[0:03]
OtherIt's 5.30 a.m. in Omaha, Nebraska. We've driven eight hours to get here. Super excited. And something special is about to happen. You can feel the energy through the crowd. You only have to stand here. Thousands of people, the faithful, from around the world. I'm coming from Shanghai. We're from Belton. Ontario, Canada. Every year, they come here to see the star attraction, Warren Buffett.
WarrenHi. An unassuming 87-year-old. and one of the wealthiest men on the planet. Hi, everybody.
OtherHe's got plenty to say, and not just about investing. Try to find your passion. May not find it the first time, but don't sleepwalk through life. Find something that you really enjoy doing if you can do it. His focus on ethics, humility and other life lessons, has had a profound influence on so many. An NFL superstar. Planning for life after football. He's a great human being. It's like speaking to your father, just kind of learning different ins and outs. the business world. A military veteran who did two tours in Afghanistan. I had a really simple idea, and the idea was, who's the best person in the world at investing, and how do they do it? And of course, it led me to Warren Buffett. And a generation of kids looking to their future. I'm actually in the process of getting the stock next week. Which one? The Berkshire Hathaway. As chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, he's built a corporate empire worth half a trillion dollars. How are you? It's really good to see you. I'm Becky Quick. I've been covering Buffett the investor and Buffett the teacher for more than a decade. It's unbiased advice from somebody who's been around a long time. It does work. And they listen. Tonight, a different side of Warren Buffett told by the people whose lives he's changed. If you want to know how Warren Buffett got his start, just watch. Basically what you'd do, you'd go like this and with that, and then you'd slap. and then you just slide it right now. A man now worth some $80 billion started out by delivering newspapers. When you let it go, just... Nearly 75 years ago. So you fold it. That's it. You got it. You want to get way down. I'm a terrible paper girl. Today, the world's richest paper boy is still at it. This contest has become one of the highlights of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. meeting. Okay, Bill. Even Bill Gates gets in the game. Sorry about that. The yearly gathering showcases the 60 plus companies that Berkshire owns and dozens more it
[2:56]
Otherinvests in. It's a free market festival. But for all the antics, the main attraction is this. Two guys on a stage for five hours, Buffett and his longtime partner, Charlie Munger. These sessions have been captured on. captured on grainy recordings and were locked away for years. Now Buffett has given the entire archive to CNBC, a gold mine of wisdom and wit from the Oracle himself.
OtherGood morning.
WarrenHi, I'm Warren.
CharlieThis is Charlie.
OtherYou can hear, I can see we work together. A performance like no other.
WarrenIt's a good habit to trumpet your failures and be quiet about your successes. We have more to trumpet than we have to be quiet about.
OtherAnd the longest running show in. running show in Omaha.
QuestionerWhat do I have to do to become your successor?
WarrenProbably shoot me.
OtherThe questions that you seem to get at the shareholder meetings over the last decade or two are different than questions that you hear at just about any other publicly traded shareholder meeting. Why do you think that is?
WarrenWe've got a partnership feeling toward the people who have given us their money, and we don't scream them and they can ask whatever is on their mind.
QuestionerHello, my name is Aaron Beyer, and I kept thinking at the opportunity to ask you a question today that I should make it one that would change my life. Well, that question is, do you know any eligible bachelor's living in the New York City area?
WarrenYou certainly have the approach toward life that Charlie and I would.
OtherWhen did you first start getting some of these life lesson questions?
WarrenYeah, the life ones, they probably started certainly in the 1980s. We never said anything was off limits. We wouldn't tell them what we were buying or selling, but they could talk about anything else. And it makes it more interesting. It's far more interesting. and if you're just reading a bunch of numbers from the 10K or something of the sort. You don't have to be right on everything. You don't have to be right on 20% of the companies in the world, or 10% of the companies in the world or 5%. You only have to get one good idea every year or two.
OtherYou're obviously an incredible investor, but when I've asked you in the past what you'd like to be remembered for, you've said you want to be remembered as a teacher. Yeah. Why is that?
WarrenWell, I've gotten so much from other teachers. And he's passed it along. Just ask any of the thousands. of people lined up outside.
OtherI'm Bobby. I'm Molly.
