Ne-Yo is a three-time Grammy winner known globally for R&B hits like "Miss Independent" and "So Sick," with his latest album, "Good Man" out June 8. He's also host of NBC's "World of Dance," which premieres Tuesday.
But if Ne-Yo could sit down for dinner with anyone in the world, it wouldn't be a fellow musician or entertainer.
It would be, "probably Warren Buffett," Ne-Yo tells CNBC Make It.
But Ne-Yo doesn't have any pressing finance or business questions for the Oracle of Omaha, who is worth $83 billion. He'd just like to get a sense of his character.
"I would just want to sit and just pick up his demeanor, pick up his vibe and see what kind of man it takes to make that much money, to be that successful in business," Ne-Yo says. "Like what kind of person do you have to be?"
"Not so much business secrets — but like who you are as a person," he continues.
To get a sense of that, Ne-Yo says he would ask about Buffett's hobbies, interests and infamous McDonald's breakfast order, which never costs more than $3.17.
"If you're sitting down to do something enjoyable, what is that?" Ne-Yo imagines he would ask. "What's enjoyable to you, being the person who has been so successful, and has made so much money. What is it that makes you tick?"
Business, numbers and problem-solving have always been interests for Buffett, ever since he was a kid. As a 6-year-old, he would sell packs of gum for 5 cents, according to Alice Schroeder's 2008 biography, "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life." By age 11, he bought his first stock.
That year, in 1942, Buffett told his dad he wanted to use all of his money, $125 at that time, to buy stock in a company.
"I put every bit of it in three shares of Cities Service preferred," Buffett tells CNBC. "I bought that stock at $38.25, it was down from $84 the year before, and it was down from $55 in January."
"It went up to $200 later on, but I sold at $40," he laughs.
For Ne-Yo, delving in to that mentality would make dinner worthwhile.
"If I can lock into that, then maybe I can apply some of it to my own thing and you know get a little more money," Ne-Yo jokes.
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