Bill Gates Named to Berkshire Board

Omaha, NE, December 15-- The board of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. voted Tuesday to elect Microsoft Corp. founder Bill Gates to fill the current vacancy left by the July death of Buffett's wife, Susan. Gates has long been a shareholder in the company and is a friend of Buffett's. The two became friends after meeting at a social event in Seattle in 1991. Since then, Gates and Buffett have shared of love of cards -- namely, bridge. Both play competitively and often meet online to play. Forbes magazine listed Buffett as the world's second richest person with personal wealth at $41 billion, behind Gates' $48 billion. In 2000, Buffett publicly defended Gates as the U.S. Justice Department pursued an antitrust case against Microsoft. Gates' business acumen was apparently impressive enough to convince Buffett -- renown for his resistance to invest in tech stocks -- to buy 167,500 shares of Microsoft preferred stock in 1999. Gates becomes one of 11 members on Berkshire's board of directors that includes Buffett, Berkshire vice chairman Charlie Munger and Buffett's son, Howard Buffett.

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