OMAHA, Neb. — The 15 young entrepreneurs who got to present business ideas to billionaire Warren Buffett on Monday seemed nearly as excited to meet the investor as they were to learn who won the contest.
Of course it may have helped that Buffett surprised them by announcing plans to give all the finalists 10 Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway stock worth nearly $800 to go along with the prizes in the contest sponsored by www.creditreport.com . Five of the finalists also received $5,000 checks for winning grand prizes.
"I just thought it would be nice to make sure they all went home with something," Buffett said. "They far exceeded my expectations, which were already high."
Buffett said all the business ideas he saw Monday were better than he could have come up with at the same age. The five individual and three team finalists were between 7- and 16-years-old.
"In addition to a lot of imaginative ideas, I was really amazed at how good they were at presenting. They were articulate and mature," Buffett said. "They were better at explaining their ideas — many of them — than people I've seen that went to first-class universities."
A group of four boys from New York City won the team category with the supply and snack cart they created for their school. After posing for a picture with Buffett, the boys agreed they weren't going to wash their hands again before getting home to New York because they'd just shaken hands with the billionaire.
"It's really amazing. I think it's going to be a life-changing experience," said Lucien Mount.
Lucien and his 10-year-old teammates — Charles Cheng, Alejandro Astudillo and Nataniel Natanov — all won $5,000 apiece for their idea. The boys created a mobile store that sold school supplies and snacks. The cart has raised more than $3,000 already to help restore arts programs in schools.
Buffett took part in the event because it's associated with the "Secret Millionaire's Club" cartoon that features an animated version of Berkshire's chairman and CEO. Buffett's supports the cartoon's efforts to teach kids financial principles, such as avoiding debt, and he voices his own character. It appears on AOL sites online.
"It's extremely important that you get the right habits young — not just in finance but in all kinds of things," Buffett said.
Aria Eppinger, from Pittsburg, Penn., won the individual competition with her idea for clothing with LED lighting. Eppinger said she learned a great deal from all of Buffett's different quotes and sayings that appear in the cartoons.
Initially, Eppinger seemed to be in shock from winning, but her business sense quickly became apparent.
"I'm probably going to license my idea," Eppinger said because it would be hard to build a business and be a kid. The 10-year-old said she's planning to give part of her prize money away to charity.
Buffett said he enjoys spending time with students because it makes him optimistic about the United States. He regularly meets with groups of college students who come to Omaha to ask him questions about business and life.
"You just saw a room with the future inside," Buffett said after the awards were handed out. "You feel better about that future when you've interacted with it."
Besides the grand prize winners, the runners-up all received $500 prizes. The runners-up were Rachel Hammond, 12, from North Prairie, Wis.; Noelle Mele, 12, from Staten Island, N.Y.; Sarady Merghani, 15, from Los Angeles; Jake Madsen, 12, from Omaha, Neb.; Michael Wipf, 10, Diana Wipf, 8, Amanda Carter, 11, and Lillian Carter, 7, of Bethel, Conn.; and Anthony Lundberg, 11, and Justin Lundberg, 9, from Puyallup, Wash.
The grand prize winners' teachers will each receive $1,000, and the other finalists' teachers will receive $250.
Online:
Secret Millionaire's Club: www.smckids.com
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: www.berkshirehathaway.com