America has been going through revolutionary changes ever since its birth and the promise of equality for all, which wasn’t fulfilled until years later, Buffett said. But nothing that is going on today has changed his long-term optimism about the country.
“If I were being born today, I would just keep negotiating in the womb until they said, ‘You could be in the United States,'” Buffett said. Tariffs were the top subject that shareholders asked about in the questions they sent ahead of time into the CNBC reporter who will grill Buffett and his top two managers throughout the day. But investors will also be looking for him to explain why he is sitting on $347.7 billion cash at Berkshire. Buffett said he just doesn’t see many attractively priced investments that he understands these days, but he predicted that one day Berkshire will be “bombarded with opportunities that we will be glad we have the cash for.”
Haibo Liu even camped out overnight outside the arena to be first in line Saturday morning. Liu said he worries that this year could be Buffett’s last meeting since he is 94, so he made it a priority to attend his second meeting.
“He has helped me a lot,” said Liu who traveled from China to attend. “I really want to express my thanks to him.”
The meeting attracts some 40,000 people every year who want to hear from Buffett, including some celebrities and well-known investors. This year, Hillary Rodham Clinton also attended. Clinton was the last candidate Buffett backed publicly because he has shied away from politics and any controversial topic in recent years for fear of hurting Berkshire’s businesses.
Shareholder Linda Smith, 73, first learned about Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway when she rented a room from his sister, Doris, while she was a graduate student in Washington D.C. Smith said Doris came home from an annual meeting not long after Berkshire bought See’s Candy and told her she had to buy the stock.
Smith couldn’t buy it immediately because the price of a single share was selling for about $3,400 and that was equal to her income as a grad student. But as soon as she got a job after college, she took her friend’s advice and began saving up to buy some of the stock that now sells for $809,350.
Over the years, Smith estimates she has probably attended about 20 annual meetings — often bringing a friend.
“I really like to listen to Warren Buffett — particularly this year with everything that has happened,” Smith said.
Buffett has long said he has no plans to retire because he enjoys figuring out where to invest Berkshire’s money too much. He plans to continue working until he dies or becomes incapacitated. But he remains in good health even though he does use a cane, and he shortened the meeting’s question and answer period this year by a couple of hours.
“I think even if he dies, these businesses will retain their value,” Smith said while looking around the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall filled with booths from Berkshire companies like BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, Pilot truck stops, Duracell batteries and many others. “I anticipate my stock going down for a while but good businesses and good people will come back,” she said.
But Smith and thousands of others will definitely miss hearing Buffett’s voice of reason after he is gone. Buffett has now been leading Berkshire for 60 years.
