The difference is that this year's Q&A session will bid farewell to Munger, Buffett's old partner and Berkshire's "brains and architect," who passed away last November at the age of 99.
This will be Berkshire's third in-person annual shareholder meeting since the pandemic, and the 60th time that Buffett, who will turn 94 on August 30, has participated in a multi-hour Q&A session.
It is expected that 40,000 people will make a "pilgrimage" to the small central city of Omaha in the United States this year, and some media jokingly call Buffett "the Taylor Swift of the investment world".
As we all know, Warren Buffett's shareholder meeting is known as the "Spring Festival Gala of the investment community" or "Woodstock for Capitalists".
Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting began in 1973, and Buffett and Munger's Q&A session dates back to 1994.
Berkshire's shareholder meeting is known for being a very different kind of investor event because in addition to shareholder voting and Q&A with the company's management, there will be a variety of activities such as picnic barbecues, shareholder shopping and fun runs. Berkshire's consumer brands will be showcased at the event, and it is said that the candy sold 11 tons of peanut crisps and chocolate in a weekend the year before.
According to Investopedia, a US-based website that focuses on investing, financial education and reviews of various financial products, in some respects, Berkshire's shareholder meeting "set the standard for lavish corporate annual meetings":
Attendees will spend the day immersed in a carnival-like atmosphere, watching comedy skits, enjoying disco balls and music, as well as the chance to meet bigwigs such as Bill Gates, Apple CEO Tim Cook and JPMorgan Chase CEO Dimon, as well as take photos with cartoon characters from Berkshire's companies. The Q&A session was also live-streamed for people around the world who were unable to attend the event. ”
Berkshire shareholders can attend the meeting, whether they hold Class A shares with a market price of more than $600,000 per share, or Class B shares that are close to $400 per share. Each shareholder can apply for up to four shareholder meeting tickets, so there are people who resell admission tickets online.
So theoretically, as long as the "funds are in place", anyone can come and look for a face-to-face opportunity with Buffett.
Some shareholders have commented that attending a Berkshire shareholder meeting is like "going to church", in fact, you know what kind of message they are trying to convey, and it seems that the same story will always be told, but you can always hear some changing current events and learn eternal wisdom from them.
Detailed explanation of the schedule of the general meeting of shareholders:
Similar to previous years, the shareholders' meeting will continue to last for three days, with the first day for investor shopping, the second day for Buffett's Q&A session and shareholder dinner, and the third day for the "Invest in Yourself" 5km jog event, this year's running poster will remove Buffett's fun portrait and invite more than 150 teenagers to participate in the run.
From noon on Friday, May 3 local time, shareholders who forgot to bring their tickets can pick up their tickets at the CHI Health Center, the venue of the shareholders' meeting, with their shareholding certificates and photo IDs, and at the same time participate in the "buy, buy, buy" trade fair, which usually hosts cocktail receptions for shareholders at Berkshire's jewelry store Borsheims.
On Saturday, May 4, the venue opened at 7 a.m. CT, and shareholders usually had to line up early in the morning to get a good seat. Some shareholders who participated said that the queue at 4 a.m. was more than 30 meters long, and by 7 a.m., the line could stretch for several blocks.
At the same time, Berkshire will release its first-quarter earnings report, and before the Q&A begins, an interesting short film will be shown at 8:45 a.m. These short videos are never played back in public, and the following screenshots are clips circulating on the Internet.
Starting at 9:15 a.m. (10:15 p.m. Beijing time on the 4th), Warren Buffett will join Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire's non-insurance business, and Ajit Jain, the head of the insurance business, to answer questions from shareholders. It is expected that the Q&A session will be held for at least five hours and will cover 40 to 60 questions, as has been the practice since 2019.
At the 2023 shareholders' meeting, Warren Buffett and Munger answered questions on the same stage, which has become the swan song of the times
Buffett said that Abel and Jain will both attend the morning half of this year's Q&A session, and that he and Abel will be the only ones who answer questions in the afternoon. Prior to this year, Buffett and Munger were usually only present in the afternoon Q&A session, and there was no shortage of shareholders who said "I miss Munger so much"! Buffett also reiterated that "don't ask us what we buy or sell" (and other specific investment decisions), and don't talk about politics.
The Q&A session is roughly scheduled as follows: the first half will be from 10:15 p.m. Beijing time on May 4 to 1 a.m. Beijing time on May 5, followed by a one-hour break, and then continue from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. Beijing time on May 5.
After the Q&A session, there is a formal shareholder meeting at 4 p.m., which usually votes on a number of items, followed by a barbecue dinner for shareholders with the option of a special $6 package.
Sunday, May 5 is a shareholder day, similar to a "team building day", with a five-kilometer "Invest in Yourself" run from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m., where Warren Buffett used to fire the starting gun. The Bohim jewelry store will host a shareholder-only shopping day, and before the pandemic, Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates usually showed up at noon to play bridge, play table tennis and magic, and so on.
As for Saturday's biggest shareholder meeting, Berkshire said the annual Q&A session will be webcast live on CNBC.com at 8:30 a.m. CT in English and Chinese Mandarin, and the 2025 shareholder meeting will be held on Saturday, May 3 next year.
Wall Street News will also be broadcast live in Chinese. A summary of the Q&A session at the 2023 AGM can be found here.
In addition, The Bookworm at the shareholder meeting will be selling a very special book, the latest edition of Poor Charlie's Book: Munger's Wisdom Proverbs, which shareholders can purchase at the venue on Friday and Saturday and receive a 20% discount.
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