Achi news desk-
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Tens of thousands of investors are expected to descend once again on an Omaha, Nebraska, arena on Saturday to soak up wisdom from billionaire Warren Buffett. But a key ingredient will be missing from his annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders: It’s the first since Vice Chairman Charlie Munger died.
“It was the sriracha sauce at the Berkshire Hathaway meeting,” said investor Bill Smead, a regular at the event for 14 years. “It gave it a lot of flavor.”
For decades, Munger shared the stage with Buffett each year for the marathon question-and-answer session that is the centerpiece of the event. Munger routinely let Buffett take the lead with wide-ranging responses that went on for several minutes. Then Munger himself would cut directly to the point. He is remembered for calling cryptocurrencies stupid, telling people to “marry the best person you’ll have” and comparing many unproven internet businesses in 2000 to “turds.”
He and Buffett operated as a classic comedy duo, with Buffett offering lengthy sets to Munger’s witty one-liners. Together, they transformed Berkshire from a run-of-the-mill textile mill into a huge conglomerate made up of a variety of interests, from insurance companies like Geico to the BNSF railroad to several major utilities and a variety of other companies.
Saturday is expected to start with the company releasing its first quarter earnings a few hours before the meeting. In addition to its largest interests, Berkshire Hathaway owns an extensive collection of manufacturing and retail businesses, including Dairy Queen and See’s Candy. His massive stock portfolio is anchored by huge bets in companies including Apple, American Express and Coca-Cola.
Munger often summed up Berkshire’s key success as “trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” He and Buffett were also known for sticking with businesses they understood well.
“Warren always did at least 80% of the talking. But Charlie was a big foil,” said Stansberry Research analyst Whitney Tilson, who was looking forward to his 27th consecutive meeting with a bit of a heavy heart because of Munger’s absence.
That absence, however, may well create room for shareholders to get to know the two executives who directly oversee the Berkshire companies: Ajit Jain, who manages the insurance units, and Greg Abel , which handles everything else. One day Abel will replace 93-year-old Buffett as CEO.
Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren said he hopes Abel will talk more this year and let shareholders see some of Berkshire’s brightest executives talk about them. Ever since Munger let it slip at the annual meeting three years ago that Abel would be the successor, Buffett has repeatedly assured investors that he is confident in the choice.
Experts say the company has a strong culture based on integrity, trust, independence and an impressive management list ready to take the lead.
“Greg is a rock star,” said Chris Bloomstran, president of Semper Augustus Investments Group. “The bench is deep. He will not have the same humor in the meeting. But I think we all come here for a reminder every year to be rational.”
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For more AP coverage of Warren Buffett check here: https://apnews.com/hub/warren-buffett. For Berkshire Hathaway news, see here: https://apnews.com/hub/berkshire-hathaway-inc. Follow Josh Funk online at https://www.twitter.com/funkwrite and https://www.linkedin.com/in/funkwrite.
Josh Funk, The Associated Press
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