[5:23]
OtherLike Bobby and Molly Loughlin from Los Angeles. What brought you two to the annual meeting last year?
OtherWell, we were getting married in August, and I figured that it's such a big part of my life. I wanted her to experience it. I think it was an actual requirement of our marriage that I attend the annual meeting with Bobby. So it was high stakes. Bobby runs a small investment firm from his home office. His inspiration is always. is always within reach. It works. I mean, what he's doing works. It's a lifestyle and a philosophy, if you will, that has yielded incredible results. For Bobby, those results aren't just about making huge sums of money. He got something else from Buffett, something that caught us by surprise.
OtherBobby, you told us you weren't sure that you'd still be alive if it weren't for Warren Buffett. That's a pretty incredible statement.
OtherYeah, it's true. Bobby grew up in Maryland. Very normal life, great brother. loving parents, wonderful schools. A star gymnast. Maryland State Champion. I traveled all around the United States and competed and did the whole thing. I had a really decent trajectory. When he was just 18, that trajectory turned into a free fall. I got my wisdom teeth out. It was a very minor surgery. They prescribed painkillers, and I was taken by them. It happened so fast, and I had no real idea that it was happening when it was happening. And it took beyond the way. this course of just utter decimation of everything. Like so many others, he became addicted. And you were taking these as prescribed by a doctor. Correct. Bobby ended up in rehab. One of the things he was told there was to follow in the footsteps of people he admired. It is just luck that I was able to come across Buffett at that time. There aren't many people like him. And really what he's doing is he's being totally honest. It's not complicated, nothing to be more something. than try and figure out what you find admirable and then decide, you know, that the person you really would like to admire is yourself. And the only way you're going to do it is take on the qualities of other people you admire. And that's just what Bobby did. Using the kind of integrity he saw in Buffett as his guide to recovery. It's just a matter of choice. Anyone can be honest. It's hard, but anyone can be honest. Anyone can be ethical. It's hard, but it's available. And those are the kinds of things that I love.
[7:48]
Otherthat I love. All right, let's wait. Let me put some salt in it. He's been clean now for five years. Good. When you meet someone and you are envisioning your life with them and marrying them, what they value is really important. I think something that Warren Buffett has really taught Bobby is that you should be totally in love with your life and design a life that you get up and you want to live every day. And I think that's beautiful. I asked Bobby if he was worried about sharing the details of his attention. of his addiction. His reasons for talking about it all come back to Buffett. Warren Buffett's a philanthropist, right? So he's piled up all these assets over the years, and now he's giving them away. And I like the idea of being able to help other people too. I obviously don't have the kind of assets he has, but I think, well, what is it that I do have that I can share with other people and the experience that I have of being where I was and being where I am now, I think can help a lot of people. Still ahead, a superstar looks to the future. looks to the future with Buffett by his side. We feel like we're kind of untouchable and nothing's going to go wrong, especially when we're in the limelight and everything's going well. But you got to understand that football is only for so long. But first, from war to Wall Street, a combat veteran gets his bearings with a little help. I studied these people like Warren and Charlie, and you start asking yourself, why are these guys different than everyone else? It was nearly a decade ago on the battlefields of Afghanistan. Hey, Roger, we have enemy pig down here in the south. A young army officer named Preston Pish was conducting combat missions, close to a hundred of them. I was out flying missions probably five days a week, managing an entire company of attack helicopter pilots. But even then, something back home had captured his attention. And the drama continues on Wall Street. Three of the five biggest investment banks are gone. The federal government taking more steps to try and ease this credit crisis. The financial crisis was big news in 2008, but you are in Afghanistan and you are fighting a war. How does this even make it to your radar? When you're in Afghanistan, you've got your mission, you're doing all those things, and you're super focused on all those things, and it consumes 14-hour days, but at the same time, you need an outlet.
[10:18]
OtherSo you chose the financial crisis? Yes. The economy was collapsing, and like so many others, Pish was in a losing battle with his investments, looking for something or someone to help. to help. I had a really simple idea, and the idea was, who's the best person in the world at investing? How do they do it? And of course, it led me to Warren Buffett. And so I just started reading everything I could get my hands on with Warren Buffett. And then, Pish came across one of Buffett's most important lessons. Buy stocks for the long haul not to make a quick buck.
