{"id":1585,"date":"2024-11-29T15:56:34","date_gmt":"2024-11-29T14:56:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/valueinvestments.ch\/?p=1585"},"modified":"2025-01-07T21:37:48","modified_gmt":"2025-01-07T20:37:48","slug":"2022-berkshire-hathaway-shareholder-meeting-impressions-experiences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/valueinvestments.ch\/en\/2022-berkshire-hathaway-shareholder-meeting-impressions-experiences\/","title":{"rendered":"2022 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting – Impressions & Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

2022 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My Impressions and Experiences from Omaha<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Olivier<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Shareholder Meeting had been on my bucket list for years. This year it finally worked out. For me it was a very special experience<\/strong>: I actually got to see Warren Buffett<\/strong> (91) & Charlie Munger<\/strong> (98) live<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an investor and <\/strong>wealth manager<\/a> with a value investing strategy, this trip was a dream come true for me – I am happy to start my new blog with this inspiring experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this first blog post, I’ll take you on a journey through my memories & experiences from the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting<\/strong>, where you’ll find fun stories<\/strong> & practical tips<\/strong>, as well as guidance<\/strong> on how to attend the Annual Meeting yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s hard to predict how long Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger will be around. I can only recommend a visit to Omaha while it is still possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

ATTENTION<\/strong> Do not Miss the Raffle!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to memories & experiences, I also took home some great goodies & souvenirs<\/strong>. I will raffle them off here. This way, everyone has a chance to win a Berkshire Hathaway souvenir, even if you couldn’t be there in Omaha. To participate in the raffle<\/strong>, you can simply scroll down to the bottom of this blog post<\/strong>. There you’ll see the entry requirements<\/strong> and a list of the souvenirs<\/strong> I’ll be giving away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Berkshire<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Saturday, 30. April 2022<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"CHI<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

4:30 AM Queue for Good Seats<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It was finally time – the 2022 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting <\/strong>was scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. Doors were scheduled to open at 7:00 a.m. What seemed suspicious to me was the opening time of the parking lots – they opened as early as 4:00 a.m. in the morning. I was already wide awake at 3:00 a.m. in the morning – after all, with the time difference, it was already 10:00 a.m. in the morning for my internal clock. Actually, I had planned to go to the CHI Health Center at 5:00 a.m. or rather 6:00 a.m. at the earliest. But I could hardly wait and decided to leave at 4 o’clock already – the parking lots were already open. When I left the house it was raining cats and dogs. At 4:20 a.m. I was there – I felt a little crazy<\/strong>. I was then somewhat reassured<\/strong> when I saw a larger crowd at every single entrance: After all, I wasn’t the only one and definitely in the right place.<\/strong> Fortunately, it stopped raining. While waiting for the doors to open, I met Josh, Sean, and Dave. Josh and Dave were from America and Sean had traveled all the way from Taiwan. We had good conversations. Our common interest in investing and especially value investing<\/a> made it easy for us to find topics of conversation. We were glad that the doors opened a little early – at 6:30 am – and we were allowed into the warm hall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By chance, I probably got one of the best seats<\/strong>: These are a bit to the side, diagonally to the left and right of the stage,<\/strong> in about the 5th\/6th row<\/strong> from the bottom. The seats on the stalls in front of the stage are very popular, but you sit a bit lower and at the same height as everyone else. Not even 30 meters away<\/strong> sat the CEO of Apple, Tim Cook <\/strong>and Bill Gates<\/strong> – of course they had the very best seats<\/strong> directly in front of the stage, but as a normal shareholder I couldn’t get there by any stretch of the imagination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8:30 AM Berkshire Hathaway Corporate Film<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First there was a film with stories about the life<\/strong> of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger. Apart from that, funny commercial clips were also shown from companies in which Berkshire Hathaway has a stake. This film was made exclusively for Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Shareholder Meeting and was only shown there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9:15 AM Berkshire Hathaway Q&A Session with Warren Buffett & Charlie Munger<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The legendary Q&A session began. Hardly any other CEO and Chairman answered questions from shareholders so patiently for a good 5 hours. Warren Buffett took the floor<\/strong>, providing the first laughs in his usual modest and self-deprecating<\/strong> manner:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think people have a right to see us in person<\/strong> – I mean, when you own a company run by a 91- and 98-year-old<\/strong>, you want to see them from time to time…”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger then told a story about a company where the manager had been suffering from dementia for quite a while before they noticed – but the company was still doing very well<\/strong>. They concluded, “So maybe we should make it a criteria to find companies that are doing well <\/strong>even if the manager has dementia.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The biggest risk for Berkshire Insurance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current world situation was also an issue at Berkshire Hathaway<\/a> – one shareholder asked, “Do you have a solution\/protection<\/strong> in case of nuclear war?<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett:<\/strong> “We can’t do anything about nuclear war – <\/em>we don’t have a solution.<\/em><\/strong>“<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Munger<\/strong> put it more bluntly: “I know a man who said he knew what he would do in the event of a nuclear attack: ‘I’d crawl under the table and kiss my ass goodbye.’<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have no solution to protect ourselves from nuclear war.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To which Warren Buffett replied,<\/strong> “And Charlie is in charge of damage control at Berkshire.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the audience laughed, but everyone understood the seriousness of the question – even Warren Buffett reiterated<\/strong>, “Berkshire doesn’t have a solution – we have this risk and <\/em>there’s nothing we can do about it.”<\/em><\/strong>\ufeff<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robinhood & the Casino Mentality on Wall Street<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger also denounced the casino mentality on Wall Street<\/strong>. Charlie Munger in particular did not miss the opportunity to express clear criticism of certain developments. Especially Robinhood<\/strong> did not come off well. Charlie Munger said: “Disgusting<\/strong> what happened there, but now at least justice<\/strong> has been served a little.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was referring to the scandal<\/strong> at the trading app Robinhood<\/strong>, which was especially popular with very young and inexperienced investors.<\/strong> Robinhood had to pay a record $70 million fine<\/strong> in March 2020 for false and misleading information and system failures. This, after previously having to pay a $65 million fine<\/strong> for misleading customers<\/strong> about their true business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

