The Richest Man In The World’s Website
On February 11th, 2008, Warren Buffet was named World’s Richest Man by Forbes Magazine. His net worth is $62-billion.
So just think for a second - what would the richest man in the World’s website look like?
Well, Warren Buffet is CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, a company that sits at number 11 in the Fortune 500. They hold a decent chunk of American Express, Coke, Goldman Sachs, P&G, Kraft, Tesco & dozens of other major brands.
Here’s a screenshot of the current Berkshire Hathaway website:
So the question is: Are they making a mistake here?
Intuition & common sense say “Yes”. Big company websites don’t look like that (at least not since 1996). It’s not pretty enough. They don’t even have a ’search’ box. etc.
But actually this site works just fine. Here’s why:
- Berkshire Hathaway’s direct customers are CEOs, shareholders, and Warren Buffet fans. BH’s business is not going to suffer in any way as a result of having a website like this.
- If you’re visiting Berkshire Hathaway’s site, you’re looking for information. While it’s not perfect, the site is definitely straightforward; you can find your way around as easily as on any other corporate site. It is just straight info.
- Warren Buffet has a ‘no frills, no nonsense’ image. He lives in the same house he bought 50 years ago for $30k. Rather than damaging his image, this site reinforces it & fits perfectly with his story.
(By the way - if you visit the site - make sure to check out their commemorative cards!)
Down10 said,
September 24, 2008 @ 6:45 pm
It would be fine if the default typography generated by HTML was pleasing, but mostly it looks bad and unsophisticated. Decent, well-arranged type (on the Web, using CSS) doesn’t need frills, but is it still “nonsense”? I might as well telnet into their web server, if visuals truly meant nothing over the Internet.
Jeremy Middleton said,
September 25, 2008 @ 2:23 pm
Well no there is nothing wrong with it, everyone knows that people just scan text so why put more on than what you need
Jeremy Middleton said,
September 25, 2008 @ 2:28 pm
no not really but imagine how much better the words would sounds if Warren introduced them with Video. How much more approachable would the company feel. Is the least said the best action , in the words of show business keep them wanting more?The best sales people never show all the cards upfront?