28 Aug, 2018 12:50

Would real Warren Buffett please stand up? Fake account’s life advice goes viral

A Twitter account, purporting to be that of the world’s third-wealthiest person, Warren Buffett, has gone viral after it shared some tips. Thousands of users, including businessmen and politicians, have taken the bait.

A touch of wisdom from one of the most successful people in the world could be a good thing. Now life advice, going under the big name of the chairman and CEO of multinational conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, has exploded in the Twittersphere, gaining hundreds of thousands of retweets and likes. There's just one thing wrong – the wisdom-sharing account is fake.

Here's what's cool:1 saying 'thank you' 2 apologizing when wrong3 showing up on time4 being nice to strangers5 listening without interrupting6 admitting you were wrong7 following your dreams8 being a mentor9 learning and using people's names10 holding doors open
— Warren Buffet (@warrenbuffet99) August 26, 2018

The account ‘Warren Buffet,’ which misses one letter in the name of the real billionaire and uses his smiling photo as the profile image, was registered in December 2016, but only became active on Saturday. However, the last few days have brought the imposter more popularity than Buffett’s real account has ever had.

A biggest tweet from the real investor gained 20,00 likes since the time of the account’s creation in 2013 despite enjoying 1.4 million followers. Meanwhile, one from ‘warrenbuffet99’ has already hit more than 500,000 likes and more than 200,000 people shared the post, and some other tweets are not far behind. The fake account has also surpassed the verified one by the number of posts, as Warren Buffett has apparently no time for social media judging by 7 tweets he has made in 5 years.

The content has apparently proved to be so natural and convincing, that US businessman Mark Cuban, the NBA's Dallas Mavericks and co-owner of 2929 Entertainment media company, retweeted the imposter.British MP, Dame Cheryl Gillan, followed suit, saying the tweet is “good advice”.

A spokesperson for Buffett confirmed to ABC that the account is fake.

Of course, some saw through the deception, with one user asking if it is “the most successful and prolific fake account in Twitter history.”