Blockchain CEO tells us why he paid $4.6M for Warren Buffett lunch

A 28-year-old blockchain entrepreneur said in a CNBC interview that he paid almost $4.6 million for lunch with Warren Buffett because he hopes to build a "bridge" between Buffett and the cryptocurrency/blockchain industry.

But Justin Sun, creator of the Tron cryptocurrency and CEO of BitTorrent, isn't expecting to totally win him over, even with the help of seven other blockchain industry leaders Sun will be inviting to the lunch.

Buffett has called bitcoin a "non-productive" asset that creates "nothing" ... a "delusion" that "attracts charlatans" and is heading to a "bad ending" ... or "rat poison squared" to be more concise. (Buffett has acknowledged that while he thinks cryptocurrencies are bad investments, the underlying blockchain technology has merit.)

Sun, who says he admires Buffett and shares his "value" investing philosophy, told us, "It is too much for us to change his mind on bitcoin in just a three-hour lunch. But definitely we will offer him a different opinion on bitcoin and the blockchain technology."

Sun thinks Buffett doesn't have the "right source for the blockchain industry news" and is being misled by media reports.  "I just want him to learn what the younger generations are doing."

Could Buffett wind up changing Sun's mind? "I don't think so," he replied with a smile.

Berkshire portfolio gets (small) lift from Kraft

Kraft Heinz shares were up more than 2% to $29.50 in after-hours trading as we sent out this newsletter Friday evening.  The company says it has completed an internal investigation into its procurement practices. The stock is still well below its 52-week high of $64.99.

Berkshire owns 325.6 million shares, a stake worth around $9 billion. Today's late gain adds $247 million to its value (on paper.)

Buffett and Gates "pick up a shift" at Dairy Queen

Taking a break from meetings connected to last month's Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates visited a local Dairy Queen "for some lunch and to get some restaurant training," according to the YouTube description for a video of the proceedings posted on the Gates account.

With a lot of help from a very patient DQ "Fan Captain" named Zach, the two billionaires "make" soft-serve ice cream cones and "help" customers by taking orders and working the registers.

In a blog post, Gates compared Buffett to DQ's practice of serving "Blizzards" upside-down to show how thick they are. "Every time I get to see Warren, I’m struck by his surprising, insightful, 'upside-down' view of the world. He thinks differently—about almost everything. For starters, he credits his amazing success to something anyone could do. 'I just sit in my office and read all day.'"

How well did Buffett and Gates perform their temporary job duties? Zach says they "could have done better. Bill was good on the menu board. Warren was good at taking credit."

Sounds about right. 

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE ARCHIVE

Buffett has had doubts about bitcoin for a number of years.

You can hear what he's said about cryptocurrencies going back to 2013 in this collection of clips from the Buffett Archive.

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares closed at $309,265 Friday, down 2.0% over the previous four weeks, and up 5.6% from one year ago.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $205.81, down 1.5% over the previous four weeks, and up 5.2% from one year ago.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at 2873.34, down 0.3% over the previous four weeks, and up 3.7% 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 March 31, 2019, as disclosed in the company's May 15 13F SEC filing.

USG Corporation (USG) was listed in the 13-F filing (39,002,016 shares) but is not included in this table because the stock is no longer trading following the April completion of the company's acquisition by Knauf.

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

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Please send us any questions or comments about the newsletter to us at buffett@cnbc.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

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