Depending on how much money you have to invest, $3.5 million for advice from Buffett may indeed be worth it. In case you haven't been keeping up, the dude knows how to make money.

downstairs: Depending on how much money you have to invest, $3.5 million for advice from Buffett may indeed be worth it. In case you haven't been keeping up, the dude knows how to make money.

I'll agree. Something as simple as asking about where he sees the future of the economy (and, logically, where Berkshire would probably be throwing more money) could be a massive investor benefit.

Are we allowed to punch him, then it would be worth it

steamingpile: Are we allowed to punch him, then it would be worth it

Why would you want to do that? There are far better people in the world to punch than Buffet. I'm looking at you, Cheney.

/Still bitter.

If you just order soup, is that the meal?

Considering last year's winner wound up with a high level job at Berkshire Hathaway, this isn't a stupid thing to spend money on. And if it's tax deductible, and you're in the top tax bracket, it works out to being a $2 million lunch because you get to keep another chunk of change.

And if you've got a really creative CPA I bet you can count it as a charitable deduction AND a business expense. And expense everything related to getting you to the lunch. If you do it right you could expense your way to this costing nothing after income taxes!

/Envisioning Dr Strangelove as a CPA.

The guy who won the two previous auctions now works for Berkshire Hathaway.

That's pocket change for Mitt Romney.

So, Warren Buffett and Jimmy Buffet walk into a buffet....

fatalvenom: So, Warren Buffett and Jimmy Buffet walk into a buffet....

Damn it, I left off a "t" for Jimmy Buffett....fail.

He will teach the winner all about the fine art of disowning your granddaughters.

dopeydwarf: Why would you want to do that? There are far better people in the world to punch than Buffet. I'm looking at you, Cheney.

Fark'rs can't stand successful people.

So someone gives 3.5 million to charity and they get an Asinine tag?

dopeydwarf: steamingpile: Are we allowed to punch him, then it would be worth it

Why would you want to do that? There are far better people in the world to punch than Buffet. I'm looking at you, Cheney.

/Still bitter.

Cheney farked over the public for 8 years, Buffet has been farking over people for 60 years.

Snarcoleptic_Hoosier: downstairs: Depending on how much money you have to invest, $3.5 million for advice from Buffett may indeed be worth it. In case you haven't been keeping up, the dude knows how to make money.

I'll agree. Something as simple as asking about where he sees the future of the economy (and, logically, where Berkshire would probably be throwing more money) could be a massive investor benefit.

Except Buffett won't discuss investing during these lunches, RTFA

steamingpile: dopeydwarf: steamingpile: Are we allowed to punch him, then it would be worth it

Why would you want to do that? There are far better people in the world to punch than Buffet. I'm looking at you, Cheney.

/Still bitter.

Cheney farked over the public for 8 years, Buffet has been farking over people for 60 years.

Buffet is an investor who may (directly or otherwise) screw a certain number of people out of their livelihoods who are involved in any business Berkshire is invested in or perhaps wants to invest in. Cheney and his administration literally screwed hundreds of thousands of people out of their lives. See the difference?

I imagine Buffett saying something like;

You can't do it the way I did, because three decades of faux growth based upon phantom equity secured by public debt just isn't in the cards any longer, bub.


( I Likes Buffett anyhow.)

How about just walking up to his house in Iowa and saying, "Hello there, just wanted to meet you"

Yeah, subby. Who would ever want to donate $3.5 million to charity?

dopeydwarf: steamingpile: dopeydwarf: steamingpile: Are we allowed to punch him, then it would be worth it

Why would you want to do that? There are far better people in the world to punch than Buffet. I'm looking at you, Cheney.

/Still bitter.

Cheney farked over the public for 8 years, Buffet has been farking over people for 60 years.

Buffet is an investor who may (directly or otherwise) screw a certain number of people out of their livelihoods who are involved in any business Berkshire is invested in or perhaps wants to invest in. Cheney and his administration literally screwed hundreds of thousands of people out of their lives. See the difference?

My understanding is that Buffett doesn't take active control over the companies he invests in. He's not a Romney or a Jack Welch.

wildcardjack:
/Envisioning Dr Strangelove as a CPA.

He'd look something like this:


/RIP Herbert.

It seems that the rich just can't win. Keep $3.5m to yourself and you're being a selfish hoarder. Spend $3.5m on an auction benefiting a homeless charity and it's still asinine.

rogue49: How about just walking up to his house in Iowa and saying, "Hello there, just wanted to meet you"

I'd bring a picnic lunch and camp out on his front lawn, and then wait for him to stroll over, which is when I'd invite him to join me. Then he'd get angry and say "Get off my lawn." and I'd laugh and say "Ha ha, you're a meme!"

The money goes to charity. How is that asinine?

You really like Consumerist links, don't you subby?

CarnySaur: rogue49: How about just walking up to his house in Iowa and saying, "Hello there, just wanted to meet you"

I'd bring a picnic lunch and camp out on his front lawn, and then wait for him to stroll over, which is when I'd invite him to join me. Then he'd get angry and say "Get off my lawn." and I'd laugh and say "Ha ha, you're a meme!"

He'd say 'I live in farkin' Nebraska, what the fark is going on here?'

dopeydwarf: steamingpile: dopeydwarf: steamingpile: Are we allowed to punch him, then it would be worth it

Why would you want to do that? There are far better people in the world to punch than Buffet. I'm looking at you, Cheney.

/Still bitter.

Cheney farked over the public for 8 years, Buffet has been farking over people for 60 years.

Buffet is an investor who may (directly or otherwise) screw a certain number of people out of their livelihoods who are involved in any business Berkshire is invested in or perhaps wants to invest in. Cheney and his administration literally screwed hundreds of thousands of people out of their lives. See the difference?

No, he invests to only make money yet sits on all his cash to just prop up people who will kill the way he makes money for the common people and farks over any chance for anyone to ever make wealth in that way, further propping up a higher class over the people.

And how did cheney screw people, let me guess by back wars???? Buffet screwed people by buying berkshire hathaway out of the AIG scandal and farking people over during the subprime loan shiat but everyone wants to ignore those facts. Hes a bigger scumbag than cheney, he just donates to a side you believe in so you defend the scum.

Arkanaut: My understanding is that Buffett doesn't take active control over the companies he invests in. He's not a Romney or a Jack Welch.

He also doesnt take blame and buys his way out of being charged.

Cloudchaser Sakonige the Red Wolf: It seems that the rich just can't win. Keep $3.5m to yourself and you're being a selfish hoarder. Spend $3.5m on an auction benefiting a homeless charity and it's still asinine.

Kinda depends on why the guy made the winning bid. If it was to be generous, he didn't need to go to a damned auction -- he could just, you know, cut the check. If it was to just have lunch with WB, then yeah, it's idiotic. The most likely explanation, though, is that the guy isn't stupid or altruistic but just filthy rich and did it because he could.

Then there's also the fact that America has such a big homeless population and regressive policies that charities are needed in the first place. TFA is lean on details of this year's winner but last year was a hedge fund manager. If you make a billion dollars exploiting a corporatist political system, going as far as employing lobbyists to keep the status quo (or even make things worse) then give a miniscule percentage of it back in a charity auction, you've basically thrown an eyedropper's worth of water on a forest fire's worth of karmic debt. The main reason people do that is for PR and for that they shouldn't get away with it. I wasn't impressed when I read about assholes like Rockefeller taking over the economy then giving nickels back to the poor, and I'm not impressed now.

P.S. To pre-empt the ad hominem attacks, let's just say no one here knows anything about how much I've given to various charities. Suffice to say, any honest estimate is likely to be low.