Warren Buffett, the billionaire investor, urged corporate America in an essay published online Thursday to help develop women’s workplace potential, arguing women are the key to America’s economic prosperity.
The essay, written for the May 20 issue of Fortune magazine, made the economic — and ethical — case for expanding opportunities for women.
It comes just a few months after Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s chief operating officer, published her book Lean In, which pushes women to be more assertive in their careers and calls for more mentorship of female employees.
Sandberg’s memoir has sparked a national conversation on women’s workplace advancement.
In his essay, Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway, recalls his own friendship with the late Katherine Graham, who was chief executive of the Washington Post Co.
“I met Kay in 1973 and quickly saw that she was a person of unusual ability and character,” Buffett wrote. “But the gender-related self-doubt was certainly there too.”
Under Graham, the Washington Post Co. thrived, Buffett said. Since then, the corporate landscape for women has changed, but more can be done, he argued.
Buffett challenged male executives to think about how women can boost productivity.
“So, my fellow males, what’s in this for us?” he asks. “If obvious benefits flow from helping the male component of the work force achieve its potential, why in the world wouldn’t you want to include its counterpart?”
The essay was published just days before the company’s annual shareholder meeting and comes two months after Calvert Investments published a report ranking Berkshire Hathaway as one of the least diverse companies in the S&P 100 Index.
Berkshire shareholders are set to elect Meryl Witmer, a general partner at Eagle Capital, as a director at the annual meeting. Witmer would be the third woman on Berkshire’s board, joining Charlotte Guyman and Susan Decker. Her addition would expand the board to 13 as the panel prepares for Buffett’s eventual departure.
“If it was a toss-up, I wanted to give it to a woman,” Buffett said of adding a female director. “I like the idea of women of talent becoming recognized.”
Women held just 16.6 percent of board seats and 14.3 percent of executive-officer posts at Fortune 500 companies in 2012, according to a report from Catalyst, a nonprofit group that seeks to expand opportunities for women. They fill 51.4 percent of managerial and professional positions, yet earn 23 percent less than men on average, U.S. Census data show.
Separately, Buffett topped 80,000 followers on Twitter as he sent his first message on the social media site.
“Warren is in the house,” Buffett wrote in the post at about 12:20 p.m. He had more than 59,000 followers an hour later.
The billionaire, whose Twitter handle is @WarrenBuffett, joins celebrities from pop singer Justin Bieber to Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates on the site.
The number of Twitter users following Buffett trails the more than 38 million receiving updates from Bieber, and the 11.1 million following Gates, who’s a director of Berkshire and plays cards with Buffett.
“Welcome to Twitter @WarrenBuffett,” Gates said in a Twitter post. “First ever Twitter bridge tourney starts now. I bid 3 hearts.”
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which turned to Buffett for a capital injection in the financial crisis, also sent a message. “Please welcome our friend @WarrenBuffett to @twitter by following him today,” the bank said.
Buffett isn’t following any other people on Twitter.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.