Hey Warren Buffett: When opportunity calls, pick up!
Great anecdote from Time's Karen Tumulty, who's at the Fortune Most Powerful Women summit, which features Warren Buffett. Turns out Buffett could have saved Lehman Brothers a year ago -- and maybe the global economy -- if only he had known how to check the messages on his cell phone.
And around 6 p.m. on that Saturday night, as Buffett was rushing out to a social engagement in Edmonton, Alberta, he got a call from Bob Diamond, the head of Barclays Capital. Diamond was trying to buy Lehman Brothers and rescue it from oblivion, but he was having trouble with British authorities. So he had come up with another plan, one in which Buffett would provide insurance that might make it all work. It was all too complicated for Buffett to take in in a quick phone call, so he asked Diamond to fax him the details. Buffett got back to his hotel room around midnight and was surprised to find ... nothing. Lehman went under, and within days, the world was in a full-blown financial crisis.Fast forward 10 months. Buffett, who admits he never has really learned the basics of his cell phone, asked his daughter Susan about a little indicator he had noticed on the screen: "Can you figure out what's on there?" It turned out to be the message from Diamond that he had been waiting for that night. (NOTE: Which raises another question: Why didn't Diamond use the fax, like Buffett asked him to?)
Comments
Unless I'm missing something (I haven't read the particular article in the NYTimes yet), I believe the real kicker was the fact that Buffett wanted the fax versus a phone call. It's all well and good to take in a verbal conversation on an important topic, but even to provide insurance for the huge undertaking as a potential Lehman/Barclays deal would require something in writing for the purposes of consideration. Buffett's doesn't always win every time, but he's not stupid. His inability to figure out his cellphone is independent of the rationale behind requesting a fax, IMO.
Posted by: Laura | September 16, 2009 3:15 PM
Agree that this tale is funnier as an anecdote of Buffett's disinterest in technology than an indictment of his investment acumen.
And how exactly was Buffett going to profit from buying into Lehman at that time? He didn't buy into GE and Goldman until several weeks later and by all accounts paid too much.
Posted by: Dan | September 16, 2009 4:38 PM
It's great to have something in common with Warrn Buffet, even if it's only ignorance.
Posted by: Patrick K. Lackey | September 17, 2009 11:15 AM