WarrenI really think it is not a bad mindset that whenever you buy a stock to say, would I be happy buying this stock if the market closed for five years, because then you're buying a business if you're say yes to that.
OtherIt was like this haze kind of came up and you're like, hold on, this is really starting to make some sense and you're looking at it as buying one share of stock is owning a business. It made so much sense. Pish felt compelled to share it. All right. Great. Sorry for all the delays and the technical issues, I'm a total amateur at this. I didn't even know what a podcast was. I never listened to one. He and his friend, Stig Broderson, began pumping out a weekly show called The Investors podcast. Stick, talk to the audience about the deal that Buffett did back whenever he bought some preferred stock in Bank of America. More than 180 episodes later, Pish himself is considered an authority on Buffett. Please join me in welcoming Preston Pish. This is about value investing. It's all about owning a business when you buy one share. It comes down the personalities. Now Pish has a following, all his own. Preston is my mentor now. It's really important to have great role model, great teachers you can learn from. Once a year, Pish and his groupies make the trek to Omaha. Oh, the Preston Pish crowd! How the hell are you? To hear from Buffett firsthand.
WarrenI like looking at the details of a business, whether we buy it or not. I mean, I just find it interesting to study the species.
OtherWhen you're at the meeting, they're unfiltered, they're talking for hours, and you're hearing their thought process. And for me, that's the important part is to hear how they go about thinking through their decision-making, because that's how you can learn from that and try to replicate it. You can have a name tag. Yeah, I need a name tag.
[12:44]
OtherWhen Pish began, he focused on Buffett's investment advice, but now finds himself drawn more to Buffett's principles. We're looking at him as a moral compass who want to take the exact same approach. I've got to add value to these people's lives by making sure that I'm saying things that are appropriate and that are thoughtful. It sounds like you feel a real responsibility. Absolutely, yes. Absolutely, yes, big time.
OtherBuffett, too, feels a responsibility. He knows Pish and countless others are listening.
WarrenWell, we've been around a long time, so we're knowing, and we do have a decent record over time, and I think people can tell when you're saying what you believe versus talking points.
OtherA hundred years from now, Warren and Charlie, what would each of you like to be remembered for?
WarrenOld age. If you really ask me, I'd probably like teacher. I enjoy teaching a lot.
OtherHe's the one guy I have been following since I was in my 20s and watching exactly what he does. Buffett's students are everywhere. And for years, Gail Perry Mason has counted herself among them. Today, she's a senior director at a major investment firm. But in her early 20s, she was a single mom, working as a secretary in Detroit, trying to break into the financial world. They said, maybe. We'll let you be a broker for like, 90 days. It doesn't make it, you go back to be a licensed secretary. But that's crazy. You were there, you were willing to learn, and they weren't going to give you the opportunity. They didn't have a lot of people in the business at that time that were single mothers and was African American. And there was still not a lot of African Americans in the financial industry. It wasn't long before Gail was thriving, but she could also see that her city was under economic siege. What do you spend most of your money on? Somebody tell me. Really what I wanted to do was teach people in Detroit. teach women, teach African Americans, teach minorities about investing. And then she got an idea after reading about a summer program for children of the 1%. Rich kids camp is a camp that they charge $10,000 for the child to come. What? Yes, $10,000. So I knew I couldn't afford it for my own children, and I knew a lot of the kids in Detroit could not afford a camp like this. So I decided, I'm going to do it myself. But I would charge $75 and we would put $50 in a bank account. I want everybody in here to have.
