HE gave them lunch, answered all their questions and spent about five hours with them.

The encounter with investment mogul Warren Buffett is one these Singapore business students won't easily forget.

Businessmen have bid up to $800,000 to lunch with Mr Buffet, the world's richest man. But he also regularly hosts lunch for students.

For the 21 students from the National University of Singapore Business School, it was part of a study trip earlier this month.

They paid only $1,500 each for the nine-day trip. The university sponsored the balance of $2,600 per student.

The group consisted of 16 MBA students and 5 business undergraduates.

They visited Silicon Valley, New York City, Los Angeles and Mr Buffett's hometown of Omaha.

DOWN-TO-EARTH

MBA student Rajesh Khanna, 25, said Mr Buffet came across as a simple, down-to-earth man.

'We went to his favourite restaurant, a steak house called Piccolo Pete's. It wasn't even a fancy place,' Mr Khanna said.

'We expected him to be surrounded by bodyguards, but he casually walked in alone, sat down, and opened a can of Coke.'

Another student, Miss Gagan Deep Kaur, 25, said the question-and-answer session came after lunch. 'He told us we could ask him anything, even questions about his personal life.'

MBA student Tushar Kheterpal, 28, said Mr Buffett's most memorable reply was in response to a question about his investment decisions.

'He said that if a company has a share of the mind, then market share will follow - if a company can occupy a place in your mind, it will likely be one that lasts.

'That's why he likes Coca-Cola so much as a company.'

Mr Buffett, who has auctioned himself for lunch for charity every year since 2000, also spoke about his staunch belief in long-term investment.

'He's a very patient investor,' Mr Kheterpal said.

The students recalled Mr Buffett's simple yet powerful answer on why he steered clear of technology stocks during the Internet boom in the late 1990s: 'Will these companies change the way I chew gum?'

Said Mr Khanna: 'He's not a speculative investor - he won't invest in businesses he knows little about.'

The students said Mr Buffett's sense of humour kept them riveted throughout the session.

Miss Kaur said: 'Somebody asked him what question he would like to be asked, one that no one had ever asked him before.

'He thought for a while and said: 'Do you think you look like George Clooney?'

'He also said he had yet to be asked out by a Hollywood actress.'

Mr Khanna said Mr Buffett was asked if he had ever made investment decisions that failed.

'He said his mistakes did not result in losses - he simply did not make as much as he could have.'

Mr Khanna recalled that Mr Buffett made an effort to move from table to table, so that he could interact with as many students as possible.

He also posed for photographs with them.

Recalled Miss Kaur: 'He obliged each and every person who wanted to take a photo with him. We must have spent at least an hour taking photos.'

Mr Kheterpal, one of the trip's organisers, said the itinerary took about six months to plan.

He said: 'We've organised trips within the region, but we felt it was time to step out of Asia.

OBVIOUS CHOICE

'The US was the obvious choice - most of the Fortune 500 companies are headquartered there.'

He said the lunch session with Mr Buffett materialised after several MBA students from the university met executives from Berkshire Hathaway, the company helmed by Mr Buffett, on a separate occasion.

Other highlights of the trip were a session with Mr Scott McNealy, chairman of Sun Microsystems, and a visit to Google's Silicon Valley headquarters.

Miss Kaur said she enjoyed the Google visit, because it gave her an insight into the company's innovative culture.

'They have a concept called Google 150, where there is food every 150ft (46m), like a cafeteria or something.

'And then there's the phenomenon of Google 15, where the employees gain 15lb (7kg) because of Google 150,' she said with a laugh.

This article was first published by The New Paper on Mar 28, 2008