Annually, Professor Albert L. Auxier’s class visited Warren Buffett, the initiator of Berkshire Hathaway, using money they won through the Tennessee Valley Investment Challenge, a real-money investing contest involving 25 schools. In 2003 the students presented Buffett with a copy of the autobiography of Jim Clayton, a UT graduate and Knoxville businessman who founded the manufactured home business Clayton Homes in 1966. The book intrigued Buffett, who met with Auxier, met with Clayton Homes CEO Kevin Clayton, and then acquired the company.
In October Buffett came to campus for a graduation ceremony at which he presented each student with a PhD (phenomenal, hardworking, dealmaker) from Berkshire and a share of a Class B stock in Berkshire Hathaway. Auxier received a Class A share. The students were specially invited to the stockholders’ meeting, and the 2003 annual report of Berkshire Hathaway said: “If you meet some of the new Tennessee shareholders at our annual meeting, give them your thanks. And ask them if they’ve read any good books lately.”