Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Warren Buffett
- Former baseball star Alex Rodriguez told Vanity Fair that he struck up a friendship with Warren Buffett after the legendary investor helped underwrite his massive contract in 2000.
- Buffett said that Rodriguez has a "money mind" and would've been a successful businessman "if he had never seen a baseball."
- Rodriguez said there were two big pieces of business advice and two big pieces of life advice Buffett gave him.
Alex Rodriguez, the former Major League Baseball All-star, said he owes a few debts to legendary investor Warren Buffett in a new Vanity Fair profile.
According to a new piece on Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez, the former player and current baseball broadcaster not only owes Buffett a bit of a financial thank you, but also a thank you for some life advice.
Rodriguez and the man known as the "Oracle of Omaha" first met, according to Vanity Fair, when Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway underwrote disability insurance for a 10-year, $252 million contract between the Texas Rangers and Rodriguez.
The men struck up a friendship after Rodriguez sent the legendary investor a note thanking him for underwriting the deal. According to Vanity Fair, Buffett has been a "mentor" for Rodriguez and offered him both financial and personal advice.
Buffett told Vanity Fair's Bethany McLean that Rodriguez has a "money mind" and knows how to handle business "instinctively."
"A-Rod would have done very well in business if he had never seen a baseball," Buffett said.
Rodriguez said that Buffett gave him a few pieces of advice that have stuck with him. On the business side, A-Rod said that Buffett taught him to never personally guarantee any debt and to never hold too much cash, but rather put "your money in great businesses."
On the personal side, Rodriguez said that the investor's advice was even more simple.
"Warren said, 'Go ahead, but you won't need it. Number one: Be the best baseball player you can be. Number two: Always be a gentleman. Be the best guy you can be'," Rodriguez told Vanity Fair. "That was simple, but it was so genius."