"Woodstock for capitalists" without Buffett: how Berkshire's shareholder meeting went down

Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting, known as "Woodstock for Capitalists," was held in Omaha. This year, for the first time, it was chaired by Greg Abel, the new CEO who took over the company in January. The legendary Warren Buffett, who led Berkshire for 60 years, was in attendance. We told you how the event went in Oninvest's online broadcast.

21.30 CET: The Q&A session, which has traditionally attracted the most investor attention, is over. Here are the main results of Berkshire's first shareholder meeting with a new CEO to date:

- before the event, the company said its after-tax operating profit rose 18% in the first quarter. Berkshire sold shares for the 14th consecutive quarter. Berkshire's stock portfolio is now worth $288 billion and its largest holdings include American Express, Apple, Bank of America, Coca-Cola and Chevron.

- the first question at the session was asked by Buffett's "dipfake" - it was about artificial intelligence. Abel said that Berkshire is not going to "implement AI for the sake of AI itself".

- the war in Iran has affected all Berkshire subsidiaries, causing costs to rise, the new CEO said.

- Buffett told CNBC on the sidelines of the meeting that he believes the current investment environment is not ideal for investing and that he is pleased that Jerome Powell will remain at the Federal Reserve after he steps down as chairman.

21.00 CET: At the end of the meeting, Abel is asked who could be his right-hand man, like the late Charlie Munger to Warren Buffett. The new CEO doesn't give a specific name, but points to Berkshire's entire management team. "We're very lucky to have a great team - I can go to any of them in a particular situation and ask for advice," he says. According to Abel, he can also turn to Buffett, who comes into the office every day.

20.40 CET: Abel said Berkshire has a shortlist of companies it is interested in acquiring in part or in full - at the right price.

Abel also said he is discussing potential stock purchases with Buffett. "We are constantly evaluating, but we are very, very happy with the current portfolio," he added.

20.20 CET: More snippets from Buffett's interview:

The golden rule for investors is to treat others the way you want to be treated, Buffett says. "If the whole world lived by the golden rule, society would be a much better place. It applies to everything from parenthood to leadership roles." It doesn't cost anything to follow this rule, he says, but it pays off in kind: "It's a kind of selfishness, but I've never seen a person behave like that and be unhappy about it.

Buffett is convinced that gambling in the markets is now at its peak: "People have never been as addicted to gambling as they are now. As an example, he cites the story of a U.S. serviceman who allegedly used classified information about a military operation in Venezuela to make $400,000 on the prediction market. Buffett compares the financial markets to "a church with a casino attached to it." "People can go to both church and casino, and I would say there are more people in church, but casinos are becoming more attractive," he said. - If you buy or sell overnight options, it's not investing or speculating, it's gambling."

20.15 CET: A shareholder asks about the possibility of splitting Berkshire's subsidiaries. Abel categorically rejects the idea: "Absolutely not. We are a conglomerate, an efficient conglomerate".

According to Abel, Berkshire will continue to invest in subsidiaries as if it never intends to sell them, with few exceptions. He is convinced that the conglomerate is able to allocate capital efficiently among its divisions and is free from bloated management. "We see that this works very efficiently and we have no intention of selling subsidiaries or spinning off any groups," Abel concluded.

19.50 CET: Abel comments after the break on the impact of the war with Iran on Berkshire's business - this "unpleasant situation" affects all areas of the company's business, Barron's reports. He says Berkshire is taking a long-term view of coping with increased costs. In particular, in the company's chemicals division, which uses oil in production, raw material costs "effectively doubled in a very short period of time."

19.20 CET: Warren Buffett says in an interview with CNBC that the current investment environment is far from ideal for spending Berkshire's savings. "Nobody can tell us exactly what to do, so sometimes we do nothing," he says.

He cites high prices on the market as the main deterrent. When is the right time to buy? When "no one else will pick up the phone," Buffett says.

He's also pleased that Jerome Powell plans to stay on as Fed governor after he steps down as chairman. "I'll be better off when he's around than when he's not," Buffett said.

18.46 CET: Why is Berkshire Hathaway in no hurry to spend its accumulated cash? Here's how Abel explains it: it's not a lack of attractive companies, the problem is price.

"It's not that we don't see outstanding companies today that we would like to own. But the price relative to the opportunity, the economic prospects of that company and the risks involved do not suit us to acquire those companies at that price," Abel said(quoted by MarketWatch).

