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Sam Ro Managing EditorYahoo Finance – May 4, 2019
LIVEWATCH LIVE: 2019 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting
Warren Buffett is speaking to Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A, BRK-B) investors as well as the rest of the world at the 2019 Annual Shareholder Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. The event is being streamed live exclusively on Yahoo Finance.
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha” for his track record of picking winning investments, Buffett is joined by his right-hand man Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire. The duo will share their unscripted views on their company, the financial markets, the economy, politics, corporate governance, and of course investing.
Their comments on the near-term have been known to move markets. Their insights on the the long-term have earned fortunes for investors.
We’re covering the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Meeting live on this page, so hit refresh or click here for the latest updates.
Amazon, Coca-Cola and cannabis
News was breaking even before the meeting started.
On the Thursday ahead of the meeting, Buffett told CNBC’s Becky Quick that Berkshire had amassed a new position in Amazon (AMZN). He attributed the purchase to “one of the fellows in the office that manage money.” In other words, the decision was made by Todd Combs or Ted Weschler.
Over the past decade, Warren Buffett has been slowly taking a step back from his responsibilities at his company. Specifically, he hired two younger money managers, Todd Combs in 2010 and Ted Weschler in 2011, to eventually run Berkshire’s massive investment portfolio.
It’s worth noting that Buffett has acknowledged missing Amazon was a mistake.
“I always admired Jeff [Bezos, CEO of Amazon],” Buffett told Yahoo Finance’s editor-in-chief, Andy Serwer. “I met him 20 years ago or so. And I thought he was something special, but I didn’t realize you could go from books to what’s happened. He had a vision and executed it in an incredible way.”
On Friday, Buffett and Munger shared some thoughts on marijuana in response to a question from Fox Business Network’s Liz Claman.
“It would be a mistake for Coca-Cola (KO) to get into the marijuana — cannabis business,” they reportedly said to Claman. “They have a wholesome image and that would be detrimental to it.”
“Our chairman and CEO, James Quincey, has repeatedly stated we don’t have plans to get into this space,” a Coca-Cola spokesperson said to Yahoo Finance.
Coca-Cola is arguably the most successful investment Berkshire ever made.
It all began with a ‘monumentally stupid decision’
Buffett, 88, first invested in a Berkshire Hathaway, a failing textile company, back in December 1962, accumulating 7% of the company at $7.50 per share. The company was owned by a man named Seabury Stanton, who in 1964 asked Buffett for the price he’d be willing to sell his stake. Buffett said $11.50, and they had a deal.
However, Stanton later turned around and made a tender offer to shareholders for $11.275 per share. Buffett didn’t care for that behavior, so he ended up hanging on.
“That was a monumentally stupid decision,” Buffett said in his 2014 letter to shareholders. “Irritated by Stanton’s chiseling, I ignored his offer and began to aggressively buy more Berkshire shares.”
[Click here for full coverage of the 2019 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting.]
Buffett took control of the company in May of 1965. And that was followed by another two decades of tough lessons.
“During the 18 years following 1966, we struggled unremittingly with the textile business, all to no avail,” he said. “But stubbornness — stupidity? — has its limits. In 1985, I finally threw in the towel and closed the operation.”
Despite his great success and status, Buffett’s career is riddled with failures. Ultimately, his real triumph is learning from his mistakes to eventually seal his legacy as the world’s greatest investor.
Furthermore, through letters, interviews, meetings and TV appearances, Buffett has shared his lessons with the public so that they can be better investors themselves. So while many know him as a great investor, there are plenty who will also remember him as a great teacher.
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Sam Ro is managing editor at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter: @SamRo
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