Voices

Jay-Z lends voice, wisdom to Buffett's financial literacy cartoon

School kids might have 99 problems, but Warren Buffett and Jay-Z are hoping financial literacy isn’t one after they team up in a rebooted animated series, “Secret Millionaires Club,” that teaches kids about practical money habits.  

Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Buffett voices a financial wizard who guides a group of kids that meet in a secret bunker out of various financial emergencies, reports The New York Times.

Rapper and entrepreneur Jay-Z guest stars as a cartoon version of himself in the below preview clip, who advises the students: "As a team you can put your interest in business to good use. That's what I've done; being a good business man has allowed me to help others."

The series began on the Web in 2009, co-founded by Buffett and “Inspector Gadget” creator Andrew Heyward. The three-minute Web episodes are part of a larger education program to improve financial literacy that includes a television show adapted from the online series, an online portal and a business competition for children.

The TV version will start airing on the Hub cable network Oct. 23.

According to the Times, in addition to recording his lines for the cartoon, Buffett regularly reviews and edits scripts, and didn’t have too much trouble convincing Jay-Z, who called himself the “Black Mr. Buffett” in a 2003 song, to cameo.

The announcement comes after Buffett’s August Times op-ed advising policymakers to stop “coddling the super-rich.”

“I get 50 to 75 letters from people a day who are having financial problems,” Buffett told the Times. “It’s too late when you get to be 40 or 50 to start learning the right habits.”

 

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