In the summer of 1991, Mary Gates, the mother of the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, convinced her workaholic 35-year-old son to spend the July 4 holiday at Hood Canal, a scenic, outdoorsy location about two hours from Seattle that had long been the family getaway.
The Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett, was among the guests.
When Mrs. Gates tried to introduce her son to Mr. Buffett, however, he brushed her off, saying that he didn’t want to meet a “stockbroker.”But the two men hit it off immediately.
Mr. Gates was surprised by the penetrating questions Mr. Buffett directed at him about the software business, and found himself warming to the avuncular Midwestern billionaire.
Once, recounting the story of their meeting to students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Mr. Gates called it an “unbelievable friendship.” Mr. Buffett quipped, “The moral of that is, listen to your mother.”
Persons:
Mary Gates, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Gates, Buffett, —, ” Mr, ”
Organizations:
Microsoft, University of Nebraska
Locations:
Hood, Seattle, Omaha, Lincoln