Warren Buffett has been trying to give away $1 million to an employee of Berkshire Hathaway during the NCAA’s March Madness basketball tournament — for at least a decade.
Buffett, 94, previously told The Wall Street Journal that the company made it easier than ever this year because he wants to see the money finally won.
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“I’m getting older,” he told the outlet. “I want to give away a million dollars to somebody while I’m still around as chairman.”
Well, it turns out that 2025 was the year.
The WSJ reports that Buffett’s office bracket was won by an employee of FlightSafety International, a Berkshire subsidiary. The winner asked to be anonymous.
This year’s rules stated that if an entrant picked at least 30 of the tournament’s 32 first-round game winners, they’ll get the cool million. In the past, employees needed a perfect first-round bracket (which is the reason for no past winners).
But Marc Hamburg, Berkshire’s chief financial officer, told the WSJ that 12 brackets actually had 31 of the 32 first-round games correct this year. So it went to a tiebreaker to see which bracket went the longest without a loss. The winner called the first 29 games in a row correctly.
“I feel good that we sort of hit the sweet spot on this one,” Buffett told the WSJ.
The runners-up (all 11) get $100,000 each.
Buffett said he doesn’t know the name of the winner of the $1 million prize and was told the person doesn’t want to be publicly identified.
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