It has become one of my favorite annual activities and it is just a little over a week away. The annual spring ritual reminds me that, like the farmers living all around me, I am responsible for how my little part of the world will look in the future. Figuring prominently in that equation is my financial responsibility for myself. And so with that responsibility, I again eagerly await this yearly spring fling for folks like myself.
What is this event? It is the annual shareholder meeting for Berkshire Hathaway. Several years ago, I started purchasing “Baby B” shares (a class B share of Berkshire Hathaway) for a retirement account that I own. Each B share is valued at 1/30th the price of the class A shares.
With the shareholder meeting taking place just an hour’s drive from my home, I decided to attend one year. After attending my first shareholder meeting, I was hooked. The environment is one that helps to educate the investor, celebrate the consumer, and update the owner on the company’s progress over the last year. For anyone who is interested, the stock symbols for Berkshire shares are BRK.A and BRK.B and plenty of good information, including the annual report and Mr. Buffett’s instructive annual letters to shareholders, can be found at the company website.
The format of the meeting is very simple – you arrive at the Qwest Center Omaha by 6:30 AM and rush to a seat in the auditorium, you watch the annual company movie which generally includes numerous skits by Buffett, and has included guest appearances by any number of celebrities. Once that is over, a Question and Answer session begins, generally at about 9 AM and proceeds until around 3 PM. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger take shareholder questions all day long.
For those who get antsy when they sit too long, there is also an exhibition hall with booths from many of the companies owned by Berkshire. Companies like See’s Candy, Dairy Queen, Justin Boots, and many others have displays and for the bargain shopper, this is the place to be. My favorite vendor in this area is the “Berky Bookseller”, a moniker adopted by a favorite local bookstore while they set up a huge booth to sell books focused on this magnificent company and its maestro. Generally two or three authors are available to autograph books as well. Combined with the Q&A with Buffett and Munger, the book store provides an excellent value for the self-taught student of business.
I will be sure to report in with my impression of the meeting and any highlights I think you might find interesting.
