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The Age
03-05-2025
- Business
- The Age
Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire
Earlier, Buffett warned about the dire global consequences of US President Donald Trump's tariffs while telling the thousands of investors gathered at his annual meeting that 'trade should not be a weapon' but 'there's no question that trade can be an act of war.' Buffett said Trump's trade policies have raised the risk of global instability by angering the rest of the world. 'It's a big mistake in my view when you have 7.5 billion people who don't like you very well, and you have 300 million who are crowing about how they have done,' Buffett said as he addressed the topic on everyone's mind at the start of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. While Buffett said it is best for trade to be balanced between countries, he doesn't think Trump is going about it the right way with his widespread tariffs. He said the world will be safer if more countries are prosperous. 'We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world. We should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,' he said. 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. Market turmoil doesn't create big opportunities Buffett said he just doesn't see many attractively priced investments that he understands these days, so Berkshire is sitting on $US347.7 billion in cash, but he predicted that one day Berkshire will be 'bombarded with opportunities that we will be glad we have the cash for.' Buffett said the recent turmoil in the markets that generated headlines after Trump's tariff announcement last month 'is really nothing.' He dismissed the recent drop in the market because he's seen three periods in the last 60 years of managing Berkshire when his company's stock was halved. He cited when the Dow Jones industrial average went from 240 on the day he was born in 1930 down to 41 during the Great Depression as a truly significant drop in the markets. Currently the Dow Jones Industrial Average sits at $US41,317.43. Loading 'This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort,' he said. Buffett said he hasn't bought back any of Berkshire's shares this year either because they don't seem to be a bargain either. Investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group, told the Gabelli investment conference Friday that a financial crisis might be the best thing for Berkshire because it would create opportunities to invest at attractive prices.
Sydney Morning Herald
03-05-2025
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire
Earlier, Buffett warned about the dire global consequences of US President Donald Trump's tariffs while telling the thousands of investors gathered at his annual meeting that 'trade should not be a weapon' but 'there's no question that trade can be an act of war.' Buffett said Trump's trade policies have raised the risk of global instability by angering the rest of the world. 'It's a big mistake in my view when you have 7.5 billion people who don't like you very well, and you have 300 million who are crowing about how they have done,' Buffett said as he addressed the topic on everyone's mind at the start of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. While Buffett said it is best for trade to be balanced between countries, he doesn't think Trump is going about it the right way with his widespread tariffs. He said the world will be safer if more countries are prosperous. 'We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world. We should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,' he said. 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. Market turmoil doesn't create big opportunities Buffett said he just doesn't see many attractively priced investments that he understands these days, so Berkshire is sitting on $US347.7 billion in cash, but he predicted that one day Berkshire will be 'bombarded with opportunities that we will be glad we have the cash for.' Buffett said the recent turmoil in the markets that generated headlines after Trump's tariff announcement last month 'is really nothing.' He dismissed the recent drop in the market because he's seen three periods in the last 60 years of managing Berkshire when his company's stock was halved. He cited when the Dow Jones industrial average went from 240 on the day he was born in 1930 down to 41 during the Great Depression as a truly significant drop in the markets. Currently the Dow Jones Industrial Average sits at $US41,317.43. Loading 'This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort,' he said. Buffett said he hasn't bought back any of Berkshire's shares this year either because they don't seem to be a bargain either. Investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group, told the Gabelli investment conference Friday that a financial crisis might be the best thing for Berkshire because it would create opportunities to invest at attractive prices.
