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Images of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (right) and partner Charlie Munger |
OMAHA--
Thirty-five thousand disciples of Warren Buffett descended on this Nebraska city yesterday to hear the world's second-richest man speak about the state of Berkshire Hathaway and the U.S. economy.They came for a weekend of reuniting, shopping, eating T-bone steaks and, of course, listening to CEO Buffett and Berkshire partner Charlie Munger answer five hours' worth of questions from the crowd at Omaha's Qwest Center.
Among them was David Alexander, an investment banker who lives in Spotsylvania County's Fawn Lake subdivision and has been a Berkshire shareholder for 12 years. Alexander attended the so-called "Woodstock for Capitalists" meeting
Buffett-philes from all over the country and world started lining up outside the Qwest Center early in the morning to ensure they'd have prime seats when the doors opened at 7 a.m. Hotel rooms were booked throughout and beyond the city.
Not long before the lines formed at the Qwest Center, people were still packing the tables of Gorat's steakhouse, where Buffett frequently dines on steak, hash brown potatoes and Cherry Coke. Gorat's served 2,448 dinners at last year's annual meeting, including 702 T-bones. A waitress said Buffett is just a moderate tipper.
Buffett heartily encourages shareholders to shop during the three-day weekend. At last year's meeting, Berkshire's 77-acre Nebraska Furniture Mart racked up $33.3 million in sales. A shareholder reception was held Friday night at the company's Borsheims jewelry store, with discounts available to shareholders.
Shopping opportunities at Berkshire's many subsidiaries continued after shareholders flooded into the Qwest Center, where products filled 194,300 square feet of exhibit space. Among the highlights were a new plug-in electric car developed by Chinese company BYD Inc. Geico was there talking about and selling insurance.
The crowd flocked to Buffett when he walked through the exhibit hall not long after the doors opened yesterday morning.
His mission?
Buy and consume a Vanilla Orange Bar from Dairy Queen, a Berkshire company. He and Munger snacked on See's Candies--another Berkshire company--throughout the meeting.
The meeting wasn't always the phenomenon that it is today, said longtime Fredericksburg resident and philanthropist Doris Buffett, Warren's sister. She attends the meeting every year and has been doing so for close to a half-century. "We don't have family reunions, we have stockholder meetings," she said.
Doris Buffett recalls the early years of Warren's investment career. At that time there were just 10 people sitting around the table listening to her now-famous brother give his investment opinions in parables.
Now he gives his opinions to tens of thousands at the Qwest Center, and millions more tracking the event around the world. The questions this year came from a combination of shareholders and national journalists.
Right before the questions came the annual humorous movie about Berkshire. It featured commercials and highlight reels from Berkshire subsidiaries, including Geico. One clip showed Buffett helping Tiger Woods fix his golf swing.
The details about yesterday's question-and-answer session can be found at fredericksburg.com/blogs/bizbrowser. Among the topics Buffett covered were U.S. government policies, Berkshire's business, investment philosophies, the housing market, inflation, commercial real estate, China, the dollar, energy, the world economy and evaluating management.
Bill Freehling: 540/374-5424
Email: bfreehling@freelancestar.com
