Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting

If you know anything about investing, you know about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. Buffett, often referred to as the "World’s Greatest Investor", is the helmsman of Berkshire Hathaway, which is a holding company that owns Geico Insurance, General Re reinsurance, Dexter Shoes, The Buffalo (NY) News, See’s Candy, and several others. It also holds major stakes in American Express, The Washington Post, and Coca-Cola. Buffett has some peculiar notions that he has managed to hold onto during the Internet and Telcom boom: He doesn’t invest in anything he doesn’t understand. So, he buys insurance, brick, and shoe companies that just turn out consistent profits, while we all piss away the 401K on fiber-optic switch companies with funny names and web sites. His management philosophy is best summed up by the following quote from this year’s annual letter to shareholders. "Why, you might ask, didn’t I recognize the above facts [of terrorist risk] before September 11th? The answer, sadly, is that I did–but I didn’t convert thought into action. I violated the Noah rule: Predicting rain doesn’t count; building arks does." He takes responsibility for his own shortcomings–not a textbook character trait of American captains of industry. So, why go to the annual meeting? Because you get to listen to Buffett and his partner Charlie Munger tell you everything they know for about six hours on a Saturday. The actual business of the meeting is dispatched in five minutes, and then they both take questions. If you get tired of listening, you can go to the auditorium basement and actually buy products of Berkshire subsidiaries. Before the Saturday meeting, there is a Friday evening cocktail reception at Borsheim’s, the west Omaha jewelry store that Berkshire owns, and where everything is for sale at deep discounts for shareholders. After the Saturday meeting, Buffett appears at the Omaha Royals minor league baseball game and patiently sits for pictures and signs autographs for anyone who wants. Sunday, the sale continues at Borsheim’s and at Nebraska Furniture Mart, another Berkshire holding. One catch–admission is open only to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. If you were a shareholder as of March 6, you have received your admission information by now. If you bought your shares after that date, you can bring a current broker’s statement for admission at the door. The price of one Berkshire "A" share is, as of this writing, $71,100. Lucky for you, they issued "B" shares a couple of years ago, which are going for only $2,362 today. You also have to pay $6 each if you want the baseball tickets, but they throw in the parking and a hot dog. Berkshire Hathaway, www.berkshirehathaway.com