12 Noon Break<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a break from 12 noon to 1 p.m. After that, the 2nd part of the Q&A session continued at 1 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bitcoin & Cryptocurrencies<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the topic of cryptocurrencies and especially Bitcoin came up again. Anyone who would have expected Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger to have changed their minds was proven wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett<\/strong> expressed himself somewhat diplomatically on the subject of Bitcoin<\/strong> but nevertheless very clearly:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If he had the choice between owning 1% of all <\/strong>property grounds or apartment housing<\/a> in the United States<\/strong> or buying 100% of the world’s Bitcoin supply for a mere $25, he would never choose Bitcoin. And that’s despite the fact that the world’s bitcoin supply currently has a market capitalization of over $730 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Munger<\/strong>, as usual, was a bit more explicit<\/strong>: “In my life, I try to avoid things that are stupid and evil<\/strong> and make me look bad<\/strong> compared to others, and Bitcoin does all three of those things<\/strong>.” Munger then explained<\/strong>, “First, it’s stupid because it’s very likely to go to zero<\/strong>, and it’s evil because it undermines<\/strong> the Federal Reserve System<\/strong> and the national monetary system<\/strong>, which we desperately need to maintain its integrity<\/strong> and government control<\/strong>. And third, it makes us look foolish compared to the communist leader in China<\/strong>,” Munger continued. “He was smart enough to ban Bitcoin<\/strong> in China, and with all our supposed advantages from the civilized world<\/strong>, we’re a lot dumber than the communist leader in China.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Warren Buffett asked Charlie<\/strong>, “Is it smart<\/strong> to criticize someone?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Munger: “Probably not<\/strong>, but I can’t help it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Investing in petroleum (oil & gas)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Berkshire Hathaway bought 5.9 million <\/strong>shares<\/a> of Occidental Petroleum<\/strong> and now owns about 12.5% of the company, the topic of petroleum was also brought up. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger joked that they were not sure which of the two had less of a clue about the petroleum business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Charlie Munger<\/strong>, however, had a very clear opinion<\/strong> on oil: “I think we should keep<\/strong> all the oil<\/strong> we have in the country and pay the Arabs whatever they ask. I think this stuff is going to be extremely valuable over the next 200 years.<\/strong> Nobody else agrees with me. I don’t mind that, I just think they’re wrong<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Questions were taken in turns from shareholders in the audience and from CNBC’s Becky Quick. Becky Quick also asked questions that she received from audience members. The whole Q&A session went on this way until 3:30 p.m. – a good 5 hours – what an accomplishment at 91- and 98-years-old.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

15:45 PM Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Meeting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The actual shareholder meeting with the votes and the motions<\/strong> came at the very end. Various speakers came forward. Critical<\/strong> and sometimes confused motions<\/strong> were sometimes loudly booed<\/strong> and all clearly rejected<\/strong>. Warren Buffett took the motions concerning ESG<\/strong> and especially diversity<\/strong> issues as an opportunity to confirm that he agrees with the principles in the proposals. So he also gave the issues some weight. He said that he is aware that he was incredibly lucky in life to have been born a white man in America and would never have had the same opportunities<\/strong> as a black woman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, it seems to be Berkshire Hathaway<\/a>‘s corporate policy<\/strong> that they do not dictate<\/strong> to the companies they own how they should run their businesses. Nevertheless, they do expect the managers who run the subsidiaries to act with honesty and integrity<\/strong>. It was also emphasized that at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, for example, sustainable energy<\/strong> production is of great importance<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After this official part, the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting was over<\/strong>. The Q&A session was especially entertaining<\/strong> and for me an inspiring experience<\/strong> that I will never forget – it was worth it for me to take on the long way to Omaha.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Tips & Tricks for the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n