Kids Pitch Business Ideas To Warren Buffett

The kids competed in "The Secret Millionaire's Club" — an entrepreneurial contest tied to a web and cable series featuring a cartoon Warren Buffett. Thousands competed. Eight of them, ranging from age seven to 16, got to meet Buffett and present their ideas.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

And today's last word in business is: almost millionaires.

INSKEEP: Warren Buffett took time yesterday to listen to kids pitching potential new enterprises. These are kids who competed through Buffett's Secret Millionaires Club, a Web and cable series featuring a cartoon Buffett.

(SOUNDBITE OF WEB CARTOON, "SECRET MILLIONAIRES CLUB")

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Starting early. Thousands of kids competed. Eight of them, ranging from age seven to 16, got to meet Buffett himself and present their ideas - many of which had a social purpose, such as cupcakes for literacy.

INSKEEP: And the big winners...

(SOUNDBITE OF TAPPING ON TABLE)

INSKEEP: ...included three siblings from Kentucky with an idea Kidtrepreneur Kits. And 10-year-old Matthew Meyer from Ohio, whose idea is for an elastic contraption to help kids learning to write while holding a pen or pencil correctly.

GREENE: I could use that. Each of the winners won $5,000 and 10 shares in Berkshire Hathaway. Mr. Meyer told the Associated Press that those winnings made him rich-ish.

That's the business news on MORNING EDITION from NPR News. I'm David Greene.

INSKEEP: And I'm Steve Inskeep.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.