[15:08]
Othermore opportunities. And that's a Warren Buffet want you to have too. She signed up 35 kids ages 8 to 18 for a camp that she called Money Matters for youth. Two decades later, the program is bursting with 200 campers and a wait list. Local sponsors help offset the cost. Did you guys even know what a stock was when you showed up at this camp? No, not really. No. Did they even care? How many kids want to spend a week of their summer studying finance. The first day I can remember, like coming in, I didn't know there was a uniform, so I was like, oh, it's a uniform to this camp. But after I got to learn and take away from things, I was like, I love it. That was eight years ago. Claire Jones has been coming back almost every summer since. This camp really does teach you things like etiquette and the financial market, which I know I don't get taught in schools, so I think it's a great experience. What have you learned so far that you will teach you? take with you. Like, budget. So they start with budgeting. They start with every day. How to manage your allowance? You know, how to work and get an allowance. And take that money and save the money. And every year they study one of Gail's heroes. Who is this guy here? Warren Buffett. All right. I read about him that he graduated from college at 20 years old with over $10,000. He started investing at a very young age, and now he's one the richest persons in the world. She encourages her campers. encourages her campers to act like Buffett from his daily routine. He reads six hours of day. And charitable giving. He gave 99% of his money away. To starting his first job as a kid. C.J. Watson is just 10 years old. What's your business? It's called C.J. janitorial service. I clean this three-story building. It's at my mom's job. How much money do you make for doing that? $20 and hours. That's fantastic. Yes. Robert Herndon has a volunteer gig at a local radio station. Hi, Angie. But that doesn't mean he's not making a few bucks. I save a lot of my money. Anybody ever need to borrow money from you? My mom doesn't have the money on her, so she just asked me instead of going all the way to the bank and back. But sometimes I'll have a fee of interest. You charge your mom interest? Yeah. How much interest you charge her? Sometimes 20. Sounds 20. like a mogul in the making. All it takes is a little teaching and time. Always look at the framing of the sun.
[17:49]
OtherKids like Kodak film. They need exposure and development. I use money as a tool. They take this tool and they learn how to give back. They learn life skills. They're exposed to different things. This is a camp of opportunity. Everybody in here could be a billionaire. Every single person. And perhaps her favorite lesson. The main thing I think. learn and study from Warren Buffett. It's not about the stocks he paid. The more money he makes, the more money he gives. Later, Gail surprises her campers with the field trip of a lifetime. But first, our own trip. Back to the beginning. I was obnoxious. And teacher did not want me in their class. At Epley Airfield in Omaha, it's one of the busiest days of the year. But it's not Thanksgiving or anywhere near Christmas. No, the busiest time at this airport comes in early May when thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders come to town. All right, so it's Monday after Berkshire weekend. How are you feeling right now? Shot! Shot! I'm just completely wasted. Jim Ross isn't complaining. He manages the Hudson bookseller's store at Epley, and he couldn't be happier. What happens at the bookstore? It's our biggest time of the year. The day after the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting every year. It's a huge day. So this is your Thanksgiving, your Christmas, your Super Bowl. All rolled into one. Yes, yes. Yes, it is. Hi, nice to meet you. The authors camped outside Ross's store are happy too. Their books are all about Warren Buffett, and they can sell hundreds over the meeting weekend. If there were more people in the United States that were like Warren Buffett, we'd be a better country. Oh, sure. Writing about Buffett is an industry unto itself. Ground rules. Warren Buffett, Well, Buffett, Buffett, the making of an American. There are more than 75 books in print with more than 2 million copies sold worldwide about him. Oh, here's Warren Buffet Way. This is the newest edition. His business partner, Charlie Munger. Seeking wisdom from Darwin to Munger. Or Berkshire Hathaway's strategy of value investing. Investing between the lines, it's about candor in operating a publicly traded company. At Hudson booksellers, Ross does about 20% of his yearly business in just three days. in just three days over the shareholders weekend. Over here, we have kind of a whole array of books over all the years, Buffett and Munger related titles.
[20:32]
QuestionerAnd it's not just books about them. Devoted fans also snap up whatever Buffett and Munger are reading. Shoe Dog is a book that Warren recommended to everybody this year. That started 20 years ago at the 1998 meeting with an audience question. And I'm wondering if you could help me with my summer reading list. Charlie?
CharlieYeah. I have recently read a new book twice, which I very seldom do. And that book is Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond. He's got a mind that is always asking why. Why, why, why, why?
