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The 2025 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament marked the 10th year that Warren Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha” and longtime CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, offered a lucrative March Madness bracket contest for all employees of his mega-conglomerate.
In 2026, Buffett will no longer be the CEO of Berkshire—but the contest will continue, the company told FOS in response to an inquiry.
Wednesday marks Buffett’s final day as CEO after 60 years running his company, which has amassed dozens of wholly-owned consumer-facing subsidiaries including Geico, BNSF Railroad, Dairy Queen, Duracell, See’s Candies, and more. Employees of all those companies are eligible to participate in Buffett’s March Madness contest, which he started in 2016.
In the first nine years of the pool, the contest offered a $1 million prize to anyone who perfectly nailed the Sweet 16; no one ever pulled that off. The consolation prize was $100,000 to the bracket that stayed perfect the longest.
Last year, Buffett tweaked the rules to make the million dollars more attainable: he promised $1 million to anyone who correctly nailed 30 of the first 32 games. Buffett, who is 95, told the Wall Street Journal he eased the rules because, “I’m getting older… I want to give away a million dollars to somebody while I’m still around as chairman.” He succeeded, yielding the contest’s first million-dollar winner.
Each year during the contest, “Chester Q. Brackington” sends the entire field email updates every round, tracking how many brackets are still perfect. Buffett, a huge Creighton fan, takes great pride in the contest.
A spokesperson for Buffett told FOS the contest will continue because, “Our employees really like it.”
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