[Update, link to IMD's webcast featuring Warren Buffet and Eiran Wertheimer, "How to  grow wealth in a responsible and sustainable manner," 42 minutes. Register to view 20 May discussion between Buffett, whose company recently invested in Wertheimer's family business, and Wertheimer, about how and why they came together.]

Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The bise winds blew and blew Tuesday in Lausanne, and the influence of Warren Buffett, the world’s richest man according to Forbes magazine, also swept through the city.

Buffett, as head of Berkshire Hathaway (BH), an investment firm based in Omaha, Nebraska, visited business school IMD to help celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Family Business Program and to field questions from MBA students eager to know what lies behind Buffett’s success. [Ed. note: scroll down for nuggets of wisdom shared by Buffett]

"He was so easy-going – I was very impressed," says Pedro Almeido, an MBA student from Portugal. Patrick Cerf, an MBA student from Basel, echoed his sentiment. "It was hard to believe, he is so successful but he is so natural."

Buffett opened the floor to the MBA students’ questions, and for Almeido,  his answers were honest, forthright, and left the students with a remarkable example. "Look at the way he doesn’t ‘manage’ his CEOs! He told us about a company he bought seven years ago [after an initial contact, dinner, and signing within days]. In seven years, he’s had no news, never heard from the man again!" And yet, BH has amassed a fortune from such investments, he notes.

Photo: Pedro Almeido, IMD MBA student from Portugal

Almeido, who was clearly feeling inspired, says he took away two valuable lessons from the session. "You have to love what you do. And priorities: if you commit this much to your career you have to think about balance, about your relationships with people. You have to manage your passion, but also your priorities in life."

During a later press conference with journalists from around Europe Buffett fielded a question from a Financial Times journalist about what he thinks business schools should do differently, since he has been critical of business schools in the past. For finance studies, he said, there are only two important questions. "How do you value a business and how do you know the markets." Beyond that, MBA students need just one more thing. "The ability to communicate both orally and in writing – we need more of both of these. I run into people [who can do this] and they can have an enormous impact."

Buffett was on the second stop of four cities in Europe, reportedly part of an investment shopping trip.
He told journalists his goal remains to "buy into businesses we can
stay in. You want to buy into a company that you’ll like in 10-15
years. And whose people you’ll like in 20 years. If I’m lucky I’ll run
into two companies a year I like."

The man who is arguably the world’s best investor did not shy away
from sharing his opinions on several current hot media topics.

Warren Buffett on selling your business to him:
"If you have a wonderful business, you’re already rich. You don’t need us to put a number on it."

Photo: Loachim Schwass, head of IMD’s Family Business Program, Warren Buffett, Eitan Wertheimer of Iscar Metalworking.

Buffett on why people sell their businesses to him:
"Berkshire Hathaway is a culture they’re buying into."

And on the recent global investment banking crisis:
"Things have
gotten very complex. We are seeing the consequence of people who were
setting up businesses they didn’t really understand. . . The world has
made some huge mistakes, of lot of them by institutions."

On buying a bank:
"I’d buy a bank. But I’d want to know who the banker was."

On wealth funds in China:
"They’re going to have wealth funds. I
don’t think we should blame them, when we’ve pushed dollars on them,
and they now want wealth funds instead of putting them under the
mattress."

And Warren Buffett on what’s different when you’re known as the world’s richest person:
"Nothing.
My kids don’t show me any more respect and I don’t pick up the tab for
dinner any more often." Buffett did say he broke a toe at the home of
buddy Bill Gates and if he sues him and wins, the spread in their
fortunes will be even greater.

Photo: a gaggle of photographers at IMD for Buffett’s visit

On the US presidential race and his support for Barack Obama as well as Hillary Clinton:
"Well, I told both of them I’d support them, and then they both decided to run, so that’s been interesting."

On the person who will step into Warren Buffett’s shoes:
"My successor will walk into a culture that’s very well defined." Walmart was once Sam Walton, but it isn’t today, he notes.

Warren Buffett on philanthropy and giving away his money:
"Something over half will go to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. . . I don’t want to do what they do, but I want done what they do."

On giving away Berkshire Hathaway money to charity:
"At the
subsidiary level I tell them. . . you do what you do. But at Berkshire
Hathaway, at the holding company level I don’t believe in giving away
the money of the 400,000 shareholders who’ve entrusted me with their
money. . . For me, I’ve never given away a dollar that cost me
anything."

The FT published an article Monday about comments made by Buffett
when he was in Frankfurt, the first of his four European stops that are
being touted as a shopping trip for investments outside the US.

IMD webcast:
Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway and Eitan Wertheimer on "How to
growth wealth in a responsible and sustainable manner" (available
online to 10 June)

TSR video clip and story on Buffett’s visit

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