Everyone Has a Buffett Story

Saturday February 16th: In and around Omaha's Old Market District

I flew in to Omaha earlier than the rest of our group in order to conduct a little business while I happened to be out here. I’m a winemaker based in Napa and I make a small amount of Pinot Noir for a wonderful chain of wine shops called WineStyles (www.winestyles.net) two stores of which are located here in Omaha. While I poured samples of my Nottingham Pinot Noir for WineStyles customers and chatted about our vineyards and how I made the wine, the tasters always asked how I happened to be in Omaha of all places; I guess they don’t get too many winemakers in these parts. When I mentioned that I was with a group of UC Davis MBA students that were invited to meet with Warren Buffett on Monday, everyone came forth with their own story about Mr. Buffett.

“One time, when I was having lunch out of the office just at a little cheap place you know, I walk in and who do I see getting up to leave? It was so funny, here’s the second wealthiest man in the world and he’s eating lunch at this little place around the corner.”

“It’s not like you would really recognize him, I mean he just looks like a regular guy, he doesn’t dress all fancy or have an entourage- he blends in around here. And I think if people do recognize him they give him his privacy- that’s just common courtesy.”

-The above was from a couple who were WineStyles Wine Club members and were regulars at the store.

“I’ve never met him myself, but I did dance with his wife once. Except I didn’t know it was her. I was just like, hey , who was that blonde that can cut a rug so good? And my buddy says, hey man, that was Warren Buffett’s wife!”

“Have you ever been to Borsheim’s? (the famous jewelry store owned by Berkshire Hathaway) One time I was trying to finish this project and I ran out of ¼ carat diamonds at my store so I ran over to Borsheim’s, Figured I would just buy one over there and get the ring done. So I go over there and here’s this guy, I think he was Buffett’s son or son-in-law, who literally gives me this handful of diamonds and sits me down at a jeweler’s table and tells me to pick out the ones I want. Then he walks away. Talk about trust!”
-These from a well-traveled gentleman who owns a jewelry store (www.goldsmithsilversmith.com) in Omaha’s historic old market district (www.oldmarket.com). He also regaled me of tales of living in San Francisco in the 1960’s.

And other random bits of conversation:

“Do you want me to draw a map to his house for you? He lives just around the corner.” (He does, I somewhat sheepishly drove quickly by, but won’t post the address or directions here. It's two story, shingled and small compared to California's millionaire mansions.)

“Are you a shareholder? You know you can buy Baby Shares at about $4600 now, cause I think the full shares are somewhere around $140,000.”
(I’m not and I won’t- though many people here regret not having invested earlier)

“Yeah, he hangs out at Gorat’s- he’s given that restaurant a pretty good reputation.”

“I think people really respect him because he’s a regular guy and if you want to get into that business stuff, he seems to be real practical and down to earth about that too. I mean, everyone can understand why stock in Coke is a good idea. He doesn’t just throw his money at anything weird or fancy or something that’s trendy.”

I’m grateful for the chance to spend some extra time in Omaha, getting to know about Buffett from many different angles, not just through the questions we will ask him tomorrow, but through actually spending time in Omaha, the city where he grew up and where he still lives. I think what makes Buffett a hero to so many is not the uber-celebrity status of being the second richest man in the world but because he is such a “regular guy” as so many of the WineStyles customers put it. His personal behavior as well as his business choices and philosophies are something that appeal to and can be grasped by everyone. His measured, moderate and long term approach to investing, and his modest and respectful way of living, have filtered down into the collective psyche of the city of Omaha.

After having driven around town, out to the western suburbs where the Old Market area expanded away from the banks of the Missouri, I understand why they call this part of the country the “Midwest.” Though no longer the Wild West that it used to be (Omaha is quite civilized now thank you very much) the flavor and the sensibility are still there. You can see it in the bull riding bars, the huge cuts of steak, the cobblestone streets and false fronts of the Old Market and in the wail of the train leaving the stockyards. And you can see it in the contrarian though rational, independent but completely deliberate entrepreneurial force that is Mr. Buffett.


The Buffettism of the Day:
“Should you find yourself in a chronically leaking boat, energy devoted to changing vessels is likely to be more productive than energy devoted to patching leaks.”
-The Essays of Warren Buffett


Suggested Reading:
Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist by Roger Lowenstein (1995)
-A detailed biographical “good read” that gives a lot of personal background on Buffett’s earlier as well as later years.

The Intelligent Investor: A Book of Practical Counsel by Benjamin Graham (1985)
-This is an investing classic and was written by Buffett’s own “guru”, if he could be said to have had one. Graham had a large hand in Buffett’s education at the Columbia Graduate Business School and Buffett applied (and still applies) many of Graham’s key ideas and philosophies.

Suggested Viewing:
“Vintage Buffett: Warren Buffett Shares His Wealth,” a dvd produced by the University of Tennessee College of Business Administration (2003).
-This dvd is a recording of an on-campus visit that Warren Buffett made to the University of Tennessee, during which the students were able to ask him questions and soak in the wit and wisdom of his answers. Though we haven’t yet met him and haven’t had the chance to ask him our questions yet, I anticipate our interaction with him will be similar to that on this dvd.