I fulfilled my lifetime dream of attending the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha recently. That ticked off one of my bucket list items.
In order to qualify to attend the meeting you have to be a shareholder. At the time I was aware that the A shares were worth c.$550,000 each. I didn’t want to spend that much money so I opted to buy a few B shares in Berkshire Hathaway instead which only cost c.$350 each.
To get a ticket you have to use your proxy to request it for you. Alternatively you can queue up the day before for about two hours, show your proof of ownership of the shares and then collect your ticket. The third option is to simply buy your ticket on eBay. We chose the last option and it wasn’t very expensive.
I was accompanied on my pilgrimage by my two colleagues Awet and Carl. Our trip was eventful, especially the outbound flights. We had to fly from Heathrow to Chicago and then take a connecting flight to Omaha where Warren Buffett lives and works. The wait between flights was supposed to be for four hours but after numerous delays our flight took off 10 hours later than scheduled! This included two faults on the runways while we were seated in the plane for take off due to two technical issues. We were even told at the American Airlines check in desk at Chicago Airport that the plane was full and we would have to take the next flight two days later! Thankfully that issue was resolved and we were able to board the flight after all.
After an exhausting 28 hours journey we finally arrived at our Airbnb house in Omaha which happened to be just around the corner from Warren Buffett’s house where he has lived for more than 50 years! We were met by the owner, Larry, at 2:00 am US time which was equivalent to 8:00 am British time. He showed us around then left.
Carl and Awet outside Warren Buffett’s house in Omaha
We spent the next two days exploring Omaha and attending some meetings with fellow investors who were also attending the Berkshire Hathaway event. We even visited Warren Buffett’s house which was only about 500 yards away from the house we were staying in.
On the Saturday morning we got up early and took an Uber taxi to the event. Normally the ride would have cost us about $10 but the price was increased to $40 because of the increased demand. We arrived at the venue at 7:00am when the doors opened. As there are no seat numbers it’s a free for all to find a seat not too far away from the stage. Unfortunately we were relative latecomers, some people had queued up outside for half of the night in order to grab a seat near the front. This meant we had to sit quite high up in the auditorium with 30,000 people. In the end it didn’t matter because there were large screens to watch and listen to Warren Buffett and two of his management team.
Tony meets Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger
Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting
Tony, Awet and Carl in the audience at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting
Because of the sheer size of the venue and the large audience it proved impossible to actually meet the great man himself so I had to content myself with meeting a large cardboard caricature of Warren and Charlie instead.
The meeting itself didn’t disappoint. Buffet spent three hours in the morning fielding questions from Berkshire Hathaway shareholders and after a lunch break two more hours answering questions. All of the questions were answered patiently and politely. He didn’t even take a break apart from lunch. So many words of wisdom from the great man.
At 3:00pm the main event ended. Buffett was given a standing ovation. He must be the only CEO globally who gets such a reception at an annual shareholders meeting. The actual AGM was held in a separate building at 4:00pm. We didn’t attend that meeting. We had attended the main event and that was enough for us. We then made our way back to our house.
Overall it was a very interesting experience. A story to tell my future grandchildren one day. You know it makes sense.*
Tony Byrne, Managing Director
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