A new atmosphere at the Woodstock of capitalism.
Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A, BRK-B) annual shareholder meeting on Saturday marked a new era for the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. This is the investing legend’s first without his right-hand man Charlie Munger, who died on November 28, 2023, just before his 100th birthday.
Although Munger’s absence was significant, his presence loomed throughout the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Charlie Munger’s name was among the first words Buffett said when he took the stage.
Buffett described Munger as “the architect of Berkshire,” and his request for shareholders to “join me in applauding Charlie” was met with cheers and a standing ovation from a crowd that included Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, Citigroup (C) CEO Jane Frasier and Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates.
“In terms of having a partner, I just can’t think of a conversation I had with Charlie that he misled me,” Buffett later told a packed house.
Buffett added: “In terms of money management, there was no one in the world to talk to for many, many decades than Charlie. »
The meeting began with a video tribute to the former Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman, which included a number of Munger’s famous phrases from previous meetings, including: “I think every time you see the word EBITDA, you should replace it with the word “bulls**t gains”.
EBITDA is more formally known on the street as shorthand for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Companies tend to present this metric as a purer measure of business health rather than a measure of net profits.
“It’s a bittersweet moment…a tough day for a lot of people,” new Brooks Running CEO Dan Sheridan told me of Munger’s absence.
Sheridan’s message was echoed by executives of other Berkshire-owned companies.
Dairy Queen Executive Vice President Maria Hokanson described it as “an air of gratitude” and “a time for us to reflect and celebrate his character and wisdom.” Meanwhile, Pat Egan, longtime CEO of See’s Candies, noted that the influence of Munger’s investments is evident in the way Berkshire’s businesses operate.
“It’s still there in many ways…It’s about simplicity, doing the right thing, not overthinking and taking care of the customer,” Egan told me.
Egan added: “You can’t replace Charlie Munger. He just has an incredible, incredible presence and we missed him.
As the meeting began, Buffett misspoke and called his successor Greg Abel “Charlie” when he asked him to answer a shareholder’s question. His mistake was greeted by cheers from the public.
Buffett was quick to point out Munger’s influence over Berkshire’s portfolio, telling shareholders BYD (BYDDY) and Costco (COST) that Munger advocated his actions the most.
“In all these years, Charlie has only said ‘buy, buy, buy’ twice. BYD was one of them and Costco was the other. In hindsight, I should have been more aggressive at Costco. He was right, for the most part, in both societies.
The unique and special partnership between Buffett and Munger was evident when the Oracle of Omaha was asked what he would do if he could spend one more day with Charlie.
“Charlie loved learning. He loved a wide variety of things… We had just as much fun, maybe even more, with the things that failed because then you really had to find a way out of it,” Buffett said.
“It’s an interesting question,” Buffett added. “We never had any doubts about the other person, period…Charlie would always say ‘just tell me where I’m going to die so I never go there.’ The truth is that he went everywhere with his mind, and so not only was he interested in the world at 99, but the world was interested in him. It’s amazing.
Sean Smith is an anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter @SeanaNSmith. Advice on deals, mergers, activist situations or anything else? Email seanasmith@yahooinc.com.
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