OtherThat Sunday, as the crowds were leaving Omaha, Ross was swamped with hundreds of requests. You know, we'd have 300 people wanting that particular title. You'd keep four of people. on hand. And they would say it was Mr. Munger who recommended it. A light bulb went off in his head. I went to Mr. Buffett, and I said, you know, two years in a row now, I'm getting slammed, and we don't have the product on hand. Tell you what, you give us a heads up. You tell us what you guys are reading, what you're going to recommend at the meeting, and we'll stock it. And his first reaction to me was, what if no one asks? I said, fat chance. He said, all right. He said, I'll tell you what, I'll give you, Charlie. number. Now, Ross calls Munger three months before every annual meeting to find out what books they'll be recommending and then stocks up. This is probably the most definitive volume out on Mr. Buffett's life of permanent value. It is, I don't know how many pages. Now, we have to carry it because I'm in it. He's in it for good reason. Jim Ross has known Warren Buffett all his life. life. I grew up with his children. I grew up with Susie and Howie and Peter. We all went to public schools. We went to Dundee and Lewis and Clark in Central High, so I've known them a good many years. It never seemed like he was kind of up on a pedestal. He was just your friend's dad. Yes. Yeah. No, he always was. He was very much a regular guy, and he still is today. You know, he pumps his own gas. He drives his own car. You see him out to dinner. I see him when he votes. I mean, yeah, he's just a regular guy. If there's anyone who understands Buffett's connection to Omaha, it's Jim Ross. We asked him to show us around his hometown. Their straight ahead is the Keywood Plaza. And that is where Berkshire Hathaway runs their empire. I can remember, quite frankly, as a kid, we used to play poker with Howie,
[23:21]
Otherand his dad would come down in the middle of the night in a bathrobe. In those days, he drank Pepsi. And Howie used to play poker. called him Pepsi Warren. All the kids were raised, not in any sense of privilege at all. I can remember how he arguing with his mother over his $5 a week allowance. This is the house that Charlie Munger grew up in here in Omaha. His dad was a very prominent attorney, and there were a number of judges in the family and several generations that went to Harvard. And right up the hill is the Warren Buffett residence that he's lived in since the late 50s. 50s. Ross still lives right down the street. You know, they lived in New York for a while. And at one point, Warren said, I don't have to do this here. I don't have to live in New York City. I can go back to my hometown. And in the 1950s, long before people realized what could be done on a computer, he was doing it, you know, with a phone and moved back to Omaha. He wanted to raise his family in a small town environment. And he said, you know, I can thoughtfully make decisions in little old old and the rest, as they say, is history. But that history isn't tied just to Omaha. There's another place that helped shape Warren Buffett. What did you think of Washington?
WarrenWell, it wasn't so much what I thought of Washington. I hated leaving Omaha.
OtherIn his teen years, Buffett lived here, after his father was elected to Congress. Now, there's the Marlin. This whole thing over here is the Westchester. Now there's Albin Tower. This is where he started to form his thoughts about business and life, but not before making a few mistakes.
WarrenI was rebellious at first in school for about a year. I made a real pain of myself, but then I calmed down after a while.
OtherBuffett says his adjustment to D.C. was rocky, and he often acted out. That's the Sears there. Right here? Yeah. Even shoplifting at the old downtown Sears.
WarrenI wasn't doing it for any reason except rebelling. rebelling and that ran out at a while after a while.
OtherOur first stop was his boyhood home. That lawn seemed so big when I was mowing at her digging weeds. Now it's nothing. When's the last time you saw this house?
WarrenWell, I may have driven by it 30 years ago or so, but I haven't been in it since 1952.
OtherMrs. Wilcox? Hi, I'm Warren Buffett. It's a real pleasure meeting you. How long have you lived here, Mrs. Wilcox? Have you lived here, Mrs. Wilcox?
[26:04]
Other32 years? 32 years. Yeah. Oh. Did you know he had lived here before? Of course. Yeah. See my spacious room. I used to store my money there. I might find something that I left. Does the room look like you remembered? Yeah. I mean, it looks a little smaller, but not a lot smaller. Thank you so much. Miss Wilcox, thank you. At one point, Buffett and two friends even ran away from home, something he laughs about something he laughs about now.
WarrenWe got out to Wisconsin. Avenue, and we started hitchhiking. And three kids hitchhiking was not the easiest thing to do. And the first guy that picked us up was a real nut. And we all got in the car. And we said, him, where are you going? And he said, I'm going to hell, do you want to come along? And we immediately decided that this was not exactly what we'd expected. So he said that a few more times that we told we'd reached our destination and got up. Well, eventually, we got the Hershey, Pennsylvania. That's a long way. It's quite a ways. Yeah. We worked our way back to Washington. And my mother's first comment was, how come Come you came back so soon.
