my NY Giants winter hat in my jacket pocket, so I quickly pulled it out and asked him to hold it as part of my Super Bowl celebration.  Some other students flexed muscles with Buffet, had him put them in a headlock, or had him get down on one knee and propose (to a female student).  Pretty cool experience all around, so even with two more flights and another layover in Minneapolis that evening and despite all the other logistical shenanigans (5 total flights and a 4 am wake up in under 24 hours), it was still worth the trip.