Warren Buffet would rather be a “forgetful old man”
The cryptocurrency world is buzzing with the latest news of the dinner between Warren Buffet and Justin Sun. Everyone is weighing in on the discussion and the dismissive way Warren Buffet discussed cryptocurrency.
Many people have thrown their thoughts into the fire to speculate why Warren Buffet claims he doesn’t own cryptocurrency. Prior to the dinner, Justin suggested he had given Warren two phones that held Bitcoin and Tron.
On the other hand, there are people who have been calling Justin a liar. Saying he never actually gave Warren any cryptocurrency.
What I think really happened
I don’t believe Justin is lying and I don’t believe Warren is a “forgetful old man”. He may even still have the cryptocurrency that was given to him. However, that is beside the point.
I would argue that either way (whether he still has the funds or not), Warren Buffet had no choice but to say he doesn’t own any cryptocurrency. Even if he had the devices in his pocket and buys lunch every day with Tron, he had to say “no”.
This is not a commentary on Tron or Bitcoin, but on Warren Buffet.
Let’s dissect the events that took place in a bit more detail.
On June 3rd, 2019, Justin Sun bought dinner with Warren Buffet. Shockingly, the dinner cost $4.6 million. To many people, this seemed like an insane amount of money to pay for dinner. Many people were questioning the decision from Justin. It didn’t seem to make financial sense from the outside looking in.
What most people don’t consider is Justin is a masterful marketing expert. He was going to milk every ounce of opportunity out of this dinner. That included press tours, announcements, and campaigns to drum up interest.
I believe this also included a key strategy - getting Warren Buffet to say the words “I own Tron” on the world stage.
The way he was going to get him to say these words was to gift Bitcoin and Tron to Warren Buffet. By offering this gift, he was hoping that Warren would then say he still owns Tron when asked at some point.
Justin knew those 3 words would spin the Tron community into a frenzy. With millions of eyes on Warren Buffet, those words would be more than enough to return his $4.6m investment into this dinner.
Every major news outlet would take that small sound bite and turn it into a headline. This would get people interested in Tron and at the very least want to learn more. At best, this would pump the price of Tron significantly.
Justin wanted the sound bite. He wanted the words “I own Tron” to come out of the mouth of Warren. He knows the way the media works and he’s willing to take advantage of these “hacks”.
That’s not even to mention the strong social following of Tron that would be more than willing to spread the word that Warren owns Tron. They would spin these words to make it sound like an endorsement. Making it seem as though Warren Buffet supports Tron.
Even taken out of context, those words would be enough for millions of people to hear about Tron.
Honestly, it was a clever plan. I can’t argue that Justin isn’t a creative leader. There are a lot of lessons marketing experts could learn from him. The way he thinks outside the box, garners recognition, and gets Tron in front of increasingly large audiences.
What Justin may not have expected is Warren Buffet has been the target of these types of ploys for decades. He has met countless Justin Sun’s - people seeking endorsements, manipulating situations for marketing efforts, and trying to tap into Warren Buffet’s brand.
Warren Buffet is not just an “old man”. He’s one of the richest people in the world who is respected by millions of investors. These investors take his word as gospel. He didn’t get to this level by chance. Warren is smart, calculating, and perceptive.
Warren knows that saying he owns something like Tron or Bitcoin will mean thousands of his supporters will go out and buy the asset. Just like when he says he owns a specific stock.
Hate him all you want for not supporting cryptocurrency, but he’s not naive. He understands there are people who are willing to take whatever they can from him given the chance.
He couldn’t risk anyone taking his ownership as an endorsement for Tron.
Warren Buffet didn’t forget he owned cryptocurrencies. He chose those words intentionally. The risk of saying he owned Bitcoin and Tron far outweighed any benefit from those statements. He knew this well.
I strongly disagree with the narrative being pushed by both sides.
I don’t think Justin lied about giving Warren cryptocurrency. Justin had laid a strategic plan for how he was going to spark media attention for Tron. In many ways, he pulled off a significant portion of his plan.
He was able to generate significant interest in the dinner, became the focus of conversation on multiple occasions, and had the opportunity to be seen with world-class investors. That alone may have been enough to be worth it.
I also disagree with the idea that Warren Buffet is a “forgetful old man”. He is a masterful investor and leader. The words he used when discussing cryptocurrency were precise and intentional. He knew the game Justin was playing. Warren has been playing this game since before Justin was born.
Warren Buffet had no choice but to say he doesn’t own Bitcoin or Tron. Saying he owned either of these assets would be twisted by the media to suggest it was an endorsement.
Warren Buffet would rather be a “forgetful old man” than be used to endorse a cause he doesn’t support.
Disclaimer: There are a lot of details I don’t have about this entire situation. It is quite possible my opinion is wrong. Take my thoughts with a grain of salt.
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