“You’ll Be a Bum” – Warren Buffett Once Gave $100 Billion Man Bill Gates a Reality Check on His MLB Ambition
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In the early 1990s, the MLB team Seattle Mariners found a Japanese company interested in buying them. Back in those days, it was something unheard of. But yet there was the leading video game production house Nintendo that pitched a deal back in 1992. A group of businessmen led by Hiroshi Yamauchi, the then-chairperson of Nintendo, made the decision.
The Mariners officially joined the MLB in 1977, playing at the Kingdome, at that time. Nonetheless, the team lacked any spark to attract big crowds. They didn’t even make the playoffs until 1995. So back in 1991, Jeff Smulyan, the then-owner of the Mariners, made plans to shift the team to Florida.
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However, as the debts began to mount, Smulyan finally put the team for sale in 1991. So Nintendo raised its hand and stepped into the scene. But according to the stadium lease, the team had to be offered to local buyers first. So, an organization named the Baseball Club Of Seattle approached world-class businessman Bill Gates, who took advice from Warren Buffett.
The MLB investment dilemma for Bill Gates
In 1991, Nintendo came into the spotlight on the MLB stage, making big news. The uncertain future of the Mariners was swinging in multiple directions. Jeff Smulyan thought it best to check with the $100 billion man Bill Gates, who topped Forbes’ list of the richest entrepreneurs back then. However, Gates totally rejected the offer at that time.
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But when Nintendo bought Mariners’ majority shares in 1992 and went looking for investors, a bemused Gates sought Buffett’s opinion. Buffett recalled the incident in an interview with the New York Times in 2007. He came up with a valuable piece of advice for an undecided Gates, thinking about whether to join the Mariners’ ownership group. Buffett had a rather straight and simple reply to Gates’ query.
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Speaking in the interview, Buffett said, “Bill Gates asked me if he should buy into it. I said: ‘If you love baseball, buy it. But if you buy and you don’t win every year, you’ll be a bum.'”
Seattle Mariners in the recently concluded season
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The Mariners had quite an improved and impressive MLB campaign this year. They reached the wildcard round and clinched playoff berths by defeating the heavyweight Toronto Blue Jays. But unfortunately, the Mariners’ postseason journey ultimately got cut short by the much stronger Houston Astros. Therefore, the wait for the first-ever World Series victory has got further elongated by another year for the Mariners.
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Written by:
Edited by:
Rupak Kumar Jha