Warren Buffett’s March Madness Contest Finally Yields a $1M Winner

Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor and chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, has been on a quest to lose $1 million for almost a decade. And this year, he finally achieved his goal. The annual March Madness bracket contest at Berkshire Hathaway, open to nearly 400,000 employees, has a grand prize of $1 million per year for life if a participant can predict the outcomes of the first 48 NCAA tournament games. However, no one has ever won this grand prize since the contest started in 2016.

This year, Buffett decided to shake things up by offering a one-time $1 million payment to any participant who could correctly predict at least 30 of the 32 first-round games. And to Buffett’s delight, an employee of FlightSafety International, a Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary, managed to do just that. This lucky staffer will be taking home the $1 million prize after accurately predicting all but one of the first-round games.

While there were a total of 12 Berkshire Hathaway workers who correctly predicted 31 of the first-round games, the FlightSafety employee secured the top prize by having the highest number of consecutive correct predictions after the initial 29 games. The remaining 11 contestants will each receive a runner-up award of $100,000.

Buffett’s tradition of offering a $1 million annual prize for life to anyone who can predict all 48 games will once again go unclaimed. The odds of achieving a perfect bracket are incredibly slim, with the NCAA estimating it to be as low as 1 in 9.2 quintillion.

Over the years, winners of Berkshire Hathaway’s March Madness prizes have come from various subsidiaries of the conglomerate, bringing employees from different companies together in a spirit of friendly competition. Despite the challenges of predicting the tournament outcomes, Buffett continues to engage employees in this fun tradition.

In 2014, Berkshire Hathaway partnered with Quicken Loans to offer a $1 billion prize for a perfect bracket, a feat that has yet to be accomplished. While the odds may be stacked against participants, the excitement and camaraderie of the contest continue to bring joy to employees across the company.

It’s clear that Buffett’s March Madness contest is more than just a game—it’s a way for employees to come together, have fun, and maybe even win a life-changing prize. And who knows, maybe one day someone will beat the odds and walk away with the ultimate prize. Until then, the excitement and anticipation of the contest continue to bring joy to all those involved.