For the first time in nearly a decade, a Berkshire Hathaway employee has won the $1 million grand prize in Warren Buffett’s March Madness bracket challenge. An anonymous employee from FlightSafety International, a subsidiary of Berkshire, triumphed by correctly predicting 31 of the 32 first-round games in this year’s NCAA tournament.
Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, designed the contest to add excitement to the tournament and has modified the rules several times since its inception in 2016. Initially, participants needed to correctly guess the results of the Sweet 16 to claim the million-dollar prize.
However, after the jackpot remained unclaimed for years, changes were implemented in subsequent contests. In 2024, participants were allowed to skip eight games involving No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, yet still, no one emerged as a winner.
This year’s contest saw further rule adjustments, allowing anyone who picked at least 30 of the 32 first-round outcomes to be eligible for the top prize. Remarkably, 12 employees achieved the feat of predicting 31 out of 32 games correctly.
The $1 million winner was the participant who had a streak of picking 29 consecutive winners before experiencing a loss and ended up with a total of 44 correct predictions out of 45.
In recognition of the extraordinary accomplishments of the other participants, the remaining 11 contestants who also guessed 31 games correctly will each receive $100,000 as a consolation prize.
Source (CNBC)
