INTRODUCTION It was Thursday, November 20, 2008 and Warren E. Buffett, 77 years old, was about to bite into his favorite meal at his favorite restaurant, a New York strip steak at Gorat's Steakhouse in Omaha, Nebraska. As he chomped down on the steak, he gleefully sloshed down the food with a cool, refreshing cherry coke. Buffett, fondly called the "Oracle from Omaha", had accomplished what few people on earth had done. He built one of the most successful companies of all time with a market capitalization of over $227 billion. As Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., he had become the richest man in the world with a net worth of over $62 billion. (1)
