• Troy Bader had to pass an interview with Warren Buffett to land his job as Dairy Queen CEO.
• Bader told BI he was struck by the investor's desire to keep learning and his emphasis on passion.
• Buffett, 94, continues to pay close attention to Berkshire Hathaway's businesses, Bader said.

Warren Buffett won't be conducting many job interviews once he steps down as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO at the end of this year.

Dairy Queen CEO Troy Bader revealed what it's like to be grilled by the legendary investor, and shared two big takeaways from the experience, in a conversation with Business Insider in Omaha ahead of Berkshire Hathaway's historic 60th annual meeting.

Berkshire paid nearly $600 million to take Dairy Queen private in 1998. As a big fan of the chain's Blizzard soft-serve ice cream, Buffett joked at the time that he brought a "modicum of product expertise" to the deal.

Dairy Queen now develops, licenses, and services a system of more than 7,700 restaurants across more than 20 countries, according to its website.

'Very anxious'

Bader flew from Minneapolis to Omaha to interview for the company's top job. He recalled feeling a mixture of worry, anticipation, and excitement as he studied his notes before the meeting.

"It was the fall of 2017, I'll never forget the day," Bader told BI. "I was very anxious going in because OK, I felt like I knew our business, but you're sitting down with Warren Buffett."

"What questions is he going to have about our business that I'm just going to sit there and be like, 'Oh my gosh, I never even thought about this,'" he added.

Many people of Buffett's stature would be "very arrogant" in an interview, sending the message: "Here's who I am and you better impress me," Bader said.

"From Warren it was just the opposite," he continued. Buffett swiftly put him at ease, then spent the first 15 or 20 minutes of their conversation asking about a particular area he thought Bader might know something about, as it was relevant to another deal he was working on.

"Warren is a constant learner," Bader said. "He wants to know what you know and what he can learn from you."

The fast-food chief took away a big lesson from that: "Anybody you meet, I don't care who they are — they know something you don't."

Passion and ethics

Buffett probed Bader's knowledge of the restaurant business, his vision for Dairy Queen, and what he planned to do differently as the chain's CEO. He also gauged Bader's love for his work.

Buffett was "digging for something more, that energy, that passion, that connection to the business," Bader said.

That revelation sparked his second key takeaway. Even the "smartest person in the world" won't be as capable or perform as well as "somebody who has that passion."

Berkshire's 94-year-old boss echoed that sentiment during his recent Q&A: "What you're really looking for in life is something where you've got a job that you'd hold if you didn't need the money."

Bader said that Buffett, who is known for prizing ethics and reputation, likely assessed his character by speaking to his predecessor and others who knew him.

"As he always says, 'There's plenty of room to play in the middle of the court. We don't need to get to the edges,'" Bader said.

On the subject of his morals, Buffett "probably had that answered before I ever got in the door," Bader said. He added that "if there was any question about that, I'm not so sure I would've been in Omaha in his office."

Buffett made a similar point in the lead-up to his surprise resignation announcement. He said it "just doesn't work over time" to have managers who don't abide by the standards they set for their employees.

"So, you really need someone that behaves well on top and is not playing games for their own benefit," the billionaire philanthropist said.

Love for the job

Buffett stopped by Dairy Queen's booth to catch up with Bader a few hours before BI interviewed him.

Bader highlighted strong first-quarter sales figures to the outgoing CEO, and Buffett said he'd seen those in the subsidiary's reports.

"Dairy Queen's not a big part of Berkshire, but he's actually paying attention to every business," Bader told BI. "This is his life, this is who he is."

• I traveled from London to Omaha to cover Warren Buffett's annual meeting for Business Insider.
• The biggest news story of my career ended up breaking while I was there.
• I immersed myself in all things Buffett for a weekend and had an unforgettable time.

I flew from London to Warren Buffett's hometown of Omaha to cover Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting. I wasn't expecting the biggest business story in the world to break while I was there.

Buffett's revelation that he plans to resign as Berkshire's CEO at the end of this year was the headline of my trip. But I also saw rare treasures, spoke to people from all walks of life, visited storied locations, and discovered how Buffett and his businesses pervade almost every part of Omaha.

I had a dream start to my reporting journey.

My nine-hour flight from London to Chicago became far more interesting after I learned my seatmate was making the same pilgrimage.

The value investor in his 30s, who asked not to be named, showed me a Berkshire Class B share certificate — signed by Buffett in 2005 — that his firm had given him as the proof of ownership he needed to get a meeting pass.

He told me that when his wife asked why he was so excited to go to Omaha, he replied, "Imagine you're a Christian and you have a chance to see Jesus Christ."

When he nodded off a few hours later, Buffett's face looked up at me from the Kindle on his lap, as he'd been reading "Tap Dancing to Work."

Arriving in Omaha, it was clear this was Berkshire turf.

I took a connecting flight from Chicago to Omaha and arrived late on Thursday night.

One of the welcome ads on the airport's wall requested visitors to "check your SPACs, Crypto, and EBITDA at the gate" — a nod to Buffett and his late business partner Charlie Munger's disdain for risky, speculative, and volatile assets.

Munger called the proliferation of special-purpose acquisition vehicles, or SPACs, a "moral failing," dismissed bitcoin as "stupid" and "evil" as well as "rat poison." He also described earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization as "bullshit earnings."

Omaha businesses were ready for Berkshire weekend.

The influx of thousands of Berkshire shareholders to Omaha each year spells opportunity for many local companies.

The Hudson News store in the airport had several areas dedicated to Berkshire books and other financial titles, including "Poor Charlie's Almanack" and "Buffett & Munger Unscripted."

Another airport eatery had a See's Candies stall and a sign from Berkshire welcoming its shareholders.

I took a taxi to the DoubleTree by Hilton in downtown Omaha. There was a banner in front of the hotel welcoming Berkshire shareholders, and a similar display outside the elevators on my floor.

Berkshire's big bash evolves with every acquisition.

This was my third annual meeting, and I'm always interested to see how it changes to reflect the deals that Buffett makes.

The conglomerate added Squishmallows-owner Jazwares to its exhibitors after acquiring the toy company's parent, Alleghany, in 2022.

Squishmallows was one of the biggest exhibitors at Berkshire's shareholder shopping day this year, with myriad displays and interactive activities.

Berkshire took full ownership of Pilot Travel Centers at the start of 2024. Pilot employees were selling coffee outside the meeting venue, the CHI Health Center. Inside, the company offered everything from Berkshire Blend coffee to T-shirts with Buffett quotes.

Buffett superfans were out in force.

