Nebraska, United States – PETER Eischeid has long had his nose pressed to the glass of billionaire Warren Buffett’s investment empire, yearning to be among those with the means to buy their way in.

No more. Thanks to a stock split approved last Wednesday, Eischeid and other small investors plan to snatch up lower-tier Berkshire Hathaway Inc shares that will sell for just US$69 and change. That’s down from about US$3,500 that each Class B share commanded before.

“I avoided that conglomerate mainly because of the entry prices of the shares,” said Eischeid, 34, of Salt Lake City. “I know there are a lot of people that will definitely be intrigued by that lower share price.”

There will indeed, said Andy Kilpatrick, a stockbroker and author of a two-volume tome on Buffett’s life and business.

“It now makes it available to a child who cuts grass for spending money,” Kilpatrick said. “There’s nobody who can’t find US$66. The last time Berkshire stock was at US$66 was in 1971.”

Buffett has built his reputation as a savvy investor who spots quality businesses selling cheaply and either buys the stock or the whole company. Omaha-based Berkshire has investments in such companies as Coca-Cola Co and Wells Fargo & Co, and owns more than 60 subsidiaries, including clothing, furniture and jewellery companies. Its insurance and utility businesses typically account for more than half of its revenue.

The company’s prized Class A shares, which carry more voting rights and are not being split, are America’s most expensive stock at around US$100,000 each. The Class B shares, dubbed “Baby Berkshires”, are splitting 50-for-1 as a way to facilitate the company’s plan to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp.

Among investors drawn by the lower price is Adam Bray-Ali, a self-described small investor from Los Angeles, who bought two shares of the Class B stock for just under US$3,300 each two days before the split, and planned to buy another 50 or so afterward.

But there’s more at play than the stock’s new affordability.

“I can go to the shareholder meeting this year,” the 35-year-old Bray-Ali said.

Berkshire’s annual meeting is the mecca of shareholder events, routinely drawing more than 30,000 to Omaha for the three-day affair that has an almost carnival-like atmosphere. The event includes a shareholder reception on the eve of the meeting, various parties and a six-hour question-and-answer session with Buffett, who tosses out financial observances in terms even the most uninitiated investor can follow.

“I would say that for some young investor … if you want to learn about investments, then the annual meeting is the place to go,” Kilpatrick said.