He's best known as the Oracle of Omaha (which makes for a nice alliteration) but the British publisher that's cashed in on the magically profitable Harry Potter series is counting on Warren Buffett to be their new 'Wizard' of Omaha. (Warren the Wizard?)
Reuters reports that London-based Bloomsbury hopes its upcoming Buffett book titled "The Snowball" will "become one of its new best-sellers." The book is being written with Buffett's full cooperation by a former insurance analyst named Alice Schroeder. She recently told the Omaha World-Herald the experience "has been the most wonderful thing I've ever done in my life."
Bloomsbury's top executive is just as excited, telling Reuters, "Our expectation is that it could become the No.1 best-seller in the UK and Australia because you get Buffett's condensed wisdom on investing."
The Alphaville blog at FT.com isn't so sure, pointing out that non-American readers are "generally less familiar with the sage of Omaha." The booking is being published in the U.S. by Bantam Dell, which reportedly paid $7 million for the rights.
It also point out an interesting connection between Warren and the Boy Wizard. "In each case, fans are obsessed with their hero's mortality."
Here's to a long life for both of them.
A reminder that the Warren Buffett lunch auction ends tonight at 10p ET. Current bid: $313,600, well below last year's $620,000. Have value investors taken over the Buffett lunch market?
Questions? Comments? Email me at buffettwatch@cnbc.com
