He’s following his bucket list to Omaha
Attending the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders’ extravaganza is on that list. An even bigger dream? Meeting two of the most notable Nebraskans of our time – yes, Warren Buffett, but also Ernie Chambers
DES MOINES, Iowa – My wife Mary Riche, who with others in her women’s investment club have been shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway for a dozen years, is taking me to Omaha on Saturday for “Woodstock for Capitalists,” as it’s been called.
It’s the annual shareholders meeting of the Omaha-based international business conglomerate, starring its 92-year-old chairman Warren Buffett and his 99-year-old vice-chairman Charlie Munger.
Chuck Offenburger with his guest ticket for the big meeting.
Can you believe 30,000 shareholders will come from across the nation and around the world to hear the market views and philosophies of two men who are 92 and 99? Well, money talks. And so do Warren and Charlie at this annual meeting.
It’s been going on since the first BH shareholders meeting in 1973. It’s long since turned into more of a festival – with displays and shopping deals from most of the companies in which Berkshire Hathaway is invested.
I’ve been itching to attend for at least 30 years, so I couldn’t be more excited about going on Saturday.
But this opportunity has reminded me that it’s high time for me to start pursuing another goal I’ve had for the same three decades. I’ve wanted to find a way to meet and chat with two of the most notable Nebraskans of our era.
Yes, Buffett is one of them.
Warren Buffett in 2015.
The other is Ernie Chambers, the Omaha barber and attorney, now 85, who has served 46 years as a senator in the Nebraska Unicameral. He came on as a young radical, a tester of every rule the legislature has. He’s become one of the most knowledgeable parliamentarians in the nation.
When no one could beat Chambers, his persistent foes legislated term limits in Nebraska, and they’ve forced him out twice, including now. But he’s told allies he shouldn’t be totally counted out yet.
Senator Ernie Chambers in 2018.
Just having a chance to shake hands and say hello to Buffett and Chambers would be good. Coffee or lunch and an interview would be great. Meeting and chatting up both of them at the same time would be, well, how can I put it? You know how we Iowans like to ask, “Is this heaven?”
I may never be able to make this happen, but I’ve now decided I’m going to try to make it happen, and soon. The three of us – Warren, Ernie and me – aren’t getting any younger, you know.
Do you suppose they even know each other, Warren and Ernie?
“I’m sure they probably do,” Steve Jordon tells me.
Jordon retired in 2018 after working an incredible 50 years as a reporter for the Omaha World-Herald. For the last 10 of those years, he wrote a Sunday column called “Warren Watch,” in which he kept readers informed of the latest news of Buffett, his companies, his family and his friends.
Do the math – Jordon wrote 500 of those columns. And that was in addition to doing a wide variety of other news, business and feature stories. He also wrote an acclaimed biography and analysis of Buffett’s career and life, “The Oracle & Omaha: How Warren Buffet and His Hometown Shaped Each Other,” which came out a decade ago.
So Jordon knows Warren Buffett well.
“I’m certain that Ernie Chambers knew and worked with Warren’s late wife, Suzy Buffett,” he said. “Of course, Ernie has always been a leader of the Black community in Omaha and beyond, and Suzy was a great supporter of the Civil Rights movement. They probably worked together on many projects, and surely sometime, he and Warren would have gotten to know each other.”
By the way, somewhere I swear I heard that when Jordon retired, Warren Buffett said something close to, “So, how am I supposed to know what I’ve done and am doing if Steve Jordon isn’t going to be writing about it?”
Jordon says he never heard that quote. But his World-Herald buddy Michael Kelly, who had 48 years on the staff himself and who emceed a roast on Jordon’s 50th anniversary at the paper, had a fun line about his pal.
Kelly told the crowd at the Omaha Press Club that the Buffett-Jordon association had grown so close that "in a quiet ceremony yesterday afternoon at the Douglas County Courthouse, Warren adopted Steve.”
Mary Riche, at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in 2012, found these caricatures of Charlie Munger (left) and Warren Buffett.
Because I’ve hung around so long and done so much reporting around the Midwest, I’ve had the chance to meet and write about a whole lot of highly-regarded Nebraskans.
Let’s see, they’ve included Bob Devaney, Lyell Bremser, Johnny “The Jet” Rodgers, “Mrs. B” Rose Blumkin, Tom Osborne, Gene Leahy, Charlie Mancuso, Wally Provost, Red McManus, Bob Gibson, Kay Orr, Bob Kerrey, Connie Yori, Ted Kooser, Rainbow Rowell, and I visited Willa Cather’s hometown museum.
All of them were, or still are, iconic figures in our neighbor state.
But Warren Buffett and Ernie Chambers?
If there aren’t statues yet, there should be.
Now, on to Omaha to celebrate capitalism.
You can comment on this column below or write the columnist directly by email at chuck@offenburger.com.
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My hunch is that Warren is really pumped that you’re coming. He remembers Mary from 2012 and wants to get a selfie with you and her. Will be glued for the follow up.
Delightful column!