The 2025 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Assembly occurred on Could third, 2025, and also you’ve most likely already heard the large information: Warren Buffett will step down because the CEO on the finish of the yr, to get replaced by Greg Abel (current Fortune profile). He’ll stay Chairman of the Board. This can be a large deal, however I view it extra as a step change. It will permit Abel to instantly handle all of their wholly-owned subsidiary firms with full authority, whereas nonetheless having Buffett round to make large offers within the occasion of a market disaster alternative. I doubt Buffett’s day-to-day routine will change drastically.
In any case, I nonetheless loved watching and listening to all the Q&A session with Warren Buffett, Greg Abel, and Ajit Jain. The absence of Charlie Munger was nonetheless noticeable.
CNBC once more has the published rights. You will discover the total 6+ hour stay re-broadcast on CNBC YouTube and so they have additionally uploaded most of it to the CNBC Buffett Archives website. Their official transcript just isn’t but obtainable, however you could find a useful transcript from Regular Compounding or take heed to the audio podcast model right here. Personally, I wish to take heed to the audio within the automobile as soon as, after which learn by means of the transcript for the second spherical.
Listed below are a couple of private takeaways and notes.
Nothing new relating to the money pile. They solely swing when it’s a fats pitch. They continue to be disciplined and stay affected person and opportunistic. From Greg Abel:
Taking a look at our steadiness sheet, as Warren commented, we could have a fortress of a steadiness sheet. I assumed Sue Decker, our lead director, stated it effectively yesterday. We’ve obtained a big amount of money proper now, nevertheless it’s an unlimited asset to have that and that can proceed to be a philosophy. After we can deploy it, we’ll deploy it effectively. We acknowledge it as a strategic asset that enables us to climate tough occasions and never be depending on anyone.
From Buffett:
We don’t suppose it’s improper for passive traders to make a couple of easy investments and sit with them for all times. However we’ve made the choice to be within the enterprise, so we predict we will perform a little higher by behaving in a really irregular method.
To younger employees: discover folks you respect and actually wish to work for. Don’t fear in regards to the wage as a lot.
You actually wish to work at one thing you get pleasure from. I’ve had 5 bosses in life and I preferred each one among them – they have been all attention-grabbing. I nonetheless determined that I’d moderately work for myself than anyone else. However if you happen to discover folks which are great to work with, that’s the place to go. I’ve instructed my children principally that you simply don’t get fortunate like I did when I discovered what me at seven or eight years of age. It might have taken rather a lot longer, however you wish to discover what you like.
Alternatively, discover a good trainer or mentor in an space you’re obsessed with:
Those who train, on the whole, love having a younger pupil who’s truly actually within the topic, and so they’ll spend additional time with you. I bumped into that. I had Graham and Dodd at Columbia. Dave Dodd handled me like a son principally. However I used to be all for what they have been saying and so they discovered it type of entertaining that I used to be so , so I’d go searching at what actually fascinates you. I wouldn’t attempt to be someone else.
On crypto and attempting to get wealthy fast with out creating any worth. A lot of crypto relies on the Larger Idiot idea.
If very silly issues are taking place round you, you don’t want to take part. If persons are making extra money as a result of they’re borrowing cash or taking part in securities which are items of junk however they hope to discover a greater sucker in a while, you need to overlook that. That’ll chew you sooner or later. The fundamental recreation is so good, and also you’ve been so fortunate to be born now.
A short lived 15% drop within the inventory market is nothing.
If it had gone up 15% as a substitute of down 15%, folks would take that with exceptional grace. But when it makes a distinction to you whether or not your shares are down 15% or not, you’ll want to get a considerably completely different funding philosophy as a result of the world just isn’t going to adapt to you. You’re going to must adapt to the world.
You will notice a interval within the subsequent 20 years that might be a “hair roller” in comparison with something you’ve seen earlier than. That simply occurs periodically. The world makes large errors, and surprises occur in dramatic methods. The extra refined the system will get, the extra the surprises can come out of left subject.
In the meantime, paying 1% yearly continually yearly for funding administration charges is rather a lot.
By the way, if all of you have been paying 1% for funding administration charges at Berkshire final yr, you’d have paid $8 billion for managing, and you actually wouldn’t have needed to do it. Funding administration is an excellent recreation as a result of different folks put up the capital and also you cost them for the capital whether or not they do effectively or not, and you then cost them much more in the event that they do effectively. It’s a well-designed enterprise for the individuals who observe it – and who can blame them? That’s capitalism.
More often than not, no one has a lot of an edge.
Charlie all the time identified that we made most of our cash out of about eight or 9 concepts over 50 years. We talked about it each day and skim each report and did all the pieces else. However if you happen to suppose you may get an concept a day from listening to your dealer or studying monetary info, overlook it. Every so often you get extraordinary alternatives, and more often than not you don’t have a lot of an edge.
General, listening to this session as a Berkshire shareholder jogs my memory that the corporate retains a long-term mindset, pondering in a long time and never quarters. A number of firms say issues like they suppose for the long-term, they put shareholder pursuits first, however their actions don’t match.
I’m grateful for these reminders of how issues ought to be carried out. After all, it’s unhappy that issues are altering, and Buffett’s growing age does remind me of my very own. I can’t imagine how lengthy he’s been at this. Carpe Diem.
Previous BRK conferences:
