Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2024 was held on Saturday. The meeting for the first time was chaired by the Oracle of Omaha Warren Buffett without his trusted business partner and friend late Charlie Munger with him.
Though Grey Abel had been announced as Buffett’s successor in 2021, in the meeting Oracle of Omaha clearly said that Abel, who is currently the vice chairman of non-insurance operations will be taking over as the CEO eventually and will be making decisions with respect to investments. “I think the responsibility ought to be entirely with Greg. The responsibility has been with me, and I farmed out some of it, and I used to think differently about how that would be handled, but I think the responsibility should be that of the CEO.”
Why Berkshire Hathaway reduced stake in Apple?
When Buffett was asked in the Q&A regarding the dropping stake in Apple, he said that the drop had nothing to do with the long-term view of the stock and Apple will continue to remain one of their largest stock holdings. The stake was reduced due to tax considerations as a result of gains on its investments.
“It doesn’t bother me in the least to write that check — and I would really hope with all that America’s done for all of you, it shouldn’t bother you that we do it —and if I’m doing it at 21% this year and we’re doing it a little higher percentage later on, I don’t think you’ll actually mind the fact that we sold a little Apple this year.”
AI Scamming is ‘genie out of the bottle’
Warren Buffett believes that AI scamming is going to be the next growth industry and calls it “genie out of the bottle”.
“When you think about the potential for scamming people, if you can reproduce images that I can’t even tell, that say, ‘I need money,’ as your daughter, ‘I just had a car crash, I need $50,000 wired.’ I mean, scamming has always been part of the American scene, but this would make me, if I was interested in investing in scamming, it’s going to be the growth industry of all time,” he explained.
He said that AI Scamming is the new genie and even he doesn’t know how to put the genie back into the bottle.
‘Uncomfortable in putting our money in Canada’
Canada has been in the light for a few months now. The growing tensions with India and the killing claims have damaged Canadian credibility. This is the time when Warren Buffett has also opened up regarding their plans in Canada. Though he didn’t give all the details, he said that Berkshire Hathway wasn’t comfortable about putting money in Canada.
“We do not feel uncomfortable in any way shape or form putting our money into Canada. In fact, we’re actually looking at one thing now.”
Tribute to Munger and standing ovation
Paying tribute to Charles Munger’s work, Buffett paid a movie tribute. All the audience present their paid tribute to Charles and Buffett.
The Oracle of Omaha concluded with a cheeky comment by Buffett, “Not only do I hope you come next year, but I hope I come next year.”
