New York (CNN BUsiness)Forget the Oscars. If you’re looking for star power — in the business world, at least — it doesn’t get any bigger than Warren Buffett, and he’ll be live from Los Angeles on Saturday for the latest Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting.
For the second year in a row, the meeting will be virtual because of Covid-19. So instead of tens of thousands of shareholders flocking to Nebraska to see the Oracle of Omaha while consuming Berkshire-owned See’s Candies and Dairy Queen Dilly Bars, Buffett and other Berkshire (BRKB) executives will be talking on a livestream hosted by Yahoo Finance.
Warren Buffett is now worth $100 billionBuffett, one of the richest people on the planet, is traveling to La La Land for the meeting because that’s where Berkshire vice chairman and longtime confidant Charlie Munger lives. Munger, who is 97, missed the meeting last year.
Buffett and Munger — as well as fellow Berkshire vice chairmen Ajit Jain and Greg Abel — will field questions from shareholders and journalists. All of them awaiting Buffett’s and his lieutenants’ views about the stock market’s stunning rebound and the economy’s recovery over the past year.Read More
A good year for Berkshire
Berkshire Hathaway’s B shares (which cost about $275 apiece, thanks to stock splits) are up nearly 20% in 2021 and have gained more than 45% in the past 12 months. The stock is near an all-time high. (Berkshire’s A shares (BRKA), which don’t split to lower their price, are now trading for more than $415,000.)This means the company is operating from a position of strength and can make more deals if it so chooses — it’s also sitting on nearly $140 billion in cash. But Buffett has often lamented that he hasn’t been able to do as many acquisitions as he’d like, despite this cash hoard, because company valuations are too expensive. Instead, Berkshire has continued to plow money into blue chip American stocks. Top holdings include Apple (AAPL), Coca-Cola (KO), Bank of America (BAC) and Kraft Heinz (KHC). Berkshire has even started to dabble a little more in the tech sector. Besides Apple, Berkshire now also has a stake in Verizon (VZ) (which owns Yahoo) as well as a small position in Amazon (AMZN).
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in pictures
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesWarren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, attends an event in Washington, DC, in 2012. He is celebrating his 90th birthday this year.Hide Caption 1 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett was born in Omaha, Nebraska, on August 30, 1930. He was the only son of Laila and Howard Buffett. Howard was a US congressman.Hide Caption 2 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesA young Buffett, far left, is seen with his grandfather, Ernest, as well as his cousins and two sisters.Hide Caption 3 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesLaila Buffett poses with her three children — from left, Roberta, Warren and Doris. Hide Caption 4 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesWarren Buffett stands in front of his childhood home in Omaha.Hide Caption 5 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett teaches a class at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.Hide Caption 6 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett married his first wife, Susan, in 1952. They had three children together: Peter, Howard and Susan. The latter two are seen here with their parents.Hide Caption 7 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett and his wife pose at the beach with their three children.Hide Caption 8 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett poses for a photo in 1980.Hide Caption 9 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett testifies before a House subcommittee after the Salomon Brothers investment bank was caught in a treasury bond scandal in 1991. Buffett took over as the company’s chairman of the board to guide it out of troubles with the Federal Reserve System.Hide Caption 10 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett attends one of Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting. Seated with him here are his daughter Susan, left, and his wife Susan. Buffett’s wife died in 2004.Hide Caption 11 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett arrives at an Omaha Dairy Queen to autograph books and chat with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders in 2002. Many people were in Omaha for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting, which has been described as “the Woodstock of Capitalism.”Hide Caption 12 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett attends a GEICO ceremony in Trenton, New Jersey, in 2004.Hide Caption 13 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett joins California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during a meeting of Wall Street investors in New York in 2004. Buffett advised Schwarzenegger’s gubernatorial campaign in 2003.Hide Caption 14 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett sits atop a fake bull at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting in 2006.Hide Caption 15 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett stacks his chips at a charity poker tournament in Omaha in 2006.Hide Caption 16 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett plays the ukulele with a band during the Berkshire Hathaway meeting in 2007. He learned the instrument decades ago.Hide Caption 17 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett stands in front of a portrait of himself, painted by Michael Israel, in 2008.Hide Caption 18 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett throws out the first pitch before a Kansas City Royals baseball game in 2008.Hide Caption 19 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett sits with Girl Scouts in Omaha in 2008.Hide Caption 20 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett uses a large paddle to play table tennis in 2010.Hide Caption 21 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett and Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates enjoy a meal together at the Hollywood Diner in Omaha in 2010. That year, the two launched The Giving Pledge, which encourages the world’s billionaires to dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.Hide Caption 22 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett is sworn in to testify before the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission in 2010. The bipartisan committee was created by Congress to investigate the causes of the financial crisis.Hide Caption 23 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesPresident Barack Obama awards the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Buffett in 2011. “Today, we know Warren Buffett not only as one of the world’s richest men, but also one of the most admired and respected,” Obama said. “Unmoved by financial fads, he has doggedly sought out value, put his weight behind companies with promise and demonstrated that integrity isn’t just a good trait — it is good for business.”Hide Caption 24 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett is mobbed by journalists and shareholders during Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting in 2011.Hide Caption 25 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett talks with his son Peter before the start of the shareholders meeting in 2011.Hide Caption 26 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett poses for a photo in Omaha in 2012.Hide Caption 27 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett and his second wife, Astrid, arrive at the White House for a state dinner honoring British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2012. The next month, Buffett confirmed that he had been diagnosed with Stage 1 prostate cancer. He underwent radiation treatments and told Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that the cancer was “not remotely life-threatening.”Hide Caption 28 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett looks out at Omaha in 2012.Hide Caption 29 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett wears a Woodrow Wilson High School jacket as he attends an event in Washington, DC, in 2012. Buffett graduated from the Washington high school in 1947.Hide Caption 30 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett is photographed for Forbes magazine in 2012.Hide Caption 31 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett listens as his son Howard speaks during an interview in New York in 2013. Buffett and his late first wife, Susan, gave and pledged billions to each of their three children to fund charitable foundations. Howard, an Illinois farmer, picked global hunger as his target.Hide Caption 32 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett spins a basketball with the help of Chris “Handles” Franklin, one of the Harlem Globetrotters, at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in 2013. At left is football star Ndamukong Suh.Hide Caption 33 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett and Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger are seen on a giant screen during the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in 2013.Hide Caption 34 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett arrives for a conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, in 2014.Hide Caption 35 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett introduces products to shareholders before their annual meeting in 2014.Hide Caption 36 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett goofs off with Cleveland Cavaliers mascot Moon Dog prior to an NBA game in 2014.Hide Caption 37 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett does an interview in 2015.Hide Caption 38 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett listens as presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks during an event in Omaha in 2015. Buffett said at the rally that he was supporting Clinton’s bid for president because they share a commitment to help the less affluent.Hide Caption 39 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett attends the world premiere of “Becoming Warren Buffett,” a documentary about his life, in 2017.Hide Caption 40 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett attends Forbes’ 100th anniversary gala in New York in 2017.Hide Caption 41 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett walks through the exhibit hall during Berkshire Hathaway’s shareholders meeting in 2019.Hide Caption 42 of 43
Photos: Warren Buffett: His life in picturesBuffett speaks during Berkshire Hathaway’s virtual shareholders meeting in May 2020.Hide Caption 43 of 43
Buffett and Munger will likely be asked about these investments and whether the Berkshire portfolio might shift even more toward growth stocks. Berkshire also has a stake in Snowflake, a cloud database software firm that went public last year. It’s clear that Berkshire is adapting to a changing stock market — and is likely being nudged that way by two other top Berkshire executives who help Buffett run the portfolio, Ted Weschler and Todd Combs. Combs is also CEO of Berkshire-owned insurance giant Geico. But it’s unlikely that Berkshire will suddenly ditch the philosophy of buying quality companies for the long term. So don’t expect either Buffett or Munger to be singing the praises of GameStop (GME), AMC (AMC) and other so-called meme stocks.
Warren Buffett during last year’s virtual Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting.If asked, Buffett and Munger likely still won’t show much love for bitcoin either, despite the huge surge in its price and that of other cryptocurrencies. Buffett called bitcoin “rat poison squared” a few years ago, and Munger dismissed it as “worthless, artificial gold.” That won’t win Buffett and Munger any fans from bitcoin bulls like Elon Musk. (Berkshire, by the way, owns stakes in GM (GM) and Chinese electric car maker BYD (BYDDF) but not Musk’s Tesla (TSLA).) But Buffett is savvy enough to realize that the investment landscape and economy have changed dramatically since he first took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965. That’s why many investors are also eager to hear more from Jain and Abel Saturday.Jain, who runs Berkshire’s massive insurance operations, and Abel, who heads all of Berkshire’s other businesses in the energy, transportation, manufacturing and retail sectors, are expected to lead Berkshire Hathaway once Buffett and Munger retire or pass away.
Buffett turns 91 in August, so succession planning has become an important issue. Buffett has acknowledged his (and Munger’s) mortality with Midwestern dry wit, assuring investors that life will go on without them. “Charlie and I long ago entered the urgent zone,” he wrote in the 2020 shareholder letter. “That’s not exactly great news for us. But Berkshire shareholders need not worry: Your company is 100% prepared for our departure.”
Source: edition.cnn.com