Berkshire Hathaway‘s annual meeting is far different — and larger — than it was six decades ago, when Warren Buffett took over what was then a failing Massachusetts textile company.
Today’s “Woodstock for Capitalists” began with just a dozen attendees in 1965. Sixty years later, the Omaha, Nebraska gathering attracts as many as 40,000 people from around the world.
Nowadays, attendees begin lining up outside the CHI Health Center in the early morning hours on Saturday to hear from Warren Buffett, the 94-year-old chief executive officer. Known as the Oracle of Omaha for dispensing investment wisdom, Buffett is also famous for sharing insights into business and strategy, not to mention advice on softer topics such as friendship and life, to a rapt audience.
This year’s shareholder meeting is Buffett’s second without Charlie Munger, his close friend and business partner who died in 2023. Greg Abel, Berkshire Hathaway Energy chairman and Buffett’s successor, will join him for questions on stage. Insurance Chief Ajit Jain will also join the pair for part of Saturday’s question-and-answer event.
The event has ballooned into a weekend-long array of activities, including a shopping event known as the “Berkshire Bazaar of Bargains,” featuring products made by the conglomerate’s subsidiaries. A 5-kilometer run and value investing conferences have become hallmarks of attendees’ weekend itineraries.
“You’ve just got event after event after event,” said Christopher Bloomstran, president of Semper Augustus Investments Group. Bloomstran, who’s attended the annual meeting for more than two decades, called it a “rite of passage” for new investors.
This year, the company is selling 5,000 volumes of a limited edition book, “60 Years of Berkshire Hathaway,” marking Buffett’s tenure as CEO. Proceeds from an auction of copies signed by Buffett and author Carrie Sova will benefit the Stephen Center, a charity for homeless youth and adults in South Omaha.
The meeting itself will look different than what many attendees remember from years past, according to the 2024 shareholder letter. Buffett will make opening remarks at 8 a.m. local time Saturday, but there will be no movie introduction, a popular feature in prior years. The question-and-answer period will only have a half-hour break and end at 1p.m., though the shopping area will remain open until 4 p.m.
News outlets have covered the event for decades. The event will be broadcast exclusively by CNBC this year and webcast in English and Mandarin.
Regular attendees often say there’s a magic and camaraderie to the in-person experience that keeps them coming back to Omaha, where Berkshire is headquartered, despite being able to livestream the event at home.
“It really is special,” said Adam Mead, CEO of Mead Capital Management and author of “The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway.” “‘I’m not a religious person, but it has that feel of going to church.”
The following are a collection of moments from meetings throughout the years compiled by CNBC in honor of Warren Buffett’s 60 years leading Berkshire Hathaway.
This post was originally published on CNBC Markets
