Mary Barra received a masterclass in business from none other than Warren Buffett.
General Motors’ longtime CEO said the legendary investor gave her “just phenomenal advice, and I will be forever grateful for the time he gave me, the leadership wisdom he shared with me, and also the support through some pretty dicey times.”
Barra spoke about visiting Buffett in his hometown of Omaha during the latest episode of the “Fortune 500: Titans and Disruptors of Industry” podcast.
Buffett once asked if she would do anything differently if GM was a private company and didn’t have to report earnings every quarter, and seemed pleased when she said no, Barra said.
She recalled him saying: “I don’t want you running the company for the quarter. I want you running it for the long term. That’s how you’re really going to create value.”
“So it was just all these pearls of wisdom, ” Barra said, adding that she “used to love” sitting in his office or meeting him for lunch at a local restaurant.
They would have “wonderful conversations,” and she would leave with a bunch of valuable takeaways, she said. Buffett “really shaped a lot of my leadership by his wisdom,” she added.
Barra and Buffett
Barra began working on a GM factory floor at age 18, following the lead of her father, who worked as a die maker at GM for around four decades.
She was appointed CEO in January 2014, weeks before crisis struck and the company was forced to recall 2.6 million vehicles with defective ignition switches. GM’s core brands are Chevrolet, GMC, Buick, and Cadillac.
Berkshire bought a stake in GM in early 2012, and gradually grew it eight-fold to 80 million shares in 2020, giving it a nearly 6% stake worth around $4 billion at its peak. It exited the position in 2023.
Buffett and his team may have made a bad call there. GM stock has more than tripled from its low in November 2023 to around $84 a share at Wednesday’s close, valuing the company at roughly $74 billion.
Barra said that Buffett was “very supportive for years” as she reshaped GM’s culture to focus more on its customers, prioritize safety, and drive innovation.
The auto executive said that she likes to ask her team, “When’s the best time to solve a problem?” She’ll tell them it’s “the minute you have one” because “rarely do problems get smaller.”
Buffett has spoken highly of Barra over the years. She once persuaded him to upgrade his 2006 Cadillac to the 2014 model, paving the way for a funny story involving a police stop, a free hat, and a letter from Buffett to Barra.
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