How to meet the Richest People in the World

By Erin Clerici - 8 May 2013 1658 0 comment

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates are among the richest men in the world. At number 4, Buffett’s net worth is $53.5 billion and Gates’, at number 2, is $67 billion. So, how does a 19-year-old college student with a net worth of only $1,000 find herself in the same room as these big-wigs? This is how:

Step #1: Become a shareholder

In 2009 I bought one share of Berkshire Hathaway B stock. As a shareholder, I receive an annual report with information on how to request passes to the annual shareholder meeting.

Step #2: Make flight and hotel arrangements

Reservations need to be made about a year in advance! While Omaha is a good sized city, the Berkshire Hathaway shareholder’s meeting draws about 35,000 people to the city all at once. You may even want to make dinner reservations at Warren’s favorite steakhouse, Gorat’s.

Step #3: Get your annual meeting credentials

Attached to the proxy statement in the annual report is a perforated post card. Fill it out and send it in to receive your credentials. Each shareholder can get up to four passes.

Step #4: Attend the meeting and all events

The only way to be in the presence of these CEOs is to actually attend the meeting. There are special events for shareholder’s that include free food, free drinks, music and good company that last all weekend. Not to mention great deals on products from Berkshire Hathaway companies like See’s Candies, Brooks, Fruit of the Loom, GEICO and many more. The actual meeting may sound boring, but Buffett and his vice chairman, 89-year-old Charlie Munger, may as well be a comedy act. Bill Gates is on the Berkshire Hathaway board of directors so chances are you’ll see him sitting in the audience!

Step #5: Talk, talk, talk

If it’s your first shareholder meeting, talk to people who have been there before. If you’re lucky, you’ll come across someone who has been going for a decade who can tell you all their secrets like where Buffett will be selling jewelry or where he and Gates will challenge the olympic table tennis champion to a game. Who knows… maybe you’ll get to meet a billionaire! At the very least you’ll be able to snag a picture to prove that you got close.

Tags:berkshire hathaway berkshire hathaway shareholder meeting warren buffett

Erin Clerici

Erin has degrees in finance and journalism from Arizona State University and started her career as a financial journalist at Bloomberg in New York City and London. Her interest in the stock market started at a young age when her dad asked her and her sisters to choose a company to invest in. Erin chose Nokia, which at the time had enormous marketshare in the mobile and smartphone market, and her sisters chose Starbucks and Intel. While it ended up being a loser (thanks, Apple!), that investment and the choices her sisters made taught her valuable life-long lessons and sparked a curiosity to keep on learning and investing.

In her free time, you'll find her hanging out with her husband and their boy-girl twins, playing with her three pups, on a hike, or at a local Denver brewery. She has a passion for traveling and exploring new cultures, trying new foods and giving back to her community.