OtherNext, around the corner to his junior high school. But of course, I made my friends from Washington here. And then Wilson's senior high and a very surprise principal. Hi. It's a real pleasure. Nice to meet you, sir. Yeah, we're just here for the first time in 60 years. Really? That's been that long. It's changed a little bit since you've been here. Yeah, you don't look as scary to me as Mr. Nelson looks. Back then, nobody. was asking him for pictures. But today, Buffett seems happy to oblige. Here we go. Use this with your banker. Let me be giving you a stock tip. Be grabbing my billfold. Eventually, Buffett found his footing here. And his high school yearbook called it right, future stockbroker.
WarrenBefore I came to Washington, I had about $120. And when I left, I had about $10,000.
OtherComing up, a giant on the field. on the field, a giant in his field, and a pregame surprise. And all of a sudden you hear that Warren Buffett wants to meet you. I was actually in the locker room, getting ready to play against Oklahoma, one of our big rivals, and I was like, of course I'd love to meet him. Oh, I like that. Look at that. There we are. Everybody. Walking the floor at last year's Berkshire Hathaway meeting, we noticed someone stopping traffic at the corner of Justin Boots and Fruit of the Loom Drive.
[28:44]
OtherMr. Nebraska football. If you don't recognize the guy in the check jacket and tie, it's because he's not wearing his work clothes. He's in Domen Sioux, NFL superstar, one of the highest paid defensive players in the league, and right at home, alongside Warren Buffett. I loved the Wall Street Journal story last year that called you a secret finance nerd. Let's talk a little bit about that because... This guy is smart, believe. Yeah. Somebody who is just a football player. You are known on field for your very aggressive tackles and where you go after people. But let's talk about the finance side of things. How'd you get interested?
OtherI've always loved numbers, so I'd like to be involved and understand what's going on and not just a person that just always wants to take great advice, which I've been lucky enough to know somebody who can give me some great advice. So understanding my investments, understanding how to be sustainable and understand how I can progress my family to the future is going to be huge.
OtherThey first met nine years ago. Sue was still in college. in college, getting ready for a big game. Quick introduction. He told me about it when we talked one-on-one. It's 2009. You're at the University of Nebraska. You are this guy who is not only an awesome football player, but also focused on business. And all of a sudden, you hear that Warren Buffett wants to meet you. What do you think?
OtherI was super surprised. I was actually in the locker room and getting ready to play against Oklahoma, one of our big rivals, and I was like, of course I'd love to meet him, got to speak. And, uh, and then went off and won the game. It's true with an Oklahoma game, and I was an honorary coach for one quarter and I built up a commanding seven to nothing leave and Dama can held it for me. What happened? What was the next step?
OtherA good friend of mine challenged me to look for a meeting and ask for a meeting to sit down with him. Sue, who was getting a degree in construction management, reached out. To his surprise, Buffett reached back. I was probably two hours early. I was probably two hours early. before the meeting. A little nervous, to say the least, it was like speaking to my father. Just easy conversation, easygoing. We actually sat there for three, four hours. What was your game plan walking into that meeting? What did you want to talk to him about?
OtherI just wanted to get into his philosophy and really ask him for a mentorship,
[31:05]
Otherhave something that was ongoing. You ready? Okay. The rookie and the veteran hit it off. Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Okay. And have been friends ever since. Sue recently signed. a one-year, $14 million deal with the Los Angeles Rams. Glad Indomacan's finally in. Adding to the tens of millions he's already made over his pro career.
QuestionerI always play with a chip on my shoulder, and that's really kind of my focus. Warren, it seems to me that athletes, movie stars, people who are newly into money like this, probably have a lot of people who are going after them trying to prey on that money and find ways of telling it. What advice have you given to that?
WarrenThat always happens. And then there's some smart guys like Indomacan that, that's...
OtherDomicum that recognize that. With some guidance from Buffett, Sue has invested in real estate, restaurants and tech, including the maker of a smart coffee mug.