Politico
03-05-2025
- Business
- Politico
Warren Buffett shocks shareholders by announcing his intention to retire at the end of the year
Warren Buffett shocked an arena full of his shareholders Saturday by announcing that he wants to retire at the end of the year. Buffett said he will recommend to Berkshire Hathaway's board that Greg Abel should become CEO at the end of the year. 'I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the Chief Executive office of the company at year end,' Buffett said. Previously the 94-year-old investor has always said he had no plans to retire. Earlier, Buffett warned Saturday about the dire global consequences of President Donald Trump's tariffs while telling the thousands of investors gathered at his annual meeting that 'trade should not be a weapon' but 'there's no question that trade can be an act of war.' Buffett said Trump's trade policies have raised the risk of global instability by angering the rest of the world. 'It's a big mistake in my view when you have 7.5 billion people who don't like you very well, and you have 300 million who are crowing about how they have done,' Buffett said as he addressed the topic on everyone's mind at the start of the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. While Buffett said it is best for trade to be balanced between countries, he doesn't think Trump is going about it the right way with his widespread tariffs. He said the world will be safer if more countries are prosperous. 'We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world. We should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,' he said. 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. Buffett said he just doesn't see many attractively priced investments that he understands these days, so Berkshire is sitting on $347.7 billion in cash, but he predicted that one day Berkshire will be 'bombarded with opportunities that we will be glad we have the cash for.' Buffett said the recent turmoil in the markets that generated headlines after Trump's tariff announcement last month 'is really nothing.' He dismissed the recent drop in the market because he's seen three periods in the last 60 years of managing Berkshire when his company's stock was halved. He cited when the Dow Jones industrial average went from 240 on the day he was born in 1930 down to 41 during the Great Depression as a truly significant drop in the markets. Currently the Dow Jones Industrial Average sits at $41,317.43. 'This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort,' he said. Buffett said he hasn't bought back any of Berkshire's shares this year either because they don't seem to be a bargain either. Investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group, told the Gabelli investment conference Friday that a financial crisis might be the best thing for Berkshire because it would create opportunities to invest at attractive prices. 'I'm sure he's praying that the trade war gets worse. He won't say that publicly, but Berkshire needs a crisis. I mean Berkshire thrives in crisis,' Bloomstran said. 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. 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.' 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. Buffett has said that Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who already oversees all of Berkshire's non-insurance businesses, will take over as CEO when he is gone. Shareholders like Steven Check, who runs Check Capital Management, aren't especially worried about succession because Abel is proven and Berkshire's businesses largely run themselves. Buffett has said that Abel might even be a more hands-on manager than he is and get more out of Berkshire's companies. 'I think we'll get a more hands-on manager and that could be that a good thing,' Check said. But he said Abel also knows that those managers enjoy the freedom to run their businesses and Abel isn't going to do anything to turn them off.
Los Angeles Times
03-05-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Buffett says U.S. shouldn't use ‘trade as a weapon' as Trump has done with tariffs
OMAHA — Investor Warren Buffett told thousands of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders Saturday that the United States shouldn't use 'trade as a weapon' and anger the rest of the world as he says President Trump has done with his tariffs that roiled global markets. 'It's a big mistake in my view when you have 7.5 billion people who don't like you very well, and you have 300 million who are crowing about how they have done,' Buffett said as he addressed the topic on everyone's mind at the start of the shareholders meeting. While Buffett said it is best for trade to be balanced among countries, he doesn't think Trump is going about it the right way with his widespread tariffs. He said the world would be safer if more countries were prosperous. 'We should be looking to trade with the rest of the world. We should do what we do best and they should do what they do best,' he said. 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. Buffett said he just doesn't see many attractively priced investments that he understands these days, so Berkshire is sitting on $347.7 billion in cash, but he predicted that one day Berkshire will be 'bombarded with opportunities that we will be glad we have the cash for.' Buffett said the recent turmoil in the markets that generated headlines after Trump's tariff announcement last month 'is really nothing.' He dismissed the recent drop in the market because he's seen three periods in the last 60 years of managing Berkshire when his company's stock was halved. He noted when the Dow Jones industrial average went from 240 on the day he was born in 1930 down to 41 during the Great Depression as a truly significant drop in the markets. Currently the Dow sits at 41,317.43 points. 