Smith Students Join Buffett, Gates on Fox Business

Finance students at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business shared a virtual platform on May 5, 2014, with two of the most successful individuals in business.

The setting was Omaha, Neb., where Fox Business Network conducted an hourlong Warren Buffett interview to culminate its coverage of the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting. Microsoft cofounder and Berkshire shareholder Bill Gates joined the conversation in the studio, while about 35 Smith undergraduates participated remotely from a University of Maryland classroom.

On cue from host Liz Claman, third-year Smith finance major Joseph Kucevich addressed Buffett. “Berkshire Hathaway appears to have three main strategies for investing in companies,” he said. “One is to buy the entire company and a second is to acquire a minority stake of a company’s publicly traded shares.  Berkshire’s partnership with 3G Capital to acquire H.J. Heinz represents a third approach. How do you decide on which strategy to follow?”

For Buffett’s response, go to the 49:47 mark in the interview.

Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger also joined Buffett and Gates in the studio. Other remote participants included business students from New York University and the University of Chicago. To see the school introductions, go to the 1:01 mark in the interview.

Just two days earlier, Kucevich and nine other Smith finance students attended the Berkshire shareholder meeting in person. They were joined by David Kass and Elinda Kiss, both Tyser Teaching Fellows in finance at Smith. 

The Omaha trip marked the fifth straight year that Kass, a Berkshire shareholder, has accompanied Smith students to the meeting. He also led 20 Smith MBA students to Omaha in November 2013 for a private meeting with Buffett.