On May 5-6 of 2023, the Annual Shareholder Meeting of Berkshire Hathaway (BH) occurred… if you are not familiar with BH, here is a nice review from Wikipedia.

At 92 (Warren Buffett) and 99 (Charlie Munger) a 7 hour marathon where random, unscripted questions are answered in very good form (if we could all be so lucky) makes for great theatre and some what of a cult like experience…

Until just a few years ago, thanks in part to the lockdown years, BH meetings … while not secret, were behind closed doors and demanded in-person attendance, even if one had to sit in the hall outside of the actual area of the meeting and watch a live feed of the event… today as noted, earlier in our pre-view post not only can you access the event live, but also in replay with the ability to turn up the speed !

Personal High Points of Interest from the Sped Up meeting (Live by comments at end):

Neither man would rather live in a different country or location, even while there are of course, short comings,

Warren would not mind starting over today with nothing, to see if he could do it again, Charlie, not so much.

Charlie: China and the US should just get along, do business together and jointly prosper, rather than bowing up to each other for perceived dominance. Was Russia in the day, today China. (Large Applause)

Not withstanding point one, the bifurcation and hatred in society is disheartening, unproductive and destructive according to both men.

Buffet reversed course on a $5 billion investment in a semiconductor company located in Taiwan due to tension, location and likely provoking point three above.

100 Year Plan/Dream/Desire (question from audience) Buffet explains to operate a Company that compliments society, is good for society and has good people working for it. (Simple, fresh, positive!)

Vice: NetJets – Charlie still rides in coach, even on NJ – Expensive, but worth it according to Warren, especially on overseas extended trips.

Absolutely bash (and do not care for), Venture Capitalists and Private Equity guys at every chance and state that at the onset of most deals, they are already looking for the escape hatch/sale.

BH is actually too big to make agile, more aggressive and growth like investments, which prevents it from being a growth like company. (Reiterated for years now)

Management Skill recommendation – “Phrase by name, criticize by category!”

Live on less then you earn to keep stress down.

You do not have to be lucky to make it.

Be nice to people.

Get toxic people out of your life.

From the infamous Buffett Shareholder letter, released 2-25-23

• The world is full of foolish gamblers, and they will not do as well as the patient investor.
• If you don’t see the world the way it is, it’s like judging something through a distorted lens.
• All I want to know is where I’m going to die, so I’ll never go there. And a related thought:
  Early on, write your desired obituary – and then behave accordingly.
• If you don’t care whether you are rational or not, you won’t work on it. Then you will stay
  irrational and get lousy results.
• Patience can be learned. Having a long attention span and the ability to concentrate on one
  thing for a long time is a huge advantage.
• There is no such thing as a 100% sure thing when investing. Thus, the use of leverage is dangerous. A string of wonderful numbers times zero will always equal zero.

Remember, these are Warren and Charlie thoughts, only with a few comments and notes from us!

Have a Happy “Oracle of Omaha’s” day!

John A. Kvale CFA, CFP

Founder of J.K. Financial, Inc.

A Dallas Texas based fee only

Financial Planning Total Wealth

Management firm.

jkfinancialinc

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