A lucky Berkshire Hathaway worker finally netted the $1 million grand prize that Warren Buffett has been dangling to win the company’s annual March Madness bracket challenge.
The unidentified employee, who works at Berkshire subsidiary FlightSafety International, picked 31 out of 32 winners in the first round — including an incredible 29 straight games.
There were actually 11 others who also managed to get just one game wrong in the opening round, but the consecutive wins was used as a tiebreaker.
Each of the 11 runners-up will still walk away with an impressive consolation prize of $100,000.
Buffett has run the bracket challenge since 2016, but despite generous prizes, nobody had ever claimed the grand prize.
Remarkably, the winner’s luck didn’t stop in the first round.
He continued their winning predictions — accurately picking 13 straight second-round matchups.
Overall, the employee correctly identified 44 out of the first 45 games.
Statistically speaking, Berkshire Hathaway noted, the probability of achieving such accuracy by mere chance is approximately one in 780 billion, assuming each game had equal odds.
“I feel good that we sort of hit the sweet spot on this one,” Buffett told the Wall Street Journal.
He was referring to a decision he made several years ago to adjust the contest rules — making it slightly easier by no longer requiring absolute perfection from employees in the opening round.
Buffett, 94, has long expressed a desire to give away significant prize money through the contest, especially while he’s still actively involved with Berkshire Hathaway.
“I’m getting older,” Buffett previously told the Journal. “I want to give away a million dollars to somebody while I’m still around as chairman.”
The financial magnate added that he expected the substantial reward to spark excitement “all over the place.”
Interestingly, Buffett has yet to learn the winner’s identity, as the employee chose to remain anonymous.
FlightSafety International, a relatively small subsidiary within the Berkshire empire, employs fewer than 5,000 individuals — just a small fraction of Berkshire Hathaway’s roughly 392,000-person workforce.
This landmark victory contrasts with Berkshire’s previous contests, notably a public challenge launched in 2014, in which the conglomerate insured a $1 billion prize for anyone who could correctly forecast all 63 NCAA tournament games.
After that ambitious challenge proved impossible, Buffett simplified the requirements to predicting the initial 48 games correctly, yet a grand prize winner remained elusive until now.
Representatives from both Berkshire Hathaway and FlightSafety International were unavailable for comment.