Wan Xue, or "Cathy," 33, from China, was first in line to get her shareholder pass on Friday. She told me she'd purchased 11 books on this trip already, and planned to buy more.

She planned to see everything related to Buffett that she could, and had already visited his birthplace and school as well as Berkshire headquarters, she said.

Plenty of Buffett experts were in town.

Veteran investors including billionaire Mario Gabelli and Buffett's former financial assistant, Tracy Britt Cool, spoke at conferences on Friday, the day before Buffett's Q&A.

Fund manager Chris Bloomstran said at the Gabelli Funds conference that tariffs, trade wars, recessions, depressions, and other crises were "net good for Berkshire" as they created buying opportunities. "Bring on a little pain," he added.

I asked Gabelli straight after the conference how he felt about owning Berkshire stock given the current market turmoil.

He shrugged off any concerns, saying he first met Buffett more than 50 years ago at Columbia Business School, and has only ever sold Berkshire to stop his portfolio becoming too concentrated.

At her company Kanbrick's conference, Britt Cool shared a memorable piece of advice from Buffett about long-term, responsible management: "Think about this business as if it's your family's only asset and you cannot sell it for 50 years."

After Buffett's bombshell, I headed to Nebraska Furniture Mart for the shareholder picnic.

After Buffett shocked the world with his retirement plan, I left the press area and spoke to several dumbstruck shareholders.

Once things calmed down, I took a taxi to Nebraska Furniture Mart for the shareholder picnic, and saw "Mrs B's Clearance & Outlet," named after the remarkable lady who built NFM and sold it to Buffett.

There was a photo of Buffett's face on the front door. NFM stocked Buffett T-shirts and other merchandise, and featured an entire See's Candies concession.

Shareholders took the news of Buffett's exit in good spirits.

At the picnic in NFM's parking lot, there was live music, bocce, barbecue, drinks, and lots of people laughing, taking photos, playing games, or dancing.

Sam McColgan, 31, a Stanford graduate student, told me he was "somewhat relieved" that Buffett had announced his resignation, as "it would have been a shock to the world" if he'd died while still CEO.

I even went on a shareholder fun run

On Sunday morning I donned an official shirt and racing bib and took part in Brooks' 5K run. I loved the branded team shirts for See's Candies and Oriental Trading employees, and the announcer's wordplay about "investing in yourself" to garner "healthy returns."

I enjoyed traversing the center of the city, but the run wasn't long enough as I was interviewing people along the way and had to keep retracing my steps to avoid finishing.

The finishers' medals were satisfyingly heavy.

I liked the look, feel, and weight of my finishers' medal.

The rest area after the race was well set up with breakfast burritos, Dairy Queen ice cream, and energy drinks at the Berkshire Hathaway Energy booth for runners.

It was fun to tear off a tab from my race bib and exchange it for a Pilot hot chocolate too.

Buffett's retirement was front-page news on Sunday.

The magnitude of what I'd witnessed became clearer after I saw Buffett on the front page of his hometown paper in my hotel's lobby on Sunday.

Buffett bought the Omaha World-Herald for $150 million (and took on its $50 million of debt) in late 2011. He sold his newspapers, which also included The Buffalo News, to Lee Enterprises for $140 million in 2020.

People were still processing Buffett's bombshell.

After a shower back at the hotel, I took a Lime scooter to Markel's brunch at the Omaha Marriott, down the road from where Buffett held his Q&A.

Much of the second floor was packed with people wearing Berkshire merch they'd purchased over the previous two days, from hats and windbreakers to polo shirts and shoes.

Calvin Sowah, 30, a venture capitalist from New York City, told me that Buffett's casual manner caught him off guard.

"I wasn't expecting it," he said. "And he just said it so nonchalantly that it was like, 'Oh, wait, what? You're retiring.'"

A veteran shareholder told me he wants Buffett to keep sharing his wisdom.

Speaking in the hallway outside Markel's shareholder meeting, Martin Wiegand, 67, told me he's attended more than 30 Berkshire meetings and has owned the stock for about 40 years.

Wiegand said his father was a school friend of Buffett, and his parents attended Berkshire meetings too.

He told me he wants Buffett to continue talking after his deputy, Greg Abel, takes over as CEO in the new year.

"I hope he doesn't drop the mic and walk off the stage, never to be heard from again," Wiegand said. "I hope he teaches a Coursera course — some sort of a podcast is too much to ask," he continued, adding that he'd like Buffett to keep doing media appearances.

"Warren Buffett's the moral authority of finance in America," he said. "And I think he proved yesterday he's still the sharpest man in the room at 94."

There was time for one final story from Omaha on my trip home.

I thought my Berkshire experience was over when I boarded a flight to New York City early Monday morning.

But my seatmates, Aidan Sims and John Di Bella, were two finance majors from NYC who'd also made the trip to see Buffett speak.

Sims said he had a date to a formal on Friday night, but managed to make it to Omaha in time to watch Buffett's bombshell announcement.

Di Bella told me how he spent the night outside to get good seats for the Q&A. He played poker on the street, vaulted up the arena's steps once the doors opened, and scored selfies with Apple CEO Tim Cook and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

The chance encounter cemented Omaha in my memory as a magical place to meet fascinating people, hear wild stories, visit historic locations, and, just maybe, have a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

• Warren Buffett's retirement bombshell combined careful planning with dramatic flair.
• The Berkshire Hathaway CEO revealed last Saturday that he intends to resign at the end of the year.
• Buffett, 94, prepared for a smooth transition — but announced it with a bang.

Warren Buffett just delivered a masterclass in succession planning with his own theatrical flourish, balancing his desire for a smooth departure and his taste for high drama.

The famed investor shocked the world on Saturday when he told a stadium packed with Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that he planned to step down as CEO at the end of this year, making way for his hand-picked successor, Greg Abel.

Years in the making

The "Oracle of Omaha" has been preparing his shareholders for his retirement as CEO for a long time.

He's frequently underlined his advanced age in shareholder letters and interviews. He's also talked up Abel's management prowess and central role in running Berkshire, and even compared him to his late business partner, Charlie Munger.

"At 94, it won't be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters," Buffett wrote in this year's missive. He said that in the rare moments when bargains abound, Abel has "vividly shown his ability to act at such times as did Charlie."

Buffett has built a team to replace him that includes Abel, insurance chief Ajit Jain, investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, and his son Howard. His job will be to preserve Berkshire's culture as chairman once Buffett is no longer around.

The billionaire philanthropist has also detailed that upon his death, his Berkshire stock will be placed in a trust for his children to allocate toward good causes. The move should help prevent an activist investor scooping up his shares once he's gone and seeking to dismantle the company he built.

