Jamie Spencer
FlightSafety staffer nails 31 first-round picks to claim prize
For the first time since Warren Buffett launched his $1 million NCAA bracket contest nearly a decade ago, a Berkshire Hathaway employee has finally claimed the top prize. The winner, an anonymous staffer from aviation training company FlightSafety International, correctly picked 31 out of 32 first-round games in this year’s March Madness tournament.
The rare feat comes after years of rule adjustments to make the jackpot more achievable. Buffett, a longtime Creighton basketball fan, initially required a perfect Sweet 16. In 2024, he waived the results of games involving top-seeded teams. Still, no one cracked the bracket — until now.
This year’s rule change awarded the prize to any employee who picked at least 30 of the first 32 games correctly. 12 employees met that threshold. The tiebreaker? The most consecutive correct picks before a loss. The winner correctly predicted 29 straight games before a miss, and 44 out of 45 games overall.
While only one person claimed the million-dollar prize, Buffett didn’t leave the other high performers empty-handed. The 11 remaining contestants each received $100,000.
Buffett, 94, has long used the contest to boost employee engagement across his companies. Despite his unmatched investing acumen, even he admits predicting the unpredictable chaos of college basketball is a different game altogether.
