Warren Buffett

Promise · Their own work or organisation

“We're going to have the same contest among our employees that we had last year.”

Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway CEO, interviewed on CNBC · 27 February 2017 · Full transcript of Buffett's interview with CNBC (Feb 2017) (CNBC)

Berkshire will run the same NCAA bracket contest among its employees in 2017 as it did in 2016.

Delivered on time The record shows it happened or was so.

The second judge would not resolve this claim; the verdict shown is the first judge's.

Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.

What would count as true or false

True: evidence shows that Berkshire ran an NCAA tournament bracket contest among its employees in 2017 on the same basic terms as in 2016 (prize offered for brackets that get the early rounds right). Mostly true: the contest was held in 2017, but a minor term differed (for example the prize amount or the number of rounds). Mostly false: a bracket contest was held, but its basic structure was substantially different from 2016's. False: evidence shows that no employee bracket contest was held in 2017.

Evidence

1. Warren Buffett Talks $1 Million March Madness Challenge And His Jump Ball With LeBron James Benzinga · 15 March 2017

   “Any Berkshire employee who correctly picks the entire Sweet 16 correctly will receive $1 million per year for life. In addition, employees can get $1 million for picking the entire first round perfectly, and the employee who lasts the longest with a perfect bracket will receive $100,000.”

2. Warren Buffett's 2017 March Madness Bracket Contest: $1 Million A Year For Life Forbes · 28 February 2017

   “also used the platform to announce his second March Madness bracket contest for employees. Any Berkshire Hathaway employee that can pick the Sweet 16 correctly will win $1 million a year for life.”

3. Warren Buffett's 2017 March Madness Bracket Contest: $1 Million A Year For Life Forbes · 28 February 2017

   “Buffett will award $100,000 to the person who goes the furthest even if they can’t get all 16 correct.”

4. Microsoft Word - Bracket Contest Press Release 3-15-21 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. · 15 March 2021 Own record

   “Additional contests were held each year until 2020 when the NCAA cancelled the tournament due to the pandemic.”

Reasoning

Forbes (E2, E3) reported on 2017-02-28 that Buffett announced his second employee March Madness bracket contest. It offered $1 million a year for life to any employee who picked the Sweet 16 correctly, plus $100,000 to whoever stayed perfect the longest. Benzinga (E1) reported on 2017-03-15 the same Sweet 16 prize of $1 million a year for life, plus a $1 million prize for a perfect first round and $100,000 for the longest-lasting perfect bracket. Berkshire's 2021 press release (E4) confirms that contests were held every year until 2020. That meets the criteria for a 2017 employee contest with prizes for getting the early rounds right. None of the evidence describes the 2016 terms, so it cannot show whether the first-round prize was new that year.

Cite this claim

Warren Buffett, “Berkshire will run the same NCAA bracket contest among its employees in 2017 as it did in 2016.” (said 27 February 2017). Verdict: delivered on time. Reliability API, claim c_9fd5a28a8fd7, method 0.1.0+28da144b. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_9fd5a28a8fd7