OMAHA, Neb. - Investment wizard Warren Buffett said last week thatadding fellow billionaire Bill Gates to the board of BerkshireHathaway Inc. will help ensure Berkshire's success, even afterBuffett is gone.
"With Bill, you've got one of the best minds in the world. He'sgot a good business mind, and he is interested in things beyondbusiness," said Buffett, the 74-year-old chairman and chief executiveof Berkshire.
Gates, the 49-year-old founder and chairman of Microsoft Corp.,the world's largest software company, and Buffett are both worth morethan $40 billion each and are the two richest people in the world.They have been friends since 1991.
Buffett said Gates understands Berkshire's corporate culture,which includes making long-term investments and buying businesses tohelp them grow. "You've got a person who wants very much to helpduring my life and beyond my life," Buffett said.
It is similar to making Gates a trustee of a will, Buffett said."There's nothing more important to me than that Berkshire" continuesas a strong company, Buffett said.
Buffett said he was reluctant to ask Gates to join Berkshire'sboard because Gates is busy and Berkshire will take some of his time.
"But he said 'yes,' '' Buffett said.
Shareholders voted Gates onto Berkshire's board at the company'sannual meeting last weekend. He had been appointed to the board inDecember to fill the vacancy left by the July death of Buffett'swife, Susan. Berkshire Hathaway, based in Omaha, is a holding companywith stakes in many different companies.
One day after taking questions for nearly six hours at Berkshire'sannual meeting, Buffett and Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Mungerheld a nearly three-hour news conference. Asked about the newspaperindustry, they said readership and the ability of newspapers to makemoney have declined over the years because of television and theInternet dispersing news and advertising.
"Newspapers used to generate huge amounts of cash," Buffett said,but those days may be over.
Copyright 2005 by Telegraph Herald, All rights Reserved.
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