Super Bowlers: Warren Buffett "makes all the right calls"

Every year the NFL gathers together the players from the two teams playing in the Super Bowl for what is known as "Media Day," although it now takes place at night.  USA Today says it "started out as a way for reporters to chat with players about the big game," but is now "nothing short of a circus of entertainment" that  "has very little to do with actual football."

In keeping with that spirit and what we cover on CNBC every day, our Eric Chemi asked players what one stock they'd buy, whether they prefer iPhone or Android, what they think of Netflix's price hike, and what company they'd like to run.

He also asked for their thoughts on Warren Buffett, and some players even mentioned him without being prompted.

Here's a video report Eric filed for Warren Buffett Watch.

The first player in Eric's report is Ndamukong Suh, a defensive tackle for the Los Angeles Rams. He's a friend of Buffett's, describing the billionaire as a mentor who taught him not to be complacent.

After the 2015 Berkshire annual meeting, Suh sat next to Buffett for a live interview on CNBC, talking about the importance of financial literacy for professional athletes.

The two first met in 2009 when Suh was playing for Buffett's favorite college football team, the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers.

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

• CNBC's Make It reports the office of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders estimates Buffett's maximum federal estate tax liability, based on his current net worth, would rise from $33 billion under current law to almost $64 billion if Sanders' proposed tax plan went into effect. Buffett's fortune, however, decreases substantially each year as he fulfills a 2006 pledge to give almost all his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As of his 2018 donation, he has given the foundation Berkshire stock now worth just under $51 billion.
  
  
• "The Five Stocks Warren Buffett Keeps Buying" are explored by Holly LaFon on GuruFocus.
  
  
• Inc. recounts why Buffett thinks a common career strategy is wrong because it's like "Saving Up Sex For Your Old Age."
  

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE

Buffett is a sports fan and football sometimes comes up at the annual Berkshire shareholder meetings and in CNBC interviews.  Here are some examples from CNBC's Warren Buffett Archive.

At the 2007 meeting, he acknowledged that putting a bet of a "few bucks" on the Super Bowl can make the game more fun to watch. But he went on to say it's "socially revolting" when governments shouldn't sponsor lotteries because they are essentially a "tax on ignorance." Charlie Munger added that casinos are a "dirty business" and "I don't think you'll find a casino soon in Berkshire Hathaway."

A year ago, he told "Squawk Box" that he has an 85-inch Samsung TV that he uses for sports, sitting "very close" to the enormous flat screen.

And in 1998, he recounted a story that the coach of the Cornhuskers at the time, the very successful Tom Osborne, had such a "low-key" style that on his first date with his future wife, she had to slap him three times. It wasn't because he was being "fresh." She was just checking "to be sure he was alive."

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares closed at $313,875.38 Friday, up 7.3% over the previous four weeks, and down 3.7% from one year ago.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $209.19, up 7.2% over the previous four weeks, and down 3.7% from one year ago.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at 2706.53, up 6.9% over the previous four weeks, and down 4.1% from one year ago.

BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS 

Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of September 30, 2018, as disclosed in the company's November 14 13-F SEC filing.

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

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