A new vibe at the Woodstock of Capitalism.
Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRK-A, BRK-B) annual shareholder meeting on Saturday marked a new era for the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. It’s the investing legend’s first without his right-hand man Charlie Munger, who passed away on November 28, 2023, just shy of his 100th birthday.
While Munger’s absence is significant, his presence loomed throughout the CHI Health Center in Omaha, Nebraska.
Charlie Munger’s name was among the first words uttered by Buffett as he took the stage.
Buffett described Munger as the “architect of Berkshire”, and his request to shareholders to “join me in applauding Charlie” was met with cheers and a standing ovation by a crowd that included the likes of Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook, Citigroup (C) CEO Jane Frasier and Microsoft (MSFT) co-founder Bill Gates.
“In terms of having a partner, I simply cannot think of a conversation I had with Charlie that he misled me,” Buffett later told the packed house.
Buffett added: “In terms of managing money, there wasn’t anybody better in the world to talk to for many, many decades than Charlie.”
The meeting started with a video tribute to the former Vice Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, which included a number of Munger’s famous one-liners from prior meetings, including “I think that, every time you saw the word EBITDA, you should substitute the word “bulls**t” earnings.”
EBITDA is more formally known on the Street as shorthand for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. Companies tend to hype the metric as a purer read on the health of the business rather than net profits.
“It’s a bittersweet moment… a tough day for a lot of people,” new Brooks Running CEO Dan Sheridan told me of Munger’s absence.
Sheridan’s message was echoed by executives of other Berkshire-owned companies.
Dairy Queen Executive Vice President Maria Hokanson described it as “an air of gratitude” and “a moment for us to reflect and celebrate his character and his wisdom.” Meanwhile, long-time See’s Candies CEO Pat Egan noted that Munger’s investment influence is evident in how Berkshire’s businesses operate.
“He’s still here in many ways… It’s about simplicity, doing the right thing, not overthinking things and taking care of the customer,” Egan said to me.
Egan added: “You can’t replace Charlie Munger. He’s just an incredible, incredible presence and he’s missed.”
As the meeting got underway, Buffett misspoke and called his successor Greg Abel “Charlie” when asking him to weigh in on a shareholder’s question. His mistake was met with cheers from the audience.
Buffett was also quick to highlight Munger’s influence on Berkshire’s portfolio, telling shareholders BYD (BYDDY) and Costco (COST) were the two stocks Munger advocated for the most.
“Charlie in all those years, only two times said “buy, buy, buy.” BYD was one of them and Costco was the other. Looking back, I should have been more aggressive in Costco. He was right, big time, in both companies.”
Buffett and Munger’s unique and special partnership was evident when the Oracle of Omaha was asked what he would do if he could have one more day with Charlie.
“Charlie liked learning. He liked a wide variety of things… We had as much fun, perhaps even more fun, with things that failed because then we really had to work out a way out of them,” Buffett said.
“It’s an interesting question,” Buffett added. “We never had any doubts about the other person, period… Charlie always said ‘just tell me where I’m going to die so I’ll never go there.’ The truth is, he went everywhere with his mind, and therefore he was not only interested in the world at 99 but the world was interested in him. It’s remarkable.”
Seana Smith is an anchor at Yahoo Finance. Follow Smith on Twitter @SeanaNSmith. Tips on deals, mergers, activist situations, or anything else? Email [email protected].
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