Here is the story of how Warren Buffett bought his new Cadillac

It’s always fun to trade in an old ride for a new car. But it’s hard to top Warren Buffett, whose burgeoning saga included a salesman, a free hat, a $122,000 charity auction, a police station and General Motors CEO Mary Barra.

Buffett, who has driven Cadillacs for decades, only decided to replace his 2006 model after Barra visited him in his hometown of Omaha in May 2014.

Berkshire Hathaway, an investment company, invested in General Motors (GM) in 2012. The conglomerate then created a five percent stake, which was worth more than four billion US dollars (3.7 billion euros) at its peak, but withdrew in this position in the third quarter of 2023.

Barra told Buffett about all the new features he could find in the new car, and the investor was very impressed.

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A Cadillac with a hood to match

The Berkshire CEO sent his daughter Susie Buffett to visit a local Cadillac dealer. The seller did not know the car was intended for Warren Buffett until the sale was completed.

After inquiring about the driver’s personality and lifestyle, the salesman directed him to buy a roomier XTS instead of the CTS that Barra had recommended. GM shared the story on his now-defunct “FastLane” blog; An archived copy can be found via the Wayback Machine here be returned.

The auto giant also released one Blog post, where he presented the views of businessman Madison Willers. He assumed that Buffett’s daughter was a mystery shopper wanting to test his product knowledge, and was delighted when he returned to find that her father was the buyer.

“Mr. Buffett asked me to take his personal XTS to him to greet me after all the time had passed,” he continued. Willers said he was “pleased and humbled” that Buffett remembered him and that he was “always impressed by his kindness and humility.” When Willers presented the car, he had a Cadillac hood which he wanted to give to the billionaire.

“He seemed as excited about the hat as he was about the car, and I think that says everything about his personality,” he joked.

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Buffett’s letter of thanks

Buffett was so impressed by the whole experience that he wrote a letter to Barra praising Willers for his “great job.” He included a photo of himself and Willers next to his new car. “Susie said that her father’s ‘car friend’ (that’s you) told her to buy the CTS, but Madison, then 23, said the XTS was a better fit,” Buffett wrote to Barra. “That’s why I can now give you a ride in a 2014 Cadillac the next time you visit me.”

Reserved for signature

Buffett donated his old Cadillac to Girls Inc. of Omaha, one of his favorite charities. He signed the car with Girls Inc. auctioned in February 2015. The winning bid was $122,000 (113,600 euros), more than ten times the car’s market value.

The investment icon told the story at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in 2017. He revealed that the auction winner traveled to Omaha to collect the car and keys from him and then returned without license plates to New York.

He was stopped by police in Illinois and tried to explain the situation, Buffett recalled. “And the police were very suspicious,†he said. “But luckily I had signed him on the dashboard so they checked it. And then they just said, “Well, did he give you stock tips?”

Buffett described the car’s new owner as “a very nice man.”

“And, you know, his check is canceled,†he joked. “So everything was fine.“

Read the original article in English here.