QuestionerYou are in an extremely rare position, somebody who's already thought all this through while you were still so young in your career. That's not the case for all pro athletes. What lesson should we take out of that?
QuestionerDon't be complacent. When you look at people who have created great wealth and even Warren Buffet himself, he's made a majority of his money after he was 50. after he was 50. And we're so young. I think that's where guys got to understand. You're afforded a great opportunity, but that also takes great responsibility.
OtherAn NFL star thinking beyond the game. A young couple starting out, a camp full of kids with big dreams. Buffett's influence can be found in unexpected ways in unexpected places, even here. All right, so let's read this. You ready? Urban home in Alabama, it's story time. Once upon a time there was a tortoise named Buffett. We can call him Warren Buffett. But this isn't Dr. Seuss. He knew the way to win was by saving his money. Is that what was good or about?
QuestionerGood. That's right. Seem a little strange?
OtherNot to Ron Holt. Buffett's fans may have turned him into an icon, but few have lived out that devotion like Holt has.
QuestionerTo me, every single word I ever read about Warren Buffett from day one made sense. and I never questioned it and I still don't want to this day and it's led me to where I am today.
OtherAll right, so there's actually a proper way to enter the home. Next, a man who's cleaning up because of you know who. I appreciate that.
WarrenWhen you get to be 87 people stand and applaud at the start
[33:50]
Otherbecause they're not sure whether you're going to be around at the end. There was a time as a young man when Warren Buffett was afraid to speak in public. Well, Not anymore. And it's very important to surround your people, yourself with people who are the better than you are. You are going to move in the direction of the people you associate with. Today he loves to talk, and they hang on his every word. I'm cheering for you and I can tell you the best is yet to come. Thank you. Some people follow rock stars, others Warren Buffett. Do you? You get it? Yeah, you're a heel on to Mr. Wuppet. One, two, three. Yeah, you're number one idol. Yeah, he is. But few are quite as devoted as Ron Holt. Once upon a time, there was a tortoise named Bucket. His faith is so complete, it touches almost every aspect of his life. What are we going to learn today, you think? About how to make money. Yep. Is it better to save it? Yes. Yeah, because when you save, what happens? You can learn. That's right. But his story begins with a different book. This book here, this is making of an American capitalist. It's the exact book I purchased in 1998. Holt was 24 and working in a chemistry lab. He wanted to start investing and hope that the book would help him understand the stock market. I didn't really look at it as life changing at the time, but now when I look back on that moment, it was the first day of the rest of my life. He started studying Buffett and using the billionaire's life as a blueprint for his own, beginning with the concept. of saving early. Any money you save before you get out and start having a family, it's probably where any dollar is probably worth $10 later on simply because you can save it. I didn't go out and have dinner dates. I didn't do the things that would cost me money. The second thing I did was I had these crazy part-time jobs. I worked almost every industry you can think of. He worked days, nights, and weekends for more than six years, enough to save $150,000 to buy, of all things, all things, a cleaning service that he named two maids and a mom. Do you do a lot of cleaning now? Today, not so much. In the early days, absolutely. That was something I had to do to survive. One thing Warren Buffett taught me was the fact that sexy businesses have ton of competition. There's very little in the way of competition. Competition. Competition. I always prefer no competition.
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OtherI wanted to own a business that was unsexy as it got. You know, it still strikes you as somebody who went to school and got this degree in chemistry, like a crazy thing to jump off. thing to jump off that track and decide I'm going to go start a cleaning service. Well, I'll tell you no one supported me back in those days. Family members thought I was a bit crazy. Maybe it was because I was so young and dumb and thought I was going to become the next Warren Buffett Jr. I never thought that I was going to fail. As unglamorous as this job is, it's still something that a lot of people need. By following Buffett's lead and staying frugal, his company turned a profit in its second year. And then he went after the big money. big money, franchising. So this is our current footprint of our franchise owners throughout the country. The business, headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, boasts more than 60 franchises and 500 employees. Two Maids and I'm Off White Plains. Holt says that in 2017, the company soaked up over $13 million in sales. 17 new franchises are now a part of the Two Maids and I'm out family. When did you feel like you had made it? I can still remember this moment as driving through Tampa, Florida. So my gosh, we're in a foreign city, and two maids in a mob is here. We're a real brand now. A real brand built on the gospel of Buffett. Ron really preaches that to all of us franchisees that we really need to be frugal with our money. We're not fancy. We just do it well. We do it at a fair price, and we make money. While he's never met Warren Buffett, Holt feels indebted to him and has tried to show his gratitude. Really tried. I desperately wanted just to say, thank you. for changing my life, Mr. Buffett, and I called his secretary over and over and over again. They knew me by a first name basis, and they finally said, gotta give it up. I finally gave up and kind of accepted the fact that we may never actually meet, but for me, everything that I've learned from him and everything that I put forth every day in my business and in my personal life even is enough reward for me. When we come back, headed to Omaha, and the kids from Detroit are all smiles. What's the funniest? reaction you got from any of the kids when I would say, no, pop on the bus going there, Warren Buffett has cherry coke. You know, like, why can't we? Follow the recipe of success, not the recipe of his diet.
