When Berkshire Hathaway announced Tuesday that it wanted to buy the shares it didn’t own in Fort Worth-based Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad company, things started falling into place for Matt Mildren.
Mildren owns The Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth, where Warren Buffett, Berkshire’s chief executive, and the rest of the Berkshire Hathaway board met two weeks ago for one of its annual off-site meetings.
“Now I understand why Mr. Buffett wanted all the staff out of the Ashton wine cellar Thursday night,” Mildren said Tuesday.
On the first night of their stay, Buffett had a private board dinner in the Ashton’s wine cellar and the hotel staff was under strict orders not come in the room unless otherwise summoned, Mildren said.
“I’m honored and hugely humbled, to say the least, that the biggest Berkshire Hathaway investment in history was cut at the little Ashton Hotel in downtown Fort Worth,” Mildren said.
Berkshire Hathaway booked the hotel six months ago, but based on Buffett’s comments on national television early Tuesday morning, the deal with BNSF wasn’t cut until Buffett arrived in Fort Worth on Oct. 22. The board meeting ended two days later.
Buffett even mentioned The Ashton — a 39-room boutique hotel at 610 Main St. — in his network interview. Mildren is appreciative for the plug, but said he fielded calls from friends wanting to know if he knew about the pending deal.
Buffett was appreciative, too. On Friday, The Ashton staff received a 5-pound box of See’s chocolates. Berkshire owns the California-based candy maker.
SANDRA BAKER, 817-390-7727
