In a reflective message accompanying a massive transfer of Berkshire Hathaway stock to family foundations, Warren Buffett reminisced about a near-death experience in his youth that involved an emergency appendectomy, three weeks in a Catholic hospital and a curious hobby: fingerprinting the attending nuns.
The revelation came in a Thanksgiving message to shareholders in which the Berkshire chairman announced the conversion of 1,800 A shares into 2.7 million B shares for distribution to the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation, The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation. The conversion and donation were executed on Nov. 10.