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OtherCan somebody tell me what companies is Berkshire Hathaway own? Gail Perry Mason is a successful investment manager and Summer Camp founder. I want to be a Warren Buffett in the making because I want to achieve my goals. For more than 20 years, she's been teaching the book been teaching the book of Buffett to kids in Detroit. 10-10-80 rule, right? Yes, give 10%, save 10% and live off 80%. So you can imagine her excitement when she finally came face-to-face with her idol at a pro football game. Oh my God, there's Warren Buffett. And I was like, can't talk to you for a moment? And he was like, sure, why not? She immediately thought of her campers. I said, let me talk about my babies. And he said, your babies, how many do you have? And I said, I've got thousands of them in Detroit. I love him in Detroit. And he says, do you? And I said, yes. I love teaching financial leadership. We always learn about you every year. And we all admire you. So then he ended up saying, why don't you bring him to the shareholders meeting? An invitation for 28 kids. From Buffett himself? The young investors must have been thrilled, right? Most time when I go to speeches like that, all they do is just talk. When I thought of Warren Buffett, I thought of an old guy who was just blabbering about stock and stuff. And for the privilege of listening to all that black these kids would have to travel. Getting to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting is not cheap. How did you guys go about raising the money for it? I started just calling people, can you help me with this? So number one, we had a fundraiser, and then we asked for a few sponsors. Then something amazing happened when Gail entered a drawing at a local charity event. So they have this grand prize of $25,000 ticket to Europe. So I won. You're kidding me? I won. I said, I want these tickets to go to Omaha, Nebraska. And they said, you want to use this for Omaha, Nebraska? Instead of Europe. Instead of Europe. I said, yes. And when they reached Omaha, the kids soon found out that Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger were... I've had breakfast before when he has Coca-Cola's and nuts. Not what they had expected. And pretty damn good, too. If you keep doing that, Warren, you may not make 100. Well... Warren Buffett actually did comedy and it made us laugh. and I started getting it to it and started listening to his mistakes and whatnot.
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OtherYou guys make you feel good to know that other guys like that make mistakes too. Yeah. Just know that we're not the only person or people who make it. Even amazing people who have made billions of dollars. They still make mistakes like every other human being in the world. Right.
OtherWarren Buffett gave all of these youth an opportunity. Maybe, you know, we weren't like sitting up front at the shoulders. We didn't need to. We needed an opportunity to get in the door with all the other shareholders. Even the other shareholders. Even though there's like thousands of people here, you don't see a lot of kids, you don't see a lot of people of color, you don't see a lot of people who look like us. And this is just an amazing experience for us to have.
OtherWhile they didn't get to meet the man himself, Joshua Hines and several others returned home so inspired, they started investing. I'm actually in the process of getting the stock next week. Which one? The Birkshire Hathaway stock. Class B, right? Yes.
OtherHi. Warren Buffett has spent a lifetime talking about success. And these kids are all years. And I just learned that patience is really slow and steady runs the race. You have to remain true to yourself and humble and you have to remain patient. Anybody want to go back? Yes. Absolutely. An unlikely connection between an 87-year-old man and a group of school kids, the next generation to follow Warren Buffett. Anything your students do to invest in their mind and body, it pays off in an extraordinary way. way. Your best asset is your own self. And you can become, to an enormous degree, the person you want to be.