18.30 CET: A T-shirt with Buffett's name and number 60 is hung from the ceiling of the arena to honor the Oracle of Omaha's years at the helm of the company. The tradition of displaying a T-shirt under the arena's arches is considered the highest honor in sports and a sign of recognition, CNBC noted. Charlie Munger's jersey with the number "45" - commemorating the years the late investor devoted to the company - is placed nearby. "These T-shirts will hang under the vaults for years to come," Abel said.

18.25 CET: Abel confirmed that Berkshire Hathaway remains committed to the principles laid down by Buffett. Financial independence, flexibility in capital allocation, tax efficiency and holding reserves in US Treasuries are the company's priorities. Separately, Abel warned against arrogance, bureaucracy and complacency, which, according to him, can destroy any company.

Speaking about Berkshire's uniqueness, he highlights the flexibility in capital management: the company is free to reallocate funds between assets or keep them in a cache depending on the market situation.

18.21 CET: Berkshire's new CEO has outlined his approach to managing the company's equity portfolio. The portfolio is based on the so-called big four: Apple, American Express, Moody's and Coca-Cola, as well as stakes in Japanese trading houses. Among other significant positions, Abel singled out Bank of America, Chevron and Alphabet, whose shares Berkshire bought for about $4 billion in 2025.
Abel says he intends to actively manage the portfolio - increasing or decreasing positions as needed - and work closely with Buffett on investment matters.

17.38 CET: The Q&A session opens with a video of Warren Buffett in a suit. "Hi, my name is Warren, I'm from Omaha," he introduces himself. - Greg, I've been following the company for a long time. I'm 95 years old. I've got time and a cherry Coke. And I want to know - just so I have something to say to my fellow shareholders - why should they hold Berkshire stock long-term?"

It's not the real Buffett - the video is AI-generated without any input from the real "Oracle of Omaha," Abel says. Cyber risk is a serious and ongoing threat to Berkshire, he says.

When asked why investors should hold Berkshire stock, Abel says the company has flexibility because of its huge cash cushion.

17.10 CET: New CEO Greg Abel speaks from the stage. Berkshire is taking a cautious approach to the use and management of artificial intelligence, he says. "It has to be complementary to our business," Abel said. - We're not implementing AI for AI's sake."

According to Abel, Berkshire will apply AI in a narrow, clearly delineated format focused on creating real value. He also noted that the conglomerate is mindful of the risks this technology poses to "humanity."

16.40 CET: The queue for the CHI arena in downtown Omaha, where the meeting is being held, has been lined up since early morning, Reuters writes. Two shareholders said they arrived at 2 or 3am. Still, there were several thousand empty seats in the 18,000-seat auditorium when the meeting began - a marked difference from meetings in previous years where Buffett presided, Reuters notes.

16.30 CET: CNBC reports that actor Bill Murray is attending the meeting. It turns out he is a longtime Berkshire investor. "I first came here after meeting Warren [Buffett] and I really enjoyed it," he said.

16.16 CET: Warren Buffett, 95, has taken a front row seat to a standing ovation, CNBC reports. Exactly one year ago, Buffett announced at the shareholders' meeting that he would hand over the CEO position to Abel and himself would remain only chairman of the board. "We couldn't have made a better decision," he said at the start of the meeting. - It has been 100 percent successful. He does everything I do and more. He is the right person for the job."

16.06 NET: Berkshire shares have fallen 5.9% since the beginning of the year. By comparison, the main index of the U.S. stock market S&P 500 has grown by almost 6%. Against the background of falling quotations, Berkshire in March resumed share buybacks for the first time since 2024. By the end of the first quarter, the company had repurchased $234.2 million worth of shares.

16.00 CET: Ahead of the meeting, Berkshire Hathaway released its first quarter report. It shows that the company sold more shares than it bought at the beginning of the year. Purchases totaled $15.9 billion and sales totaled $24 billion, the largest quarterly sales for Berkshire since 2024, when the company sold a significant portion of its stake in Apple, writes the Financial Times.

Berkshire Hathaway has remained a net seller of stock for 14 consecutive quarters. Its cash cushion now exceeds $380 billion.

15.54 CET: Berkshire's net income more than doubled year-on-year to $10.1 billion. Berkshire's preferred measure of profitability - operating profit from hundreds of subsidiaries - rose 18% year-on-year to $11.3 billion.

15.45 CET: According to the meeting schedule, Berkshire's new CEO will talk about the company for an hour. Buffett and the late vice chairman Charlie Munger could spend as much as five hours talking to investors, Reuters reported.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor