Inside Buffett's Big Event: Who Are Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders?
By Matt Nesto | Breakout 4 hours ago
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We all know the old cliche: Don't judge a book by its cover. As hard as this is
to always practice, it often yields wonderful surprises. And so it is at the
famed Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A)(BRK-B) annual shareholder meeting, where
40,000 people of all ages and from all over the world converge in Omaha,
Nebraska --the pleasant Midwestern city that doubles as Warren Buffett's home
town.
Since it is him and his party that draws them here year after year, it may come
as no surprise that many of Buffett's followers mimic his unassuming lifestyle,
as much as they drink in his thoughts on investing and a host of other topics.
Like Buffett, most people who make the effort to come here are friendly, happy
to chat and, if only for a weekend, adopt a Midwest pleasantness no matter
where they came from.
Although the $50 billion net worth of the man at the head table is publicly
known and openly talked about, no such assumptions can be made about the other
people here. In fact, a polite version of financial "don't ask, don't tell" is
played here because there's no way of knowing if the soft-spoken gentleman from
California who is seated next to you has $5,000 or $50 million in the bank.
So who are the people that flock to Omaha each year?
In my short time there, I met a first grade teacher, covered in tattoos that
she normally concealed, who got her stock from her mother, who she thinks
bought it sometime in the 1970s. I shared a taxi with some Norwegians who (I
think) said they won their tickets through a fund in Oslo that is modeled after
Berkshire Hathaway and the Buffett style of finding value. I met a man who it
turns out used to mow the Oracle's lawn when he was a kid growing up here and
had the sense to buy the stock decades ago.
Wherever I went, I met people who seemed to have only one thing in common:
Untold wealth.
Like the leather-clad, biker-couple from Missouri I chatted with who were
retired in their early 50s and (need I even say) enjoying life.
I also talked tax policy in a shuttle bus with a retiring economics professor
from Wellesley College, stood in line to buy See's Candies next to two local
ladies who became shareholders in order to be a part of Omaha's best party, and
shared a few laughs with the mayor of Plant City, Florida and his father
outside Borsheim's.
They say anyone who has ever been to the Masters in Augusta, Georgia will
surely tell you it draws the classiest sports fans on earth, who are drawn
together by their love of golf and are happy to stand shoulder-to-shoulder in
the hot sun quietly applauding out of respect for the game. Likewise, anyone
who has ever been to a Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting will tell
you they'd come again, and are just happy to have the chance to spend some time
with a man and a culture they so deeply respect.
--- In [email protected], "aloysiussiwira" <aloysiussiwira@...> wrote:
>
> Is Warren Buffett Still The World's Greatest Investor?
> By Morgan Korn | Daily Ticker Fri, May 4, 2012 7:55 AM EDT
>
> 11
> Email
> Print
>
> Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook!
>
> Legions of Berkshire Hathaway investors, Warren Buffett acolytes and news
> organizations (including Yahoo!) will converge in Ohama, Nebraska this
> weekend for the company's annual shareholder meeting. "Woodstock for
> Capitalists," as the widely-attended event has come to be known, offers
> attendees the opportunity to get a glimpse of perhaps the most famous
> investor in the world.
>
> But as Bloomberg points out in an article Thursday, Berkshire Hathaway stock
> (BRK-A) has trailed the S&P 500 Index (GSPC) for the last three years. Since
> May 5, 2009 shares of Berkshire, the conglomerate Buffett has built up over
> the past 40 years, have gained just 32 percent compared to 60 percent for the
> S&P 500. Bloomberg reports that Berkshire's growth has slowed as Buffett
> became more focused on takeovers in industries as diverse as railroads and
> machine tools.
>
> The more pressing issue weighing on the company and shareholders involves
> Buffett's succession plan. Last December Buffett named his son Howard as
> non-executive chairman of Berkshire, an unpaid position with little if any
> influence over daily investing decisions. Buffett described the younger
> Buffett's role as "guardian" of the company's "values." Buffett turns 82 this
> August and Wall Street remains largely clueless as to who will fill Buffett's
> big shoes. A decision by Buffett to name his replacement has taken on an
> extra sense of urgency after he announced last month that he had been
> diagnosed with prostate cancer. The Daily Ticker's Aaron Task and Dan Gross
> discuss the future of Berkshire Hathaway and question whether Buffett, aka
> the "Oracle of Omaha," should continue to hold onto the world's greatest
> investor title.
>
> "It's kind of telling when we talk about Buffett it's most often in the
> context of politics," Dan says. "It seems like only a small percentage of
> Buffett conversations are about what he's buying. Has [Buffet] transcended
> the mere world of results into a cultural icon?"
>
> Buffett has certainly become almost synonymous with politics. Buffett's very
> public comments about his secretary paying a higher tax rate than he inspired
> President Obama to name his proposed tax on millionaires the "Buffett Rule."
> Debbie Bosanek, Buffett's longtime secretary, sat with the First Lady in her
> box at the president's State of the Union Address in January. Dan says
> Buffett's turn as a philanthropist and political activist puts him in the
> same league as Bill Gates, the co-founder and former CEO of Microsoft, who
> has become globally recognized as the one "who will solve the world's
> problems."
>
> While Berkshire stock may be lagging, few investors have questioned Buffett's
> choice of companies. Buffett's mantra has been "slow and steady" and "he's
> not looking for a quick buck," Aaron says. Buffett may have missed hot growth
> stocks like Apple and Amazon, but his $44 billion investment in railroad
> operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe in 2009 was a savvy move for Berkshire.
> Some of the firm's biggest holdings Costco (COST), M&T Bank (MTB), Johnson
> & Johnson (JNJ) and DirecTV (DTV) have been a mixed bag; Buffett has been
> adjusting his stock portfolio, selling his stake in ExxonMobil (XOM) and
> buying shares of Intel (INTC) and IBM (IBM) this winter. Berkshire, one of
> the most expensive publicly traded stocks, continues to attract investors
> mainly because of Buffett's reputation and cult-like following. Yet the
> Buffett premium "is coming out of the stock," Aaron notes. "People are
> realizing he's mortal."
>
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