News

A rich filled meeting in more ways than one

By Scott Wagar

08/14/2012

Hanging quietly on the wall in Jeff Beyer’s office at Pride Dairy is a couple of photos under glass in a black frame. For the average person who walks in and out of Beyer’s office it’s just a couple of photos, but for those who are into finances they immediately stop when they see the photos with amazement and interest.

You see, along with the two photos, there is also is a $20 dollar bill under the black frame with two signatures on it, that of two of the wealthiest men in the world, Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.
Buffett is chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, a diversified investment company which holds around 140 of the most successful companies in the world, making Buffett the third wealthiest person in the world and holding a net worth of $44 billion today.  

Munger is the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation and worth $1 billion.
For years, Beyer has looked up to Buffett for his business practices, and has always wanted the opportunity to meet the man.

“I’ve read all his books and he gives wonderful advice,” Beyer said. “After reading his books, I felt like I knew the guy without ever knowing him because he is so down to earth. To me, he was kind-of like a grandfather figure, he just really relates to the average guy.”  

In 2005, Beyer went with his in-laws, Delmar and Rita Haberman, along with his sister-in-law, Mary Gorder, to the Berkshire Hathaway annual stockholders meeting in Omaha, Neb.  During the event, Beyer attempted to get some photos of Buffett, but failed in doing so because of the great distance between him and Buffett, but that soon changed.

“I was standing next to this security person and I told him that I wish I was closer to Buffett to get some better pictures of him,” Beyer said. “The security guard asked me if I knew of a jewelry store called Borsheim. I said I did. He told me that if I left the meeting early and went to the back of the store I would find a group of tables back there where Buffett and Munger were going to meet with some of their best stockholders who own multiple shares in his company. The security guard told me that I could possible get some close-up pictures of Buffett there.”

Beyer, along with his in-laws, made the decision to go to Borsheim. When they walked into the back of the store, the security guard who spoke with Beyer was right, the backroom was filled with a number of tables and chairs in the room. As Beyer and his relatives were checking the room out, Buffett and Munger walked into the room with their security people close by.

As the two men sat down, Beyer asked Buffett if he could get his autograph.

“Buffett said sure and for me to come over,” Beyer said. “I knelt down beside him and they took a bunch of pictures of us.

“I then tried to find something for him to sign for me, but I couldn’t find anything. But, I remembered I had a crisp twenty dollar bill in my billfold. At that time, he was the richest man in the world; so, I thought what a wonderful thing to have the richest man in world sign my twenty dollar bill,” Beyer added. “So, I pulled it out and asked him if he would sign it for me and he agreed. He went on to tell me that he had never signed a twenty dollar bill in his life and that this was a first for him. After Buffett signed the twenty dollar bill, I asked Munger if he would sign it, too, which he did.”

For the next 15 minutes, Beyer was given the opportunity to speak one on one with Buffett and Munger, which turned out to be an extraordinary experience for him.

 “Talking with those guys, especially Buffett, was just like talking to any other ordinary guy,” Beyer said. “He asked me where I was from and what I did for a living. When he found out I was in the dairy business, he knew and said that it was a tough business to be in North Dakota because there were few dairy farmers left in the state. So, he had incredible knowledge about our state’s dairy industry at that time, which was pretty impressive. He also asked me about our operations here at Pride Dairy and he spoke to me about staffing, keeping up with the times and moving forward.”

Overall for Beyer, his encounter with one of the wealthiest men in the world, who is an icon on Wall Street and a financial advisor to a large number of world leaders, was a surreal experience that was also very commonplace.

“On that day, I never thought that I would get that close to him,” Beyer said. But, I did, and what I took away from that whole experience was here I was, a little business guy from Bottineau, N.D., and here I am talking to the richest man in the world, and that the issues I deal with he deals with, too, only on a larger scale. It was an exciting time for me and I came away from the meeting really energized for my own businesses.”

As the framed photo and twenty dollar bill hangs quietly in Beyer’s office these days, his occurrence with Buffett seven years ago still brings excitement to Beyer’s voice, eyes and heart and, not so much because of the wealth of Buffett, but because of the heart he holds for others in the world, a heart of kindness.