Today was pure, unadulterated, capitalistic insanity! But of course I mean that in a GOOD way... Our day began at 9am Omaha time as the Fox Biz crew and I headed straight to Berkshire-owned Borsheim's Jewelry store. We had a huge set-up in the store so we could broadcast our entire afternoon show live from the first "official" BRK Shareholder event. Okay, can I just say? You can spot these people from a mile away! Everyone looks like they're at the circus---big grins on their faces and money to spend, only here it's not on popcorn and cotton candy... at Borsheim's, it's 5 million dollar diamond rings and diamond encrusted Cartier watches. And why not? Their BRK shares have made many of the 30,000 people descending on Omaha rich. Those who got in early, say, in the '70's and early '80's? Well, let's just say if they wanted to, the Malibu beach house or Aspen ski condo could be theirs in the blink of an eye.
So we got to Borsheim's and presented viewers with a most unusual experience. 30,000 people will be lured through the doors this weekend and as Mario Gabelli of GAMCO and a longtime BRK shareholder put it, "Warren Buffett's the only CEO who manages to MAKE money at his annual meetings! The rest of us LOSE money putting our shareholder meetings on!" Gabelli was just one of our many stellar guests whom we interviewed as thousands of people passed by our set-up in the store. We also had a fascinating and exclusive interview with John Freund of Citigroup. Freund is Buffett's longtime broker. He's the guy who gets the call in the middle of the night from Buffett saying, "Hey John, call London and buy me a million shares of Company X." Freund talked about how he "disguises" the Buffett trades so as to not tip off the markets. Berkshire's stock portfolio today is worth about $75 billion. John has made just about all those trades and buys.
Joe Moglia, CEO of TD Ameritrade stopped by too. He's a Buffett pal and plays cards with Warren on occasion. He told us, "Warren's pretty good at bridge but he gets nervous playing poker. He doesn't want to lose money."
Author and shareholder Andy Kilpatrick hung out with us too. His book on Buffett weighs 11 pounds ("10 1/2 without the case, Liz") It's got some 1400 pages of Buffett stories and quotes, along with 500 pages of photos. If there's something you need to know about the world's richest man, it's probably in Andy's book.
After the show, we stopped in Omaha's Old Market area. I love Omaha because they were smart enough to keep all the old brick warehouses and lofts from the 1800's instead of razing them for condos... amazing buildings that truly reflect the pioneer spirit of the time when Omaha was the Wild West. The streets in this area are still ancient brick, and you can still see 100 year old signs painted on the sides of many of the old brick structures. It's just got that "Here Come the Brides" feel to it...and yet, there are chic boutiques and the restaurants are as good as any in New York.
Okay so tomorrow, crew call is for 4:30am. Oy! Why? Well, because our crack Fox Business field producer Michele Nunes says we have to! Actually, we need to be on the scene of the Qwest Center arena where the meeting is being held to go through security and get ready for the masses. We'll be there following Warren Buffett around and will have an interview with him. You MUST cancel your Saturday night plans to see our 7pm ET special, "Weekend With Warren." I'll be hosting it live from the Nebraska Furniture Mart where all the shareholders go after the day-long meeting. We'll show you that interview with Warren, plus talk to the Mayor of Omaha, and the CEOs of BRK businesses See's Candies and NetJets.
But before that, I'll be blogging from the meeting, letting you know what Buffett says about anything and everything.
Even if you don't own Berkshire Hathaway stock, it's always fascinating to hear what the World's Greatest Investor has to say, so log on throughout the day to www.foxbusiness.com!
Gotta get some sleep before the 19-hour day we face tomorrow.