'This has not been a dramatic bear market or anything of the sort,' he said. Buffett said he hasn't bought back any of Berkshire's shares this year because they don't seem to be a bargain either. Investor Chris Bloomstran, who is president of Semper Augustus Investments Group, told the Gabelli investment conference Friday that a financial crisis might be the best thing for Berkshire because it would create opportunities to invest at attractive prices. 'I'm sure he's praying that the trade war gets worse. He won't say that publicly, but Berkshire needs a crisis. I mean Berkshire thrives in crisis,' Bloomstran said. The meeting attracts some 40,000 people every year who want to hear from Buffett, including some celebrities and well-known investors. This year, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also attended. Clinton, who lost the 2016 presidential election to Trump, was the last candidate Buffett backed publicly; he has shied away from politics and any controversial topic in recent years for fear of hurting Berkshire's businesses. Haibo Liu 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.' Shareholder Linda Smith, 73, first learned about 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 Candies and told her she had to buy the stock. Smith couldn't buy it immediately because the price of a single share was about $3,400, about the same as her annual 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. 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 such as 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. Buffett has said that Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who already oversees all of Berkshire's non-insurance businesses, will take over as chief executive officer when he is gone. Shareholders such as Steven Check, who runs Check Capital Management, aren't especially worried about succession because Abel is proven and Berkshire's businesses largely run themselves. Buffett has said that Abel might even be a more hands-on manager than he is and get more out of Berkshire's companies. 'I think we'll get a more hands-on manager and that could be a good thing,' Check said. Funk writes for the Associated Press.
CNBC
02-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
60 years at Berkshire: See Warren Buffett's 'Woodstock for Capitalists' over the decades
Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting is far different — and larger — than it was six decades ago, when Warren Buffett took over what was then a failing Massachusetts textile company. Today's "Woodstock for Capitalists" began with just a dozen attendees in 1965. Sixty years later, the Omaha, Nebraska gathering attracts as many as 40,000 people from around the world. Nowadays, attendees begin lining up outside the CHI Health Center in the early morning hours on Saturday to hear from Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old chief executive officer. Known as the Oracle of Omaha for dispensing investment wisdom, Buffett is also famous for sharing insights into business and strategy, not to mention advice on softer topics such as friendship and life, to a rapt audience. This year's shareholder meeting is Buffett's second without Charlie Munger, his close friend and business partner who died in 2023. Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway Energy chairman and Buffett's successor, will join him for questions on stage. Insurance Chief Ajit Jain will also join the pair for part of Saturday's question-and-answer event. The event has ballooned into a weekend-long array of activities, including a shopping event known as the "Berkshire Bazaar of Bargains," featuring products made by the conglomerate's subsidiaries. A 5-kilometer run and value investing conferences have become hallmarks of attendees' weekend itineraries. "You've just got event after event after event," said Christopher Bloomstran, president of Semper Augustus Investments Group. Bloomstran, who's attended the annual meeting for more than two decades, called it a "rite of passage" for new investors. This year, the company is selling 5,000 volumes of a limited edition book, "60 Years of Berkshire Hathaway," marking Buffett's tenure as CEO. Proceeds from an auction of copies signed by Buffett and author Carrie Sova will benefit the Stephen Center, a charity for homeless youth and adults in South Omaha. The meeting itself will look different than what many attendees remember from years past, according to the 2024 shareholder letter. Buffett will make opening remarks at 8 a.m. local time Saturday, but there will be no movie introduction, a popular feature in prior years. The question-and-answer period will only have a half-hour break and end at 1p.m., though the shopping area will remain open until 4 p.m. News outlets have covered the event for decades. The event will be broadcast exclusively by CNBC this year and webcast in English and Mandarin. Regular attendees often say there's a magic and camaraderie to the in-person experience that keeps them coming back to Omaha, where Berkshire is headquartered, despite being able to livestream the event at home. "It really is special," said Adam Mead, CEO of Mead Capital Management and author of "The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway." "'I'm not a religious person, but it has that feel of going to church." The following are a collection of moments from meetings throughout the years compiled by CNBC in honor of Warren Buffett's 60 years leading Berkshire Hathaway.
