The Warren Buffett Business Buffet

Secret Millionaires Club

Those of you that follow Lemonade Day’s social media accounts (thank you for that, by the way!) might have seen a recent post we made about business lessons in contemporary kids cartoons. While researching that article, we noticed something unbelievable. Warren Buffett made a cartoon to teach children the principles of business, finance, and entrepreneurship. Better known as “The Secret Millionaire’s Club”, the show has 22 episodes and a number of shorter webisodes available online. The first episode even guest stars Warren’s good friend, Sean Carter AKA Jay-Z!

Buckle in guys, this is going to be fun.

Warren Buffett’s Kids Cartoon

Aired on The Hub Network (a partnership between Hasbro and The Discovery Channel), The Secret Millionaire’s Club was first announced in 2009 but didn’t actually premiere until two years later. The idea for a kids show was, according to Bloomberg News, the idea of Warren Buffett himself. He even came up with the title. To add some extra appeal for kids, Buffett enlisted the help of quite a few celebrities. The list includes Jay-Z, Nick Cannon, Shaquille O’Neal, astronaut John D. Olivas, Chinese astronaut Liu Yang, and Kelly Rowland.

The Secret Millionaire’s Club

Episodes of The Secret Millionaire’s Club (which I’ll refer to as TSMC from now on) focus on a group of kids that attempt various business and financial problems with assistance of Warren Buffett. Amazingly, the kids don’t always succeed and learn from Warren that failure is an important part of larger, unimaginable success. Throughout the series, the SMC helps students and businesses improve their market share, adapt to new technologies, and advertising. The show is comprehensive and goes beyond business to include topics like work/life balance, familial and personal responsibility, and the importance of patience.

Lessons from Warren Buffett’s Kids Show

One particularly amazing episode of TSMC, titled “The Cost of Giving”, concentrates on one character’s, Lisa, work/life balance when she starts to feel burned out. Realizing that her work and personal relationships are starting to suffer, Lisa feels even worse that she can’t manage everything. Warren tells her not to worry. People can become overwhelmed with work and personal issues. It’s important to get these things in order, even if it means working a little less. People still have responsibilities but a vacation or even just a day off, can reduce stress levels and help refocus goals.

The best of TSMC is actually an epic three episode story arc that finds Warren and the gang transported to Camelot and the reign of King Arthur. TSMC quickly learn that Arthur’s kingdom has fallen into severe debt and is at risk of collapse. Along with Arthur and Warren, TSMC go in search of the Six Golden Rules that will help restore financial order to Camelot. The rules themselves are the basic pillars for financial stability and success. We won’t spoil it for you to list them here but the episodes are available online!

Highlights from The Secret Millionaire’s Club

Beyond the financial lessons, The Secret Millionaire’s Club has more than its fair share of entertaining highlights. For example, there’s an entire episode called “Avast Ye Downloads!” that focuses entirely on the downsides of illegal music downloads. Rather than simply guilt kids into avoiding such behavior, TSMC instead challenges viewers to create a solution to solve the problem. Oh, and at one point in the series, Shaq dispenses solid business advice after picking up Warren Buffett like an action figure. Educational and entertaining!

As a sample to get you interested in TSMC, here's Warren's advice on running a lemonade stand, "Lemons to Lemonade." Enjoy!

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