Is there anyone living you would pay $16k to eat lunch with?

[Sponger15SB]

My guess is you could probably email Daniel and have lunch with him for free, provided it was an incredibly nice meal or something.

Kissing optional though.

[sublime]

a guy with an IQ of 156

[lapoker17]

i think that it would be possible to have lunch with nearly any person in the world for free. 6 degrees of separation style.

but i choose rickey henderson.

[sublime]

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i think that it would be possible to have lunch with nearly any person in the world for free. 6 degrees of separation style.

but i choose rickey henderson.

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not a bad choice. how about ted williams if he was alive (and sane)?

Id pay that much to eat with bin laden, then try to kill him cuz the reward would be many mill.

[Evan]

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For me, it'd be a no-brainer. With the basic investing sense I already have and my current net worth, combined with future earnings potential, I'd know how to get my $16k worth out of that lunch.

I guess I may have overestimated how many people would be making a +EV decision by eating lunch with Buffett, but if you knew what to ask him and what to do with his answers, you don't need much in terms of assets to make him worth your while. There are a lot of smart people who work very hard to make sure Mr. Buffett's money is well-invested. I definitely think the work put into those decisions, combined with Buffett's knowledge and hard work is worth more than 16k.

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This was my first thought too. There was a charity auction a while back that got way more than 16K, by the way.

Also, whoever said "just read the Intelligent Investor, it has his whole investment philosophy" is *far* from correct

Which is not to say that the lunch would be worth 16K unless you have significantly more than 16K in investable assets. Like several hundred thousand at the minimum. I'm sure an hour conversation could make you a notch or two better as an investor, if you already know what you are doing and ask the right questions, but it's not like he's giving away a monster tip or a magic formula. Anyone who has followed his career should know that.

My answer to the OP is no one. If i had a couple million, there might be a few.

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The things Buffett would tell you wouldn't be anything ground breaking. I think a good analogy would be if you wanted to have lunch with Barry Bonds and thought it would make you a great hitter. There's no secret to how you hit a baseball, it's just a matter of how good you are at doing those things.

[LearnedfromTV]

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L4TV,

That is not how investing works. That ".1% aha nugget" is just as likely to come from watching some imbecile like Jim Cramer on TV for an hour as it is to come from Buffett. In fact, for the educated investor, it's probably more likely to come from some moron than from Buffett.

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"That's not how investing works" - Thanks coach. I'm not Buffett but I'm not a two year old.

I'm not talking about a hot tip. I only used the .1% (I was off by a factor of 10, i'm surprised you didn't notice) to make the point that it wouldn't take much additional insight to make the conversation worthwhile for someone with enough money, especially when you consider that whatever you learn can be applied for many years, not just one. Insight into the process, not a special valuation trick. An hour or two is not a long time, but it's not a short time either, for a one-on-one.

[MrMon]

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I think a good analogy would be if you wanted to have lunch with Barry Bonds and thought it would make you a great hitter. He'd tell you he doesn't eat lunch with white boys and no honky mother******* can play baseball anyway.

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[LearnedfromTV]

The things Buffett would tell you wouldn't be anything ground breaking. I think a good analogy would be if you wanted to have lunch with Barry Bonds and thought it would make you a great hitter. There's no secret to how you hit a baseball, it's just a matter of how good you are at doing those things.

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Except hitting a baseball is a physical skill, investing is mental. Time with a great hitting coach (not necessarily Bonds) at the batting cages, for a very good hitter, could make for a tiny improvement in approach that he would use on his own over time to make for a meaningful improvement in results. Or a week at a good basketball camp. Or a conversation with a great thinker who is expert in a subject you know a lot about.

[Leaky Eye]

I am available for lunches at 1K per.

I would pay to have lunch with a President, or king or queen in their palace.