UIC MBA Chicago Entrepreneur Blog Past, present, and future plans in the life of an entrepreneur and former Chicago UIC MBA student.

The woodstock of capitalism.. how I loved thee the first time I went.  Second time around, not so much fun.  Every year, the attendance record is broken.  I believe this year, the crowd was over 35,000 people.  Last year when I went, it was a new experience.  I met best selling author Tim Ferriss, had Bill Gates walk right by me, and got a ton of free candy (they gave out all the candy you could grab because of their share in Mars and Wrigley last year).  This year, the 7.5 hour drive to and from Omaha, Nebraska just didn’t seem as fun anymore.  Here are some of the notes I remembered from the trip:

• “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bushes” -Buffet loved using this quote.  Don’t be greedy.  The money in your hand can be used to reinvest instead of trying to think of ways to make double that.
• When asked about about MBA education, Buffet responded that the two essentials courses to take would be how to value a company and a class on efficient markets.
• When Wells Fargo was down around $9/share, Buffet told a visiting MBA class that if he were to invest all his net worth into one stock, that would be it.  Today, it’s around $23.
• Buffet had very high praise for the Jamie Dimon’s letter to shareholders.  I have included a link for the lazy:  http://investor.shareholder.com/jpmorganchase/annual.cfm
• When asked whether Warren Buffet himself was Berkshire’s competitive advantage, he responded that the culture and management he has instilled is the advantage.  No company will be able to duplicate.

2009 Berkshire Meeting

Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger

2009 Berkshire Convention

Posted under Berkshire Hathaway

Published by Jay on June 5, 2008 10:50 am

One of my goals last year was to attend the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting. I wasn’t able to attend last year because of work. This year, I decided that it was finally time for me to go. It turned out to be a great trip and interesting experience!

I started to look for hotels around that area four months prior to the meeting. Every single hotel within 10 mile radius had already been booked. I then decided to search for hotels/motels in the neighboring city of Council Bluffs. I ended up finding an open room at Motel 6 and booked it for $60 a night. It worked out well since Council Bluffs is only a ten minute ride to all the Berkshire events.

Since I’ve never been there, I decided to search the events of the meeting online. I wasn’t able to find much information which is why I’m posting this entry. I’m going to break it down day by day for all the newbies:

Day 1 (Friday): Drove from Chicago to Omaha, NE which took about 8 hours. Checked into my motel and headed straight to the cocktail reception. The cocktail reception was located at the Regency Mall which was closed to shareholders only. There was an open buffet line (took about 30 minutes to get food) and OPEN BAR! The only downside was that it was JAMMED PACK. In addition, there are discounts at Borsheim Jewelry store if you’re interested.

Borsheim Cocktail Party Berkshire Hathaway

Day 2 (Saturday): (By the way, cameras are prohibited but I NINJA-ED these pictures)

Berkshire Meeting

Over 35,000 attended

Saturday is the actual meeting located at the convention center. We got there around 7am and I think the doors opened at 8am. There was already a long line but if you value sleeping more, you can still get decent seats before 9 am. The meeting starts a 9am with about 6 hours of Q and A with Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. It was definitely an experience to able to hear the greatest investor of our time speak about stocks, the economy, and even his beliefs. Charlie Munger is absolutely hilarious. Around 11 am, someone asked Warren a question about how he would invest money if he didn’t have time to actively managing it. Warren responded by telling him to invest in index funds. Turned out the person that asked

the question was……. Tim Ferriss!

I ran up to the top section and managed to introduce myself to him. This guy is one my heroes and I certainly didn’t expect to meet him there. Turned out to be a really cool guy as he chatted with us for a couple hours. If you guys ever see him around, I recommend you go up to him and introduce yourself. He’s a fun guy to get to know with tons of stories.

Tim Ferriss

After the meeting, there’s more fun at exhibition hall where you can see all the discounts given for Berkshire companies including Geico, See’s, and tons of free candy from Mars/Wrigley!! By the way, I just happen to see this guy walk right next to me in the exhibition hall:

Bill Gates walking right next to me

The day ends with a BBQ in the tent in front of Nebraska Furniture Mart where there are discount a plenty for all types of items. Day 3 is also another shopping event at Borsheims where there are special events. I didn’t attend those. Overall, I was able to meet Tim Ferris, see Warren, Munger, and Bill Gates, meet some very interesting people, and eat some good food. Was it worth it? What do you think? =) I hope this helps some of you guys/gals thinking about attending next year.

Posted under Berkshire Hathaway