When he was just 25 years old, baseball superstar Alex Rodriguez signed a 10-year, $252 million contract with the Texas Rangers. It was the biggest contract in the history of sports at the time.
The deal not only set A-Rod up for life from a financial standpoint, it also helped him create a valuable relationship with legendary investor Warren Buffett.
In an interview with Bloomberg’s David Rubenstein this week, A-Rod said he decided to cold-call the investor — who is 45 years his senior — after learning that Berkshire Hathaway was insuring his contract.
“I reached out to him and I said “Warren, now that we’re business partners, maybe I can come out and see you in Omaha,'” Rodriguez explained.
Buffett’s secretary Debbie Bosanek answered quickly, extending an invitation for the all-star to visit in October.
“I said ‘I’ll be there, ’cause we’re not going to the playoffs,'” Rodriguez replied.
Warren Buffett is a lifelong baseball fan.
Mark Peterson | Corbis Historical | Getty Images
It began a relationship that would see A-Rod visit Omaha annually for “five or six years” to take meetings with Buffett. Rodriguez said that he and Buffett “have this great connection over our love of baseball.”
In addition to telling Rodriguez that “you always want to be a gentleman” and encouraging him to be “a great baseball player,” Buffett shared a piece of investing knowledge with the young athlete.
“The two rules of investing are ‘One: Never lose money,’ and ‘Two: Don’t forget rule No. 1,'” Rodriguez said Buffett told him.
Rodriguez was eventually traded to the New York Yankees just three years into his deal. In New York, he broke his own record when he signed a 10-year, $275 million contract.
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