Tim, Warren Buffett, and the KU School of Business

Yesterday I had the opportunity to join Warren Buffett for an hour and a half question and answer session at Berkshire Hathaway's headquartes in Omaha (with 74 of my best friends from the KU School of Business) it was an incredible opportunity made possible by Professor Mark Hirschey from KU.

Buffett spoke to us for about an hour and a half, followed by a presentation from my Securities Analysis class, which recommended that Berkshire purchase Les Schwab Tire. Les Schwab is a privately owned, independent tire dealer in the Pacific Northwest. Les Schwab has a phenomenal profit sharing plan and a focus on employee development and customer service. It is a unique combination that helped the company build a sustainable competitive advantage is a commodity business.

The opportunity to learn from Buffett in such an intimate setting was incredible, the highlight of my time in business school. Buffett reiterated his faith in the teachings of Ben Graham, the father of value investing. It was great. Listening to Warren discuss some of the investment decisions he made, and how he got started was incredible. Listening to the clear, concise way he thinks about business re-ignited my passion for value investing like nothing else could.

I was lucky enough to be in the second row for the question and answer session. While being ten feet from Warren didn't improve the learning experience, it did make it really cool.

Buffett is by far the most successful investor ever, spending time with him was learning from the master. This was an event that I will never forget.

Timothy Burger