My colleagues Awet, Carl and I have a date with destiny. We are going to the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha on 4th May. This will be our first ever meeting and we’re really looking forward to it.
Warren Buffett is the CEO and owner of Berkshire Hathaway. He is one of the 10 richest men in the world even after gifting away more than $50 billion since 2006. He has also pledged to give away 99% of his wealth to good causes when he dies.
https://www.forbesindia.com/article/explainers/top-10-richest-people-world/85541/1
To me meeting him is like meeting a rock star only he is the rock star of investing. This really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for us to meet him.
Berkshire Hathaway was originally the owner of a number of textile mills. He became CEO of the company in 1930. He controls more than 30% of the votes and owns more than 16% of the shares. He is estimated to be worth $133 billion today.
Warren Buffett is now aged 93 and will be 94 in August this year. His long-term business partner, the legendary Charlie Munger, died aged 99 years and 11 months in December. So unfortunately we won’t be meeting Charlie Munger too. When we first booked our tickets for the meeting six months ago somebody quipped “I hope they both make it” I laughed it off as a joke but unfortunately, that person was 50% right.
So how do you get accepted to attend a Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting? Well, firstly you have to buy shares in Berkshire Hathaway. That in itself is a daunting prospect. I was aware that the value of just one A share would be in excess of $600,000 so I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy a single share. However, I discovered that the B shares were significantly cheaper. At the time of writing the B shares trade at just over $400 a share. So I bought a few B shares instead.
Owning the shares isn’t enough. You have to provide documentary evidence of your ownership in order to qualify. There are essentially three ways to obtain a ticket to the annual general meeting (AGM).
- Queue up to buy them in Omaha which could take a couple of hours.
- Use your proxy form as a shareholder if your stockbroker allows it which is unlikely.
- Buy your ticket on eBay.
We chose option three.
Fortunately, my stockbroker was able to provide me with a document proving my ownership of the shares.
The next step was to book accommodation. We decided to book an Airbnb house near the venue in Omaha.
We then booked the flights.
So we are all set to go.
Will I personally actually meet the great man himself? Well, that is my plan even if it is only brief.
The Airbnb owner asked me if there was anything he could do for me. I answer “Yes, can you introduce me to Warren Buffett? He answered “Well actually he is a neighbour of mine and I know him well.” So I am optimistic he will personally introduce me to Warren Buffett. My plan is to at least get a selfie of Warren Buffett and me or preferably a photograph of me shaking his hand. Here’s hoping.
Everyone who is seriously interested in investing should attend a Berkshire Hathaway AGM. You know it makes sense.*
Tony Byrne, Managing Director
If you want to learn more about this topic, please find the link.
More information about our fund the YFS Intelligent Wealth Fund can be found here: Hargreaves Lansdown or AJ Bell
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