Successful leaders prepare their companies for when they step down, Bret Bero, an assistant professor of practice in management at Babson College, told Business Insider.

Buffett has done plenty to prepare for this transition, but ultimately its "success will be measured" by how Berkshire performs under Abel, Bero said.

Softening the blow

Buffett knew his resignation news could spook investors — Berkshire stock fell 5% on Monday — so he took pains to reassure his shareholders.

He plans to remain CEO until the new year, and continue as Berkshire's chairman beyond that, indicating he'll still be overseeing Berkshire and guiding Abel for a while yet.

Buffett pledged not to sell a single share of his near-14% stake in Berkshire, a position worth more than $160 billion. He championed Abel in the process, describing the move as an "economic decision" because he expected the company to fare better under his successor.

Spilling the beans on his retirement to stockholders without first telling Abel or Berkshire's board (apart from two of his children who are directors) also sent the message that he truly values their trust in him and acts in their interests.

"It's basically a thank you to all those long-time shareholders who have stuck with the company," Jason Schloetzer, an associate professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, told BI.

Zooming out, Buffett may have felt that personally selecting Abel to succeed him would help win over Berkshire shareholders. That approach eschewed the corporate norm of hiring a consulting firm to search the world for external candidates, said Larry Cunningham. He is the director of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center on Corporate Governance and the author of several books about Buffett and Berkshire.

"Here we have an excellent succession plan created by deep and long thought," he told BI, adding that the "best practice for one company is not the best practice for all."

Putting on a show

Buffett may have readied Berkshire shareholders for his retirement, but he couldn't resist breaking the news in dramatic style.

He kept the decision a secret, giving no advance warning to either non-family board members or Abel, who sat next to him on stage. That limited the risk his big surprise would be leaked or spoiled and ensured it had maximum impact.

He fielded questions for nearly five hours before dropping the bombshell in his closing comments and leaving to a standing ovation, throwing out the planned agenda. That made it the climax of his Q&A session and the entire weekend.

Keeping tight-lipped avoided "speculation or fanfare" beforehand, freeing Buffett to focus on answering questions and to "enjoy the engagement with shareholders without the succession overhang," Macrae Sykes, a portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, told BI.

"He has always created great, positive Berkshire theatre and this deserved another Oscar as well as consideration for a lifetime award," Sykes added.

Buffett is a "great showman," Steve Hanke, a professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University who's been teaching Buffett-style valuation for decades, told BI.

"He knows that either you run the show or the show runs you," Hanke said, nodding to the fact that if Buffett had let slip the news early, the crowd reaction and media frenzy would have overwhelmed anything he said afterward.

Schloetzer also hailed Buffett's icon status and marketing flair, saying that a "unique leader gets to design his surprise finale."

"No Form 8-K or email blast could pull off such a memorable moment," he added.

• Bill Gates said his charitable foundation would shut down in 2045.
• He made the announcement to mark the 25th anniversary of the organization.
• Gates said it was more important to spend its resources now rather than in the future.

Bill Gates has revealed plans to shut down his charitable foundation at the end of 2045 — several decades earlier than intended.

"There are too many urgent problems to solve for me to hold onto resources that could be used to help people," Gates said in a blog post.

"That is why I have decided to give my money back to society much faster than I had originally planned," he added. "I will give away virtually all my wealth through the Gates Foundation over the next 20 years to the cause of saving and improving lives around the world."

The Microsoft cofounder initially made the announcement in an interview with The New York Times to mark the 25th anniversary of the Gates Foundation, which is the third-largest charitable foundation in the world.

The organization was launched in 2000 by Gates and his then-wife, Melinda French Gates, when they were 44 and 35, respectively.

Gates said in the interview that the foundation had "achieved far more than I — or I think anyone — expected" and helped reduce the number of childhood deaths from 10 million to 5 million a year.

Asked why he was announcing plans to sunset the operation, he said it made a "big difference" to spend its resources "now versus later."

"We're not trying to steward our money for some weird legacy thing," Gates said. "If we were trying to be a forever foundation, instead of being able to spend $9 billion a year, we'd have to drop down to spending like $6 billion a year.

"Normally we're saving lives for $2,000 or $3,000. But given the problems that are out there, we're actually now saving lives for less.

"And this is a miraculous time. A lot of the hundred billion we've spent is to build a pipeline, and the most important stuff the foundation is doing is the stuff that's in the R&D pipeline right now."

Gates stepped down as Microsoft's CEO in 2008 to devote more time to the foundation.

It held $69 billion in assets as of 2020 and had an endowment of $75.2 billion as of 2023.

The foundation has donated tens of billions of dollars to causes such as global health, gender equality, and water sanitation programs.

Warren Buffett, who made headlines last week when he announced he was stepping down from Berkshire Hathaway, was central to the Gates Foundation.

He served as a trustee of the foundation from 2006 to 2022, and his contributions to the foundation totaled $36 billion as of 2022.

French Gates resigned from her positions as cochair and trustee of the foundation in 2024, following her divorce from Gates in 2021.

• John Di Bella III waited in the cold for eight hours to get a good seat for Warren Buffett's Q&A.
• He "witnessed history" when Buffett revealed his plan to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO.
• The college student and Berkshire shareholder took photos with Tim Cook and Hillary Clinton.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Di Bella III, a 20-year-old college student at Hofstra University in New York. It has been edited for length and clarity.

Eight hours waiting in the cold Nebraska night air was a small price to pay for the experience of watching Warren Buffett close one of the final chapters in the story of a lifetime.

My business partner from college and I had been planning a trip to see the investing icon speak at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting for at least a year.

On Friday night, I flew in from New York City and touched down in Buffett's hometown of Omaha at around 10:30 p.m.

Our hotel was across the street from CHI Health Center, the meeting venue. People were already beginning to camp outside, so I quickly checked in, dropped my bags, then walked over to join the line with an energy drink.

The first gentleman I spoke to was Dean, an excited data analytics guy from Colorado who was camped out with a sleeping bag.

A college teacher and her students were playing poker on a giant tarp they'd brought. I joined in and spent the night flipping cards, placing bets, and waiting.

I didn't notice the temperature dropping off until my body started shaking. It was freezing cold. People in the line were wearing solar blankets and looked like the Tin Man.

Morning rush

As the morning got closer, people got rowdier, and the lines tightened up. Thousands of Buffett fans showed up.

When the doors opened at 7 a.m., it was complete chaos. We sprinted about 10 feet before realizing we had to go through a security checkpoint. There were security guards shouting at us to knock it off and we got the memo quickly.

Once past security, we raced up the stairs, taking three at a time, then attempted to run-walk through the arena to reach the audience seating area. Security were yelling at anyone who ran.

Eight hours of waiting paid off when we slid into the first bleacher row above the floor, maybe one or two sections from the front of the stadium where Buffett would speak.

I've been to concerts in the past, but nothing that compared to a packed out stadium for one man who people really look up to and want to learn from.

Selfie skills

During the break at 10:30 a.m., I went down to the stadium floor to see if I could get photos of VIPs.

I realized Hillary Clinton was still in the room. A few passionate ladies in the line were calling out, "Hillary! Hillary! Hillary!"

I stood there thinking, "How am I going to get her attention?"

I had a phrase in my mind from military school and blurted out, "Madam Secretary, how are you today?"

She turned around with a smile on her face, walked over, and agreed to take a picture with me.

Then Tim Cook, the CEO of Apple, walked out. I was determined to get a picture with him.

My partner's mother left her corporate senior management job to work at Apple back in 1997 when Steve Jobs rejoined the company.

Having a photo of Tim Cook would be something funny I could text and be like, "Hey, I saw your boss," but it also had sentimental value.

After failing twice, I caught his eye and said, "Mr. Cook, my mother-in-law works for you. Her name's Meghan. She loves you, sir. Can I get a photo with you?"

He smiled and replied, "Absolutely. She's a great person. I know her. Tell her I wish her well," then posed for a photo with me.

Breaking the news

During the Q&A, Buffett shared advice and interesting stories. I was exhausted, but the more tired I became, the more intently I listened.

At one point he joked about how Tim Cook made more money for Berkshire Hathaway than he ever had. He was totally serious and it was such a humble thing to say.

In the closing minutes of the session, Buffett's mannerisms changed and you could tell something important was coming.

The room was quiet enough to hear a pin drop.

Buffett announced he intends to step down at the end of this year and have his planned successor, Greg Abel, take the CEO role.

After the bombshell, the entire audience stood and applauded that man for 10 minutes straight.

I felt like I was personally speaking to Buffett saying: "Thank you. Thank you for bringing me here. Thank you for everything that you have done for us. And thank you for the legacy that we will now remember you by."

Memorable meeting

Listening to Buffett provided the cheapest wisdom I've ever received. I put in nothing compared to what I experienced that day.

The waiting, camaraderie, sleep deprivation, listening to stories, meeting Tim Cook and Hillary Clinton, all added to that historic day. I waited eight hours; I experienced a lifetime.

We witnessed history being made — a page in the final chapter of one of the greatest stories written.

All things considered, I think it was a pretty good trip.

• Warren Buffett has shared life and business advice throughout his long career.
• His lessons apply to everything from the business world to family life.
• The billionaire said he plans to step down from Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year.

Warren Buffett has dropped a lot of advice gems throughout his 55 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway.

Buffett said Saturday that he'd be stepping down as CEO by the end of 2025. And in addition to his legacy with the company, he's also left behind countless nuggets of wisdom for anyone from high-powered leaders to those working their way up the corporate ladder.

The 94-year-old spent about 70 years teaching investment classes, and his mentorship has expanded over time to include life lessons. Buffett has previously said that he gets something out of sharing knowledge, too.

"Teaching, like writing, has helped me develop and clarify my own thoughts," Buffett said in a 2020 address to graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Here are some of Buffet's best nuggets of wisdom.

Quality of life advice

1. "I would focus on the things that have been good in your life rather than the bad things that happen, because bad things do happen," Buffett said at Berkshire's annual meeting Saturday, Morningstar reported. "It can often be a wonderful life even with some bad breaks."
2. "Hugely wealthy parents should leave their children enough so they can do anything but not enough that they can do nothing," Buffett wrote in a letter to shareholders in 2024.
3. A famous quote that's often attributed to Buffett is, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it."
4. "Don't confuse the cost of living with the standard of living," Buffett told Alice Schroeder in "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life."
5. "If I get tough on myself about philanthropy, I remember what Warren Buffett said to us originally, which is, 'You're working on the problems society left behind, and they left them behind for a reason. They are hard, right? So don't be so tough on yourself,'" longtime friend Melinda French Gates wrote in a memoir.

Career advice

1. "I have urged that they seek employment in (1) the field and (2) with the kind of people they would select, if they had no need for money," Buffett wrote in a 2023 letter to shareholders, referring to his talks to university students.

   "Economic realities, I acknowledge, may interfere with that kind of search," he said. "Even so, I urge the students never to give up the quest, for when they find that sort of job, they will no longer be 'working.'"

2. "Who you associate with is just enormously important," he reportedly said at the Saturday meeting. "Don't expect you'll make every decision right on that. You're going to have your life progress in the general direction of the people that you work with, that you admire, that become your friends."
3. "You want to look for the job in life that you would take if you didn't need a job. Don't settle for anything, eventually, that's less than working for a company you admire or people you admire — the job that if you had no need for the money, it's still the job that you'd jump out of bed for in the morning," he said during a 2020 interview.

Business and investment advice

1. "A simple rule dictates my buying: Be fearful when others are greedy, and be greedy when others are fearful," he said in a 2008 op-ed for The New York Times.
2. "Price is what you pay. Value is what you get," Buffett wrote in a 2008 shareholder letter.
3. "Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing," he wrote in "The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America" in 2015.
4. "People have emotions," he said at Berkshire's annual meeting over the weekend, "but you've got to check them at the door when you invest."

• Warren Buffett shocked his shareholders when he announced he'd be stepping down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO.
• I spoke to them about the bombshell news over drinks, at a picnic, during a run, and at a brunch.
• Many said they were sad but grateful, with some worried about the future.

Veron Wong told me he cried when Warren Buffett announced he would be leaving Berkshire Hathaway.

Wong was among the tens of thousands of Buffett's followers who had descended on Omaha, Nebraska, for the company's annual meeting.

After being in the room on Saturday for Buffett's shock announcement that he would quit at the end of 2025, I set about asking shareholders how they felt about losing the man at the center of it all.

I asked 20 of them the question anywhere I could at this "Woodstock for Capitalists" — in a furniture store's parking lot, during a 5K run through downtown, at a farewell brunch, and at bars.

That's how I found Wong. He was enjoying cocktails with his partner, Joanna Fadel, at the Marriott opposite CHI Health Center, the venue for Berkshire's meeting.

Wong, 31, said he loved and admired Buffett so much that the investor felt like a father to him.

"I cried," he said. "It was sad."

"Everybody was celebrating and commemorating," Fadel, 30, an innovation design strategist from New York, told me. "It was a beautiful moment. It was bittersweet, but I think it's a beautiful thing to be here for this community and to be part of this legacy."

And what a legacy: The world's fifth-richest person took over a failing textile business 60 years ago and transformed it into one of the world's most valuable companies.

The couple was there to celebrate their idol. Other Buffett followers I spoke to said they were feeling everything from shock and sorrow to gratitude and hope. But several said they worried that, without Buffett, Berkshire's tight-knit community and Omaha's allure could falter.

'He's got a wonderful moral compass'

Later on Saturday, I stopped by a shareholder picnic outside the Berkshire-owned Nebraska Furniture Mart. Friends and families munched on barbecue, played lawn games, and danced along to live music.

Vipara Rasphone, a 30-year-old Stanford MBA student from Laos, told me he was still parsing the day's events.

“I’m still processing it," he said. He pondered what Buffett's departure would mean for the investing world.

"Who are going to be our role models?" he asked.

Mike Schutz, 63, a warehouse worker from Omaha attending the meeting for the first time, was sitting near the stage where two singers were performing classic pop and rock songs.

He told me he applauded Buffett's decision to step aside, saying it was "better not to wait for the inevitable" and that Buffett could continue to guide Greg Abel, Berkshire's vice chair and Buffett's potential successor.

Early on Sunday, I joined the masses of shareholders taking part in a 5k run, organized by Brooks Running, a Berkshire subsidiary. A power-walking Gary Oberste, 74, a semi-retired educator from Oklahoma who said he'd owned Berkshire stock for about 10 years, told me he was optimistic about the company's prospects.

“I have faith in what he’s set up and done that it keeps growing and doing better," he added.

Sabina Coffiel, 57, a local medical researcher and member of a women's financial literacy group, told me as we walked through Omaha's downtown that she was saddened by Buffett's departure.

"I gasped," she said. "He’s done a great job for so long, and he’s got a wonderful moral compass."

"I hope Greg shares that compass and that Buffett still shows up sometimes,” she added, referring to Abel.

Fears about the future appeal of Omaha

A couple of hours later, back at the Marriott Hotel, hundreds of people were mingling over coffee, breakfast sandwiches, muffins, and fresh fruit while the insurer Markel held a meeting in the ballroom.

I struck up a conversation with Martin Wiegand, a 67-year-old small-business owner who said he's owned Berkshire stock for 40 years and has been coming to the meeting since the 1980s. He told me he saw Buffett as a "wonderful role model, teacher, and steward of capital."

Wiegand dismissed the idea that Berkshire stock might be valued lower without Buffett in charge. “There’s no Buffett premium now; it was gone 25 years ago," he said.

He said he hadn't seen Abel show the charisma of Buffett and his late business partner, Charlie Munger. Wiegand also worried out loud that Omaha would be less of a destination for investors in the future. Buffett was born in this city of 500,000 people, and his face was all over the "Bazaar of Bargains," where Berkshire businesses were selling at a discount to shareholders.

Sheldon Wasserman, 77, a retired businessman from Florida who said he's owned Berkshire stock for over 30 years, wondered whether Abel would move to Omaha. "Des Moines resident to become Berkshire Hathaway CEO" was how Abel's local paper reported the prospect of his accession. Des Moines, Iowa, is about two and a half hours from Omaha by car.

Wasserman compared the prospect of Abel succeeding Buffett to Tim Cook replacing Steve Jobs as Apple's CEO in 2011. Cook, who took over the company from its visionary founder, has since led it to new highs.

Wasserman also riffed on one of Buffett's famous sayings to underscore his point that Berkshire has more to it than its CEO, and that his successor would have a solid foundation to build from.

“We are standing in the shade of a tree that grew from a seed someone planted years ago," he said.

Wasserman told me he wasn't planning to sell Berkshire stock if it drops, not only because he has faith in its operations but also because "the taxes would be astronomical."

Signe Loenholdt, 44, a financial educator from Denmark who teaches Buffett-style investing, was grabbing a drink at the downstairs bar before catching a shuttle to the airport.

"I'm concerned about community continuity post-Buffett," she said, questioning whether future Omaha gatherings would retain their global appeal without Buffett as the star.

Would she sell Berkshire stock if it falls on the news of Buffett's departure? Loenholdt said she'd buy more of it.

After all, the "Sage of Omaha" always advocated buying a dip.

• Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett announced Saturday he plans to resign at the end of the year.
• The iconic investor built Berkshire into a trillion-dollar empire over the last 55 years as CEO.
• Buffett's friend and biographer, Alice Schroeder, spoke to BI about his life and legacy.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett stunned the audience at his annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday when he announced his plan to resign at year's end after a nearly six-decade run as the leader of the trillion-dollar empire.

Reactions have poured in from business leaders who know and admire the billionaire investor. One person who is more familiar with Buffett's life than most is Alice Schroeder, a journalist who wrote the 2008 bestselling biography of Buffett, "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," after spending a decade getting to know him and his family.

She spoke with Business Insider about the iconic investor's legacy amid news of his planned resignation.

This conversation has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

First things first — what's your initial reaction to the news? How are you feeling?

My initial reaction is: For heaven's sake, he deserves to retire at 94 years old from the day-to-day responsibilities of being a CEO, which are quite considerable. It's amazing that he has kept that role until now. I'm sure he's going to remain involved and will be consulted by those who want his advice — and who wouldn't want his advice? But I think it's a great move on his part, and I hope he enjoys a very well-earned retirement.

Well-earned indeed. Have you been in contact recently? Was this something you knew was on the horizon?

I have not been in contact with him in a few years, not because of any issue, but because he's at an age where he's not chit-chatting on the phone with everybody he knows all the time. But I was not surprised. I knew that he would remain CEO as long as he could, but he would not remain CEO beyond a certain point where he either wasn't enjoying having that responsibility, or for any other reason — I'm not going to speculate about anything related to his health because I don't know enough, but anybody at age 94 has got some things going on. So this day was going to come sooner or later.

What do you think this means for the future of Berkshire Hathaway?

I've been thinking about this since Warren was in his 60s because he's literally not replaceable, and so, of course, Berkshire Hathaway will be different. He has talked about the investment results of his deputies not being as stellar, perhaps, as his earlier record. In addition, Greg Abel obviously has his own style of leadership and management, and it is not Warren's style.

That said, I have never believed Berkshire's decentralized leadership style would survive Warren stepping down as CEO. Warren has been very candid in saying: Don't expect the company's results to be that much better — or necessarily any better — than the market as a whole over the long term after he's gone. Well, the long term has arrived, and now a lot of things are going to change.

I think Berkshire has tremendous advantages. It's got internal diversification, it's got strong, stable businesses. Those will obviously survive. And I think he will achieve the one goal that he told me he had a long time ago, which is that he constructed it to survive and still be a viable, reasonable, successful company for 30 years after he's no longer running it. So I think those who own the stock should not be worried because the business side could be almost put on autopilot, but there's a certain element of magic that is departing now, of course.

Are there any extenuating circumstances you see that could disrupt that stability? Or do you think he's built something steady that is going to survive this moment of economic turmoil and well into the future?

Warren's business career began during the Great Depression when he was a child and has spanned Vietnam, various financial crises, and the pandemic. He has done everything possible to construct a robust business that could survive what I would call normally foreseeable events. Can you think of a black swan that might disrupt the business? Sure, but they'd be very one-off scenarios, and I think you'd have to go many standard deviations away from even extreme outcomes for that to happen.

What about advice for Buffett's likely successor, Greg Abel? Are there any things that you think that Warren might or might not say to him, or things that you would advise him to do as he steps into these shoes?

I think it would be pretty presumptuous for me to give advice that Warren Buffett hasn't given, but with that caveat, his greatest focus for his successor has always been that his successor would allocate capital wisely, not go on a merger spree, overpay for other businesses, start divesting businesses, or repurchase stock at excessive valuations. I believe he has actually hammered that into people's heads, and it's unlikely to happen.

With that said, Berkshire has been, for some time, generating much more capital than it can use. So I think that the possibility of a dividend could be there under someone other than Warren. But I wouldn't expect Berkshire to change its approach to managing risk or asset liability management or anything like that.

Do you think a dividend might be a short-term play to reassure investors after his departure?

I don't think a dividend will be announced in the short term. I think that it will go from being absolutely ruled out to being potentially on the table at some point. But what I think will steady investors is seeing that nothing remarkable happens without Warren in the CEO role, because there is a magic to him and the things that he says, of course, and there will be a reaction to him not being in the day-to-day role. So we'll have to go through a period where he's not in the day-to-day role and see that the businesses actually are robust. You can't predict how investors will react, and I do know that most investors would agree that he's irreplaceable, but we also have known that this was coming for a long time as he's gotten older, so hopefully, people are prepared.

How long do you think it'll take for that confidence to return?

Right now, predicting anything in the market would be foolish. Berkshire would be as affected as any other business by things like tariffs or the fact that the United States has changed its stance on dealing with the rest of the world. So I don't want to predict anything.

Do you think the political environment played a role in his decision to step down in this timeframe?

I mean, he's 94 — it's reasonable for him to step down. I do not want people to think that the political environment is the reason. If it were, he probably would have said so, because he's pretty straightforward about his views on macroeconomics. And if that truly was a major factor, I think he would have identified it.

Looking back at your relationship with him, what lessons did he share with you that you think of now, in light of him taking this step?

I learned almost everything I know about dealing with people, managing people, and negotiating from him, including in my personal life. I credit him with making a major change in my marriage, and I'm now very happily married to my second husband, and that is directly, directly due to Warren Buffett.

I don't think I've ever told this story, but when I got married to my second husband, he had veto power over who I chose. That's how much I trust his judgment about people. I was happy to give him veto power. Thankfully, he liked David.

He is amazing at dealing with people, but there are also the timeless kinds of things that he has hammered home over and over: what makes a good business, how to compare two businesses and know which one is better, how to manage risk personally in your portfolio.

Do you have a favorite Buffett-ism, either personally or something he's shared with the world, that particularly resonates with you?

One thing that he has said to me, in a number of different ways, is that if you are talking to someone, and you say 99 things about them that are positive, and throw in one small criticism, the only thing they'll remember is the criticism — and that's how he manages people. I did not really understand that until I spent so much time with him, but I've seen it since in life, over and over, that you really have to give undiluted praise if you want people to feel it, and if you have something negative to say, tell them privately.

I know you mentioned you haven't been in touch in a while, but have you reached out since you heard the news?

I haven't yet, but I plan to write him a letter. He enjoys receiving mail; he particularly appreciates it, and I know he keeps it. You attract a lot of correspondence if you're as famous as he is, and, of course, some people are unhinged. In fact, that was one of the most important things that he taught me: Being both rich and famous is a terrible curse. You can't trust anybody, you have no privacy, you can't go anywhere without being interrupted, and it really disrupts your life — but if you want to really say 'here's what you've meant to me,' then the best way for Warren is to send a letter.

What else should people know about him?

He's always wanted his legacy to be as a teacher. I think his shareholder letters, all the amazing quotes and stories that are in my book, or things other people have written about him, those are his body of work, and his teachings will have an enduring value. He initially started out wanting to teach investors, but he increasingly branched into the personal, how to live your life — you don't want to wind up being somebody that, if you had a heart attack while you were giving a speech and fell off the stage, nobody would call 911, and he told me about people he knew that were in that situation. So I think he shared lots of lessons like that in terms of deciding what's important. If you really look at it, he's spent almost his whole life teaching people, so I think that will be his greatest legacy.

• Warren Buffett said on Saturday he will step down as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway by year's end.
• The board has voted to make Greg Abel, now a vice chair at the company, its CEO and president.
• Abel is expected to maintain Buffett's existing investment approach.

Hours after Warren Buffett stunned the crowd at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting by announcing that he'd step down at the end of the year, its board voted unanimously for Greg Abel to replace him.

Buffett — who is 94 and has been the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway for 55 years — will remain as chairman of the board of directors, according to a press release. Greg Abel will become the new CEO and president as of January 1, 2026.

"I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive of the company at year end," Buffett told the audience on Saturday, referring to Abel, one of his top hands.

Abel, 62, has been Berkshire Hathaway's vice chair of non-insurance operations since 2018. He's also chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, which Buffett hailed as one of the conglomerate's four "jewels" in his annual shareholder letter in 2021, the same year Buffett first tapped Abel as his successor.

While Buffett's approval was a major plus, the company's board of directors was tasked with confirming his successor, and did so on Sunday.

Investors and shareholders expect that Abel will maintain Berkshire Hathaway's investment philosophy. He told shareholders at this weekend's meeting that he would start by maintaining the company's "fortress of a balance sheet," which allows it to make large investments without relying on banks, Barron's reported.

Abel is known, however, for having a more hands-on management style than Buffett.

He was estimated by Forbes to be worth $484 million in 2021. In 2022, he sold his 1% stake in the company's Berkshire Hathaway Energy unit for $870 million.

Abel has risen through the ranks with a persistent focus on energy.

The Canadian native played hockey in his early years and attended the University of Alberta. He graduated in 1984 with a degree in commerce.

He joined PwC after graduation and quickly moved on to a small company called CalEnergy. In 1999, CalEnergy acquired MidAmerican Energy and adopted its name. That same year, Berkshire Hathaway bought a controlling interest in MidAmerican Energy. Abel took over the reins of MidAmerican in 2008 — renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2014 — and helmed it until 2018.

He's also served on the board of several major companies, including Kraft Heinz, and has been affiliated with organizations and institutions like the Mid-Iowa Council Boy Scouts of America, Drake University, American Football Coaches Foundation, and the Horatio Alger Association.

He lives in Des Moines, Iowa. Those who've spotted him at a hockey rink in town, watching his son practice, say he comes across as a "regular guy," the Des Moines Register reported.

Buffett also has a reputation as a folksy and down-to-earth person, living in Omaha, Nebraska.

At Berkshire Hathaway, succession doesn't seem to be just about handing over a job. With the title, Buffett said he's passing down traditions — like writing letters — and a mindset, too.

In Berkshire Hathaway's 2024 annual report, Buffett wrote, "At 94, it won't be long before Greg Abel replaces me as CEO and will be writing the annual letters. Greg shares the Berkshire creed that a 'report' is what a Berkshire CEO annually owes to owners.

"And he also understands that if you start fooling your shareholders, you will soon believe your own baloney and be fooling yourself as well."

• Warren Buffett said he would step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
• Despite his vast wealth, Buffett is known for his folksy demeanor and wry sense of humor.
• Here are 20 of Buffett's most legendary quotes.

Famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett, 94, plans to step down at the end of this year.

Buffett's estimated net worth of $196 billion makes him the fifth-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg's billionaires index.

Buffett is known for many things — his fast-food-heavy diet, his reading habit, his philanthropy, and his value-focused investing style.

People around the world are so fascinated by Buffett that they'll spend millions of dollars just to eat lunch with him. While you may not have that much money lying around, you can still learn from his folksy wisdom.

We've rounded up 20 of Buffett's best quotes.

'Only buy something that you’d be perfectly happy to hold if the market shut down for 10 years'

Source: Forbes

'Don't watch the market closely'

"Don't watch the market closely," Buffett said during a wild bout of market volatility back in 2016.

He continued: "If they're trying to buy and sell stocks, and worry when they go down a little bit … and think they should maybe sell them when they go up, they're not going to have very good results."

Source: CNBC

"A $5 dinner is, in many cases, better than a $100 dinner."

Buffett told Forbes that he knew he would make money because he had learned investment strategies that would work.

"My wife and I decided then, we were going to enjoy life," Buffett said. "We were going to have everything we would possibly use or need, but incidentally, I think a $5 dinner is, in many cases, better than a $100 dinner."

Source: Forbes

'Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago'

Source: Forbes

'I read and think'

"I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think," he said.

He continued: "That is very uncommon in American business. I read and think. So I do more reading and thinking, and make less impulse decisions than most people in business. I do it because I like this kind of life.”

Source: Time Magazine

'Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing'

Source: Forbes

'You only have to do a very few things right in your life so long as you don't do too many things wrong'

Source: CNBC

Buffett said he'd give his children 'enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing'

The perfect amount to leave to your kids, he told Fortune in 1986, is "enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing."

Source: Fortune

'The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing at yellow'

"When major declines occur, they offer extraordinary opportunities to those who are not handicapped by debt," Buffett wrote in a letter to Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders in 2017, highlighting the argument against ever borrowing money to buy stocks.

He continued: "No one can tell you when these will happen. The light can at any time go from green to red without pausing at yellow." 

Source: Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders

'It takes 20 years to build a reputation and 5 minutes to ruin it'

Source: Forbes

'You cannot make a good deal with a bad person'

“You cannot make a good deal with a bad person,” Buffett once told Suzy Welch, a bestselling management author and CNBC contributor.

Welch told CNBC it was Buffett who gave her the career advice that has helped her more than any other she’s received.

Source: CNBC

'Whether we’re talking about socks or stocks, I like buying quality merchandise when it is marked down'

Source: Forbes

Only invest in 'simple businesses' that you understand

In his 2014 letter to shareholders, Buffett laid out six criteria he applied to measure a company's fundamentals. One criterion is that he only invests in "simple businesses." 

"If there’s lots of technology, we won’t understand it," he said

Source: Letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders

'Stocks [have] been so much more attractive than bonds'

"The one thing I'm sure of is that over time, stocks from this level will beat bonds from this level," Buffett told CNBC's "Squawk Box" in 2017. "Stocks [have] been so much more attractive than bonds for a long time now."

Source: CNBC

'Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Don't forget rule No. 1'

Source: Forbes

'The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything'

Source: CNBC

'It's better to hang out with people better than you'

"It's better to hang out with people better than you," Buffett once said. "Pick out associates whose behavior is better than yours and you'll drift in that direction."

Buffett and Bill Gates once had a close friendship.

Source: Forbes

'Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings'

"Cryptocurrencies will come to bad endings," Buffett said in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting in 2018. "There’s nothing being produced in the way of value from the asset."

He continued: "It’s something where people who are of less-than-stellar character see an opportunity to clip people who were trying to get rich because their neighbor’s getting rich buying this stuff neither one of them understands."

Source: Fortune

'Price is what you pay. Value is what you get'

Source: Forbes

'You don't find out whose been swimming naked until the tide goes out'

Buffett told investors in a 1994 company meeting that "people have found out — who were speculating on bonds with below margins recently — that you don't find out whose been swimming naked until the tide goes out."

"Essentially, that's what happens in reinsurance, you don't find out who is swimming naked until the wind blows," he said.

Source: Warren Buffett Archive

• I was in the room when Warren Buffett announced his plans to step down as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
• The audience was shocked but rallied to give the investor two standing ovations.
• The Berkshire Hathaway chief said he'd informed neither his board nor his successor ahead of time.

I was in the room when Warren Buffett said he would step down as CEO at the end of this year, marking the end of a remarkable tenure that has lasted nearly six decades.

The legendary investor and Berkshire Hathaway boss made the surprise announcement in the closing minutes of a nearly five-hour-long Q&A on Saturday at his company's annual meeting in Omaha.

The packed stadium was stunned into silence. The longest-serving S&P 500 CEO, who took the top job in 1970 and built Berkshire from a failing textile company into a $1 trillion company known around the world, was stepping down.

It seemed as if Buffett, who is 94, might continue for a few more years still, given how mentally sharp he seemed throughout the morning as he fielded questions about everything from tariffs and Berkshire's huge cash pile to government spending and life advice.

He revealed that he had informed neither Berkshire's board, apart from two of his three children who are directors, nor his planned successor sitting next to him, Greg Abel.

Once Buffett finished speaking, the crowd leapt to its feet to deliver thunderous applause for a man who has meant so much to so many of them.

Buffett's thousands of shareholders rose again and clapped as he prepared to leave the stage, leading him to joke that their praise could be interpreted either as admiration or relief that he was resigning.

The atmosphere turned to sadness and disbelief as onlookers processed what had just happened and its historical significance began to take hold.

Conversations broke out once Buffett left the stage and the lights came up as the reeling attendees turned to one another to parse the news. There was a steady drone in the stadium as people talked through their emotions and the consequences of the announcement.

Nirav Panchmatia, 50, a financial literacy coach from India was attending his eighth Berkshire meeting and had brought along his 10-year-old daughter, Parthavi, for the first time.

He described the moment that Buffett broke the news as "extraordinary" and said he felt "sad" that Buffett would no longer be CEO, but it was a "wonderful experience" to have been in the room when he stepped down.

He said he hopes Buffett will still host at least another meeting or two in the years ahead.

Dennis Wong, 58, a private investor from Canada, told BI he's owned Berkshire stock for nearly a decade.

"I just witnessed history," he said. "I'm so thrilled to be here personally."

Wong said the news "does rock the entire financial industry and markets," and applauded Buffett for assuring investors of a smooth transition by saying he would remain involved at Berkshire and available to help Abel.

He compared Buffett to Tom Brady in football, Wayne Gretzky in hockey, and Steve Jobs in tech. "When it comes to investing, Buffett is certainly the GOAT," using the acronym for "greatest of all time."

Buffett said that while his successor would have the final word, he assured the audience that he would likely "still hang around and conceivably be useful."

• Warren Buffett plans to resign as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after 55 years in charge.
• The investor, 94, said he plans to make way for his planned successor, Greg Abel, at the end of the year.
• Buffett grew Berkshire from a failing textile mill into a $1 trillion company, enriching investors.

Warren Buffett intends to step down as Berkshire Hathaway CEO after 55 years, ending his tenure as the longest-serving chief executive of an S&P 500 company.

The legendary investor announced he would recommend to Berkshire's board that he resign as CEO at the end of this year. He broke the news to a stadium full of his shareholders during Berkshire's annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday. The crowd gave Buffett two standing ovations and recognized his many years of service with thunderous applause.

"The enthusiasm shown by this response can be interpreted in two ways," Buffett joked, before adding, "Thank you."

If Buffett gets his way, Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire's non-insurance businesses, will be in charge of the conglomerate in the new year.

"Abel is in a wonderful and difficult position. It's easier to follow Bruce Springsteen on stage than to follow Buffett," Erik Gordon, an entrepreneurship professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, told BI in an email.

Buffett, 94, purchased Berkshire when it was a failing New England textile mill in 1965. Over the past six decades, he's grown it into a $1 trillion conglomerate that owns scores of businesses, including Geico, See's Candies, and the BNSF Railway, and holds multibillion-dollar stakes in Coca-Cola, American Express, and other public companies.

The "Oracle of Omaha" oversaw a roughly 5,500,000% gain in Berkshire's Class A stock between 1965 and 2024, compared to around 39,000% for the S&P 500 as a whole. Berkshire shares compounded in value by an average of 19.9% annually for that period, more than double the benchmark's 10.4% gain.

The ballooning stock price has made Buffett phenomenally wealthy. Even after giving more than half of his shares to good causes, he now ranks as the world's fifth-richest person with a $169 billion net worth.

Buffett is leaving the CEO role on a high note. Berkshire stock has soared 20% this year to record levels, trouncing the S&P's 3% decline. Investors are banking on Buffett's steady hand to guide them through the market and economic turmoil stirred up by President Donald Trump's tariffs. They're also betting on perhaps the world's foremost bargain hunter to pounce on any bargain stocks and businesses that emerge, as he famously did during the 2008 financial crisis.

Once Buffett vacates his chair, Abel will have the unenviable task of succeeding one of the great business leaders in American history, who has become virtually synonymous with his company. He can expect intense scrutiny of his decisions from all corners, and endless comparisons to a predecessor who ruled the roost for nearly six decades.

Buffett will be remembered as a CEO for building one of the world's most valuable companies, creating tremendous wealth for his investors, nurturing a unique shareholder culture centered on long-term ownership, and inspiring legions of investors and executives with his lessons on investing, business, management, and life.

This is a developing story, check back for more updates…

• Warren Buffett, 94, stood by his love of fast food and disdain for exercise on Saturday.
• He pointed to his age as proof that drinking Coke and eating junk food wasn't disastrous for him.
• During Berkshire Hathaway's meeting, he joked that he's been carefully "preserving" his body.

Warren Buffett defended his junk-food diet and distaste for exercise during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.

Seated with two cans of Coca-Cola and a box of See's Candies on the table in front of him, the billionaire investor and Berkshire CEO pointed to his advanced age as evidence that eating like a child hasn't done him any great harm.

"At 94 years of age, I've been able to drink whatever I like to drink," Buffett said, picking up one of his Coke cans. People have long issued dire warnings about the dangers of a soda habit, but Buffett said it didn't seem to be a problem for him or his late business partner, Charlie Munger, who lived to 99.

"Charlie and I never exercised all that much — we focused on preserving ourselves carefully," Buffett quipped, sparking peals of laughter in the audience. Business Insider was reporting live at the event from a press box stocked with a variety of See's chocolates and a fridge full of sodas.

He pointed to the wear and tear on professional athletes' bodies as a good reason not to join a baseball or basketball team, saying it showed the potential risks of too much exercise.

Buffett has previously said he grabs McDonald's for breakfast on his drive to work, drinks five cans of Coke a day, and devours Dairy Queen ice cream. He's known for loving unhealthy foods such as hot dogs, fries, popcorn, cookies, and candy.

He also hasn't shied away from making Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz two of Berkshire's largest positions, and buying businesses like See's and Dairy Queen outright.

"I think happiness makes an enormous amount of difference in terms of longevity," Buffett said in a 2023 interview. "And I'm happier when I'm drinking Coke or eating hot fudge sundaes or hot dogs."

• Warren Buffett criticized tariffs during his Q&A at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting on Saturday.
• "Trade should not be a weapon," Buffett told investors in Omaha, Nebraska.
• Buffett did not mention President Donald Trump by name while hitting out at tariffs.

Warren Buffett hit out at President Donald Trump's global trade war on Saturday, saying trade should not be a "weapon."

Speaking at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, Buffett did not directly name