Someone Finally Won Warren Buffett’s $1 Million March Madness Prize Thanks to Rule Change
College basketball fans have expressed a bit of frustration through the first weekend of March Madness, decrying the lack of, well, madness that the tournament has offered thus far.
But while the dominance of favorites may not be the best outcome for viewers looking for some heart-stopping action on the court, it did result in Warren Buffett finally awarding $1 million in his infamous bracket pool, according to a report from Front Office Sports.
In the past, Berkshire Hathaway employees who perfectly predicted the Sweet 16 in Buffett’s pool could win $1 million per year for life, with a consolation prize of $100,000 to the bracket that stayed perfect the longest should no one nail the Sweet 16, per FOS.
But after years without a winner, Buffett eased up on the rules this year, offering up a million to anyone who could correctly predict 30 of the 32 first-round games. “I’m getting older … I want to give away a million dollars to somebody while I’m still around as chairman,” the billionaire told the Wall Street Journal while explaining his reason for changing the guidelines.
Well, according to FOS and an email sent to participants in the pool, at least one entrant had secured “The Prize” with a game to spare in the first round.
Buffett is known to delight in March Madness and had in the past been a part of a promotion promising $1 billion to anyone who could somehow perfectly predict the bracket. Thankfully, he lowered the bar a bit this year—and with a pretty chalky set of first-round results, one or several of his employees were able to cash in.