In 2011, I had the opportunity to co-promote a baseball mobile game with the Demarini baseball bat company, which took me to the College World Series baseball tournament held in Omaha. At that time, I didn’t know much about Omaha itself, nor did I have much interest in Warren Buffett, known as the Sage of Omaha. However, as time passed and I developed an interest in investing, I came to realize just how great an investor Warren Buffett is. This made my past visit to that place feel like a fresh, meaningful experience. Reading books about his investment philosophy made me feel as if I were attending a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, listening to his conversations with his business partner, Charlie Munger. Reading the actual questions posed at the meetings and his responses in the book made me realize that even the most obvious truths can be conveyed differently depending on who answers them and how. This was true even when Warren Buffett admitted that investing in the U.S. airline industry and failing to invest in Google were mistakes.

However, his greatness lay in consistently reinvesting over a long period without compromising his investment principles and philosophy, and in responsibly managing the money entrusted to him. His moral values were embodied in his very life, which never betrayed the hopes and expectations of those who placed their money in Berkshire Hathaway. For example, when Warren Buffett served as chairman of Salomon Brothers, he acknowledged past misconduct, made decisions to absorb company losses to restore trust, and issued corrective orders addressing excessively high investment management fees. The fact that 98% of his assets were held in Berkshire Hathaway stock and that he had written a will stipulating the donation of most of his estate to charitable organizations clearly demonstrated his transparent asset management principles. His explanation that investing in a great company is like owning a part of it mirrored what John Lee said in his book The Rich Habits, and he was personally putting into practice his belief that owning stocks is the goal.

I once happened to meet Chairman Anderson, who used to own the building housing a venture capital office in Menlo Park, Silicon Valley, near my office. I boldly shared Jesus with him and gained insight into his beliefs. Surprisingly, he believed that when people die, they ascend to heaven and become like clouds. To him, I explained that there is both heaven and hell after death, and that only by believing in Jesus can one go to heaven. I remember stumbling through the gospel with my limited English. After reading Charlie Munger’s Bible, I realized he might not have known much about God. Since I couldn’t share the gospel with him now that he’s passed away, I hoped someone would share it with Warren Buffett. So today, I rose at dawn again, attended early morning prayer, prayed for Korea’s freedom, the safety of our community, and the next generation, and started the day with vigor.