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There was a pre-Berkshire meeting by Yahoo Finance today with Laurence Cunningham, Robert Hagstrom, Carol Loomis, and Tom Gayner. Took a few notes if anyone was interested: Larry Cunningham: The annual meeting at Berkshire was created to attract a certain kind of shareholder base that was focused on owning a business for the long term. What makes Berkshire so distinctive and why don’t more companies copy it? Larry Cunningham Buffett sees himself being in a partnership with his shareholders. He makes the decisions for the company as a whole Berkshire is highly decentralized with good managers in place with their own strategies, in a trust based environment. Other companies have an overwhelming pressure to conform to short term results and quarterly guidance Some companies that have been able to adopt a long term/ Berkshire style: Markel Fairfax Constellation Post Johnson and Johnson Danaher Alphabet Robert Hagstrom Warren’s best success was building a culture of rational allocation of capital This created the most successful conglomerate in history that will last for decades Tom Gayner There’s a degree of personal responsibility that Buffett and Munger have assumed with a culture of stewardship and trust Tom Gayner quotes someone named Chad: “At any point in the investment arena, there are times where you look smarter or dummer than you really are.” Most people can’t endure the period when they look dummer I.e. Buffett whenever Berkshire is lagging the market Buffett is always accused of not doing enough during these periods and he’ll probably be asked “have you ever thought of … crypto, SPACs, etc” Carol Loomis: Has been editing Buffett’s letters for 50 years now. She gets a draft in October and they mail each other comments, because if they did it over the phone they’d get upset at one another. Since she’s the first person to ask a question, she feels some pressure to ask the question everyone wants to know. If not, the two other anchors next to her will. How will Berkshire evolve? Larry Cunningham: Buffett put in place great leaders for the future of Berkshire Insurance (Ajit Jain) Businesses (Greg Abel) 2 portfolio managers (Ted and Todd) Loyal shareholder base Robert Hagstrom mentions his new book Warren Buffett: Inside the Ultimate Money Mind Took him a very long time to realize that Buffett’s temperament was a large part of his success Tom Gayner on Berkshire’s evolution: Berkshire has changed in size, scale, skill, and as the world changed In the early days it was essentially Buffett’s investment partnership, and his investment skills in stocks that drove Berkshire Once he bought National Indemnity then it also became an insurance company With the purchase of the utility assets it morphed into a conglomerate and into an enterprise that was more multifaceted and larger than it used to be Buffett tells you what you own over time in a simple way On Berkshire’s future after Buffett, thinks about other businesses that have survived past their genius founder I.e. Dupont Why did Buffett take so long to buy stock? Robert Hagstrom: Believes Berkshire wasn’t at a huge discount to intrinsic value, and that Buffett allocated a modest amount to share repurchases With all the cash do you see more share buybacks or business purchases being made in the future? Tom Gayner: The beauty is that they’ve had both options open over the years. Buffett and Munger have the skill of business purchases and ability to repurchase shares.