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Warren Buffett Watch

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Jan.16

9:12 PM ET

Friday, 16 Jan 2009

Warren Buffett's Washington Tour Features Newsroom "Mob Scene" With Barack Obama

Posted By:Alex Crippen

Topics:Wealth | Sports | Media | Barack Obama | Warren Buffett

Sectors:Media

Companies:Washington Post Company | Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Warren Buffett Goes to Washington Graphic
Warren Buffett has been maintaining a relatively high profile, by his standards, during a visit to Washington, DC, just days before Barack Obama's inauguration.

The Washington Post's media columnist Howard Kurtz writes that Buffett joined Obama as 'The One' toured the newsroom Thursday after a meeting with the newspaper's editors and reporters.

Kurtz says there hasn't been "this much excitement .. since Brad Pitt dropped by." By his account, however, all the camera phones were pointed at Obama, not Buffett.

Buffett was in the building to attend a board meeting of the Washington Post Company. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is a long-time investor, owning 1.7 million shares worth almost a billion dollars.
That's a 21.4 percent stake, second only to Chairman and CEO Donald E. Graham's 26.6 percent. Graham was also in the newsroom for the Obama "mob scene."

Kurtz reports that Buffett had something other than money or politics on his mind. "Where are the sportswriters? I want to ask about the Redskins, Nationals and Wizards."

The Post also ran a photograph of Obama and Buffett sharing a moment to themselves, Obama looking downward as Buffett smiles. Buffett supported Obama during his run for the White House, although he also supported Hillary Clinton while she was in the race.

It wasn't Buffett's only meeting with the media while in town.

Buffett also spoke with NBC's Tom Brokaw for a piece scheduled to appear on Dateline this coming Sunday evening. A brief excerpt appeared in a report about government bank bailouts on NBC Nightly News tonight, narrated by CNBC's Trish Regan.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

In that story, Buffett repeats his belief that its money Washington has to spend. "I think what's been done has been necessary. If your financial system becomes totally disfunctional, everything else becomes disfunctional in the country."

Buffett also did an interview with the Voice of America, the international broadcasting service funded by the U.S. Government. No surprises here, as he tells the VOA's Barry Wood that his secret to investing success is to be greedy when others are fearful. And right now, "They're fearful. They're fearful. And they may be fearful a year from now, two years from now." He remains optimistic, though, about America's long-term economic future.

Buffett also talked about how his enormous wealth hasn't affected the way he lives his life, with one exception. "I have an airplane, which makes my life a lot easier. But leave that out of the picture, I probably live like somebody who makes $150,000 a year."

Current Berkshire stock prices:

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