By Jonathan Stempel and Koh Gui Qing
OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) -Warren Buffett will take center stage at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting on Saturday as shareholders, some having traveled long distances, arrived to see the famed investor as well as his expected successor.
The meeting is the 60th for Buffett, 93, since he took over Berkshire in 1965. He has largely stopped appearing publicly to discuss the company. He told investors in November that he felt good but knew he was “playing in extra innings.”
Ahead of the meeting, Berkshire reported first-quarter earnings that showed that its cash pile swelled to $189 billion as of March 31 while the size of its stake in Apple fell. Buffett has long touted the iPhone maker’s leadership and market dominance. Some investors have expressed concern that Apple had become too large a part of Berkshire’s investment portfolio.
In downtown Omaha, hundreds of shareholders waited in line overnight to get in early. When the doors opened, some shareholders ran in to get good seats and the auditorium quickly filled up.
“I was here since 2:30 a.m.,” said Serena Lam, 32, an investment portfolio manager who flew in with 40 others from Hong Kong and was standing first in line at one of the entrances. “I want to see Warren Buffett. I want to get his perspective about Japanese stocks. I flew over 25 hours for this.”
At a downtown arena, Buffett and Vice Chairman Greg Abel, 61, will answer about five hours of questions. Vice Chairman Ajit Jain, 72, will also join. Abel was designated Buffett’s successor as chief executive in 2021.
Bill Gunther, 72, a retired state forester from Newfane, Vermont, brought a lawn chair to sit in while on line.
“I feel very bullish about Berkshire. They’re so diversified and have a good company culture. That’s the one thing that I loved.”
Investors are focused on how the conglomerate will evolve as it faces challenges including how best to grow without overpaying for acquisitions, whether to pay a dividend and how to deploy cash on hand that stood at $189 billion as of the end of March.
The shareholder meeting is the first since Charlie Munger, Buffett’s longtime friend, business partner and foil, died in November at age 99.
Munger was known for laconic and acerbic comebacks to Buffett’s often lengthy appraisals about Berkshire, the economy, Wall Street and life.
“It’s going to be hard for Warren to not have Charlie there,” said Paul Lountzis, president of Lountzis Asset Management, attending his 32nd Berkshire meeting.
SUCCESSION TOP OF MIND Berkshire is a $862 billion conglomerate with dozens of businesses including BNSF railroad, Geico car insurance, Dairy Queen and Fruit of the Loom. It also owns well over $300 billion of stocks, close to half of which is Apple.
Berkshire’s stock is up 23% over the last year, lagging the Standard & Poor’s 500’s 25% gain. Over the last decade, it has risen 218% versus the S&P’s 172% gain.
Buffett is expected to face a wide array of questions on Saturday from major investments such as Apple and Occidental Petroleum to how elevated interest rates have affected the company. “I want to see Warren’s energy,” said Steven Check, president of Check Capital Management, attending his 27th meeting. “It’s good that Greg and Ajit will be out front.” Berkshire will also release first-quarter results and shareholders will vote on six proposals about climate, diversity and China. Buffett opposes all six. The weekend features opportunities for shareholders to buy goodies such as Berkshire T-shirts and Squishmallows toys at exhibits featuring Berkshire-owned companies.
Ruth Gearhart, 72, from Omaha, filled her bags with See’s Candies plus tongs and spatulas from Pampered Chef. A 15-year shareholder, Gearhart said she was mainly concerned with what Buffett might say regarding his succession. “I trust him,” she said. “He’s a brilliant man and he has a lot of brilliant people. He will get us through this. I’d hate to see him go, but I think they prepared for it well.”
(Reporting by Gui Qing Koh and Jonathan Stempel; editing by Ira Iosebashvili, Megan Davies, Cynthia Osterman, Jason Neely and Diane Craft)
