As the United States adapts to the presidency of Donald Trump and faces rising tensions abroad, Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) shareholders will descend on Omaha, Nebraska this weekend seeking reassurance, from Warren Buffett.
The
weekend known as "Woodstock for Capitalists" is unique in corporate
America, a celebration of the billionaire's image and success at a
conglomerate whose businesses range from Geico insurance to the BNSF
railroad to See's candies to Ginsu knives.
Buffett, 86, and vice chairman Charlie Munger, 93, will answer five hours of questions at Saturday's annual meeting. Many say it reinforces their views about investing and Berkshire, even if it remains unclear how much new they learn.
But there were also 1.1 million real-time sign-ons to Yahoo Finance, which webcast the meeting for the first time. It will do so again, in English and Mandarin. Much of Berkshire's relative outperformance came decades ago when it was much smaller, and even Buffett has called the company's huge size an "anchor on investment performance."
Buffett has said Berkshire owns 10 businesses big enough to make the Fortune 500 list of large U.S. companies on their own. But details can be thin. For example, aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts, acquired last year for $32.1 billion, merited about a page in Berkshire's annual report.
He also knows the perils of conglomerates, saying in 2015 that dubious accounting, self-promotion and mediocre businesses make them "richly deserve" their "terrible" reputation. Buffett says Berkshire is different, in part because he took Munger's advice to buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.
Buffett, 86, and vice chairman Charlie Munger, 93, will answer five hours of questions at Saturday's annual meeting. Many say it reinforces their views about investing and Berkshire, even if it remains unclear how much new they learn.
But there were also 1.1 million real-time sign-ons to Yahoo Finance, which webcast the meeting for the first time. It will do so again, in English and Mandarin. Much of Berkshire's relative outperformance came decades ago when it was much smaller, and even Buffett has called the company's huge size an "anchor on investment performance."
Buffett has said Berkshire owns 10 businesses big enough to make the Fortune 500 list of large U.S. companies on their own. But details can be thin. For example, aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts, acquired last year for $32.1 billion, merited about a page in Berkshire's annual report.
He also knows the perils of conglomerates, saying in 2015 that dubious accounting, self-promotion and mediocre businesses make them "richly deserve" their "terrible" reputation. Buffett says Berkshire is different, in part because he took Munger's advice to buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.
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