Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday lacked the genial wit and banter that has characterized Warren Buffett's decades of hosting, but shareholders still lined up outside the Nebraska Coliseum since midnight to hear new CEO Greg Abell preside over the event for the first time.

Attendance was reportedly down this year, with the gymnasium just over half full when the meeting began. That was in stark contrast to past years, when more than 40,000 people came to hear the 95-year-old Buffett speak, and before his death in 2023, Buffett's long-time partner Charlie Munger always attended. Buffett, who stepped down as CEO in January, remains chairman and made brief comments during the meeting.

Much of the discussion focused on Berkshire's businesses, but current affairs topics such as the Iran war and the risks and benefits of artificial intelligence were also mentioned.

Vice Chairman Ajit Jain said Berkshire was willing to insure ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz if the price was right and the U.S. Navy escorted the ships.


Jain believes the insurance industry as a whole is well-equipped to cover this risk, and that the demand exists because the waterway is a key conduit for global oil supplies. “In short, it depends on price,” Jain said.

Abel said the war in the Middle East has undoubtedly brought challenges to Berkshire's business because oil is a basic input, but he believes management will find a way to deal with it.

“We pivot quickly to find the best solution for our customers,” Abel said.

Pay tribute to Buffett's contribution

Saturday's meeting opened with a video tribute to Buffett and the company's history, which played a clip of shareholders giving Buffett a standing ovation when he unexpectedly announced he would step down last year.

Abel later announced a symbolic move: retiring the jerseys with Buffett and Munger's names on them, which will hang from the ceiling of the stadium.

Buffett once again praised Abel and said he was pleased that he had now made the decision to promote him.

"He's very, very sharp about business," Buffett said in a live interview during the conference. Abel grew up in Canada and is on the verge of receiving U.S. citizenship. He has been with Berkshire for more than 25 years.

Smooth transition to Abel

Signs of the transformation are spread throughout the 200,000-square-foot showroom where shareholders shop for products from Berkshire-owned companies. A caricature of Abel playing ice hockey (his favorite sport) is featured prominently on the See's commemorative box. At the Pilot Travel Center booth, photos of Abel and Buffett were taped to the windshield of a semi-truck, but it was Abel in the driver's seat. This year, shareholders lined up to buy Abel's version of the Squishmallow doll to pair with the latest Buffett and Munger plush dolls.

“Sadly, we miss Warren and Charlie and the fun-filled show, but for many, this is a business meeting and understanding how each business is doing is key,” said investor Chris Blumstrand, president of Semper Augustus Investment Group.

But many people also travel to Omaha, primarily to gather with like-minded value investors who practice the investment approach adopted by Buffett and to attend some of the investment conferences and seminars scheduled around Berkshire’s shareholder meetings.

“That’s really why I’m here, the real reason is to connect with other people,” said Bob Roberti, who runs his own investment firm.

Focus on Berkshire’s businesses

Abell opened the meeting by discussing the operations of Berkshire's largest business in detail. He explained in detail the performance of Berkshire's insurance, railroad and utility companies and talked about how Berkshire is using artificial intelligence to "solve the problems our company faces."

But Abel also used a deepfake video of Buffett to ask questions about Berkshire's long-term prospects at the beginning of the Q&A session to highlight some of the challenges and risks posed by artificial intelligence.

"It's scary," Buffett said. For example, artificial intelligence can easily create an extremely realistic image of the leader of a fake nuclear weapons state.

Abel repeatedly stressed that Berkshire's basic policy of trusting the CEO to manage the company's day-to-day operations would not change, and that he would not feel pressured by the company's nearly $400 billion cash reserve to make hasty investments.

"One of Berkshire's greatest strengths is patience and discipline in allocating capital," Abel said. "We're in no rush to put capital into mediocre opportunities."

Berkshire Hathaway’s Enduring Culture

CEOs of Dairy Queen, See's Candy, Jazwares and Brooks Running all said little has changed since Abel's promotion, except that he now reports to NetJets CEO Adam Johnson. Adam Johnson currently oversees 32 retail and service businesses.

"I think it's a deeply ingrained culture that Warren has created, and I believe the transition to Greg will be rooted in the values ​​that Warren has built over 60 years and will continue to uphold," Brooks CEO Dan Sheridan said.

Buffett has said over the years that he enjoys running Berkshire and has never considered retirement. But after the shock of his announcement of his retirement plan in the final minutes of last year's annual meeting wore off, company executives quickly came to a consensus that this transition plan was more ideal because Buffett could still continue to advise Abel.

“This is the perfect combination right now — to have a leadership transition and still have Greg and Warren continue to work together,” DQ CEO Troy Budd said as he watched employees sell Dilly Popsicles to shareholders.

Keep improving

Abel is known to be more demanding and hands-on than Buffett, but he does so by challenging Berkshire's CEOs to strengthen their competitive advantage while safeguarding the interests of their customers. Abel asked tough questions and offered advice that CEOs appreciated, but never told them specifically what to do.

With Buffett still serving as Berkshire's chairman and largest shareholder, Abel is unlikely to make any major changes.

Roberti said that the performance of Berkshire's companies is far more important to shareholders than the entertainment value brought by the annual meeting.

“My hope and expectation is that they pick someone who has the ability to run a business, not necessarily someone who is good at public speaking and presentation,” Robotti said.

Berkshire said on Saturday morning that its first-quarter profit more than doubled to $10.1 billion, equivalent to $7,027 per Class A share, as investments grew in value and performance improved across most of its businesses.

Berkshire's massive cash hoard continues to grow, reaching $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter.

Most of Berkshire's diversified businesses reported better operating earnings this year. The insurance unit, which includes Geico and several other companies, had underwriting profits of $1.7 billion, up from $1.34 billion last year. Profits also rose at BNSF Railroad and Berkshire's utilities and manufacturing businesses.

But Abell acknowledged there is still room for more improvement — especially at BNSF, which lags behind most other major freight railroads.