Buffett's firm plans online event after reporting $50B loss
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Warren Buffett is planning to lead an unusual annual meeting Saturday afternoon without any of the roughly 40,000 shareholders who typically attend, but the investor will offer some of the commentary that draws the huge crowds.
Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting will be livestreamed and will include an abbreviated version of the question-and-answer session Buffett normally leads. All of the surrounding events, including a trade show where Berkshire companies sell their products, were cancelled this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and Buffett will have a different partner for the question session.
“It's going to be a strange annual meeting,” said Andy Kilpatrick, a retired stockbroker who wrote a Buffett biography and has attended every annual meeting since 1985.
Instead of sitting next to business partner Charlie Munger in an arena filled with shareholders, Buffett will be joined this year by Berkshire Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who oversees all of the company's non-insurance businesses, to answer questions in front of a camera.
The two men likely will be asked about the nearly $50 billion loss that Berkshire reported Saturday morning and the huge pile of cash the company is holding.
Berkshire said it lost $49.7 billion, or $30,653 per Class A share, during the first quarter. That's down from last year's profit of $21.66 billion, or $13,209 per Class A share.
The biggest factor in the loss was a $54.5 billion loss on the value of Berkshire's investment portfolio as the stock market declined sharply after the coronavirus outbreak began. The year before, Berkshire's investments added $15.5 billion to the company's profits.
Buffett has long said Berkshire’s operating earnings offer a better view of quarterly performance because they...