Day with Warren Buffett enriching to UA students 

Billionaire's sage advice: Love what you do in life, find career that brings out your passion 

By Paula Schleis 
Beacon Journal business writer

Published on Wednesday, Nov 11, 2009 

What would you ask Warren Buffett if you had his undivided attention?

That was no hypothetical situation for 27 University of Akron students, who spent Friday with the billionaire investor at his home base in Omaha, Neb.

''It was the opportunity of a lifetime,'' said business professor Todd Finkle, who led the contingent.

Finkle, an Omaha native himself, spent two years researching and writing a case study on Buffett and his investment company, Berkshire Hathaway.

He sent a copy of his paper to Buffett this summer and 10 days later, Buffett — who routinely meets with students about business, ethics and life — invited him to bring a group of students to town.

On Friday, the UA representatives were among 150 people from six schools who got to quiz Buffett, have lunch with him, pose for pictures, and tour a couple of Berkshire businesses.

During the Q&A, each school had the chance to ask three questions of Buffett. UA's queries included this one: Will the U.S. still be the superior economic power in 25 years, and if not, then who?



Buffett said the U.S. will still be the most economically important nation 25 years from now, just not by the same margin because the rest of the world is catching up, Finkle said.

It's just a matter of time before the rest of the world figures out how to unleash human talent as the U.S. did, Buffett was quoted saying.

And Americans shouldn't be fearful of emerging economies like China and India, because their growth and economic success is beneficial to our own economy as well as our national security, Finkle recounted.

Although Finkle considers himself a ''Buffett expert,'' he said he didn't know how Buffett would answer that question, but he was happy to hear the optimism.

Just as J.P. Morgan helped end the Great Depression by investing in America, Buffett — who last week spent $26 billion to acquire Texas-based railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe — is showing faith in America during a troubled time, Finkle said.

''He's our equivalent of J.P. Morgan,'' Finkle said. ''He's right in the heart of what's going on, and he's still investing.''

After the question session, Buffett had lunch with the students, personally driving four of them to the restaurant in his own car. UA student Aniqa Feerasta was among them, having been selected by Finkle to represent Akron because earlier in the day, she'd been trapped in an elevator at Berkshire for 20 minutes.

After lunch, Buffett spent an hour on his feet posing for individual pictures. Finkle mused it must have been a tiring day for Buffett, who is 79, but he never showed anything but patience and good humor.

'Nicest guy'

''He's the nicest guy in the world,'' Finkle said. ''Very down to earth. Very humble, and he doesn't put himself above anybody.''

Kim Baitz, 26, said when she first learned Finkle was asking students to apply for a chance to go on the trip, she had just lost her job.

''I thought this was the perfect opportunity to meet the most intelligent man in the world in finances, and I thought it would be a good time to seek some guidance,'' said Baitz, who is pursuing her master's in business administration.

She took copious notes of advice from Buffett, but one thing that resounded with her was his belief in finding a career that brings out your passion.

''He goes to work happy every day, and so many of us go to work looking forward to the weekend,'' she said. Loving what you do is so much more important than making money, he advised.

Finkle said many comments made a deep impression on him as well, but one he'll never forget was in response to Finkle's own question about the most influential people in Buffett's life.

Among those Buffett named was a friend who was a Polish Jew, taken to a World War II concentration camp after an acquaintance reported the friend's hiding place to the Germans.

Buffett said ever since hearing that story, ''when he would begin friendships, he would ask the question: Would this person hide me from the Nazis?''

''He then went on to say that one of the most important things [if not the most important] was unconditional love. If you can find two or three people who love you unconditionally, you are a lucky person.''