Action 3 News - Omaha, Nebraska News, Weather, and Sports | Berkshire Shareholders Spend, Spend, Spend
Member Center:
Omaha, NE - This weekend's "Woodstock for Capitalists" officially got started on Friday night with a reception for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders at Borsheim's. Shareholder Fred Tarter is at the annual meeting for the first time, "It's time in my life to do those one time things. Like buying your wife a $55,000 bracelet? Yes, it goes with her rings and being here with Mr. Buffett, Mr. Munger and 30,000 other friends."
More than 30,000 people are in Omaha to hear Berkshire's Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett and Vice-Chairman Charlie Munger answer questions for nearly six hours. This is the first shareholders meeting since Forbes named Buffett the richest man in the world, passing Bill Gates.
It's also the first meeting since Buffett suggested the economy is in a recession. Buffett faithful, shopping and spending money in Omaha this weekend may not be using the same "R" word. In many cases this weekend, "R" seems to stand for rich.
On the eve of the annual meeting, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. reported first-quarter profits fell 64 percent because it recorded an unrealized $1.6 billion pretax loss on its derivative contracts, and its insurance businesses generated lower profits.
Berkshire reported net income of $940 million, or $607 per share, in the quarter ended March 31. That's down significantly from the net income of $2.6 billion Berkshire generated a year ago.
