By Andy Serwer
While this year's Berkshire Hathaway meeting may have been short on fireworks and blockbuster news, it wasn't short on poignancy.
At one point in the morning after Buffett had talked for some time about the company's energy businesses and was turning the microphone over to Berkshire vice chairman Greg Abel (who oversees those operations), instead of saying "Greg?" [to query him], he said: "Charlie?"
It was a multidecade reflex, and of course, Buffett was referring to Charlie Munger, his longstanding partner who died last November just weeks before his 100th birthday. After Buffett's slip, the entire hall filled to capacity with more than 18,000 shareholders, collectively sighed and then applauded. A real wow moment.
And then in the afternoon, a bookend of sorts, when Buffett asked Abel to comment after Buffett spoke at length about a potential investment. "I have nothing to add," Abel said simply, to which the crowd responded with a roar, as this was Munger's signature response. "You'll always get applause with that line," added Buffett.
So yes, the meeting was most memorable for being the first Berkshire meeting without Munger, and though the event lacked the snap, crackle and pop of when Munger was alive -- who was always ready to pounce with his rapier wit -- there were some highlights. For one thing, Berkshire Hathaway sold its entire stake in Paramount Global. "It was 100% my decision and we've sold it all and we lost quite a bit of money," said Buffett. "I did it all by myself, folks," he said, shooting down speculation that Berkshire portfolio managers Todd Weschler or Todd Combs were responsible.
Otherwise the news was mostly about the Berkshire quarterly report and changes in its stock portfolio. "Earnings looked pretty good actually," Macrae (Mac) Sykes, portfolio manager of the Gabelli Equity Trust, told me on the CHI convention floor, where shareholders flocked around investing icons like Mario Gabelliand Himalaya's Li Lu. "They sold some Apple, which was not unexpected."
In fact the proceedings kicked off Saturday morning with a kind of otherworldly moment when CNBC's Becky Quick spoke reporting about Berkshire reducing its stake in Apple, with video of Tim Cook watching her.
Earlier, I ran into Ted Weschler, who spoke admiringly of the work of journalists. "What you do is very much like what we do," he said to me. Although he also told me when journalists make a mess of things, a story can become "a dog's breakfast."
The meeting began per usual with a movie, which this year was all about Munger, with his greatest hits coming in a series of clips sprinkled with a bio narrated by CNBC's Quick. The hall was rapt, laughing at times at Munger's lines and quiet with serious stuff.
Images of famous twosomes over the years -- Hope and Crosby, Laurel and Hardy, Laverne and Shirley, even Beavis and Butt-Head and finally Buffett and Munger -- with swelling emotional music had some in the crowd teary. A taped tribute by Buffett, now 93, ended the film, his voice sounding weaker and raspier, and his face looking thinner than in the past -- though he was as sharp as ever. Buffett repeated his description of Munger as "the architect of Berkshire." The movie led to a standing ovation by the packed auditorium. (Such movies were never released for the general public to view, but this year for the first time it was available).
Now the spotlight turns increasingly to Greg Abel, and while he may turn out to be a remarkable executive, he will never be another Buffett or Munger at least according to Berkshire director Ron Olson, namesake partner of law firm Munger Tolles & Olson, (co-founded by Charlie Munger).
"Greg is not going to be as entertaining as Warren and Charlie have been through the years. [He] is not somebody who is going to be as likely to create the kind of following in the press that I think Warren has had," Olson said according to the AP. "On the other hand. I have every reason to believe that he will run the companies that we have the responsibility for in the same way that Warren ran them."
A number of boldfaced names were in attendance this year. Not only Tim Cook, but also Bill Gates and actor Bill Murray, the latter oh-so-casually attired and spending some serious time at the Squishmallow exhibit area, vamping with the human-size characters. Squishmallow's three venues were mobbed with shareholders looking to buy their popular stuffed toys, especially the Munger and Buffett Squishmallows, which come in two sizes. (The Munger toy tag carries a special tribute: "Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Day by day, and at the end of the day, if you live long enough...you will get out of life what you deserve").
A Squishmallow executive -- imagine that job -- told me the parent company (Jazwares) just did a licensing deal with "Hello Kitty." And coming this fall, Squishmallow will collaborate with See's Candies to produce a special box of See's Candies with a new Squishmallow character. It's an unusual cross-branding endeavor for Berkshire companies.
Speaking of See's, CEO Pat Egan, told me that his company brought 11 tons of candy to the meeting, selling six tons on Friday, "and we barely have enough for today," he says to me midday on Saturday glancing at the rapidly emptying shelves.
There seem to have been fewer Berkshire companies exhibiting their wares in the convention center this year though. Coca-Cola appeared to not be there for instance. My take is that Coke never went all in at Berkshire. Unlike other companies, it didn't really feature Berkshire related items and discounted items.
Brooks on the other hand always had special Berkshire items, and I caught up Dan Sheridan, the new CEO of Brooks, ("I'm five days in.") He told me how it was Buffett himself who told his predecessor, Jim Weber, that Brooks needed to be an independent company, taken out from Fruit of the Loom with Weber reporting directly to Buffett. Sheridan also says he went to his first managers' lunch which he described as "very casual." As for the food? "Burgers and fries," he said. Gee I wondered who picked the menu?
Sheridan, who says he won't be changing the course of the company (only shoes and apparel for runners), is of course doing his "Brooks Invest in Yourself 5k" which will include the 'Charlie Munger Mile,' ("From mile 2 to 3, runners will be treated to a display of 'Munger-isms'; some of Mr. Munger's most iconic quotes sharing wisdom on business and life.") Can't wait to see what that's like. Berkshire Hathaway investment manager Ted Weschler confirmed he is running ([I run] "every day," he says), and Sheridan tells me Todd Combs, another Berkshire investment manager, and Berkshire director Charlotte Guyman are running too.
Buffett mentioned that the Bookworm bookshop, which usually sells all manner of books about Buffett, Berkshire and Munger, was only selling "Poor Charlie's Almanac" this year. I checked in with the Bookworm folks at the lunch break and they told me they had 5,000 copies, had sold 4,000 and were sure to sell out by the end of the day. At $25 per copy that would be $125,000 worth of books on Munger.
One can only wonder what Munger would have said about that.
Write to Andy Serwer at andy.serwer@barrons.com
This content was created by Barron's, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. Barron's is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.
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May 04, 2024 17:15 ET (21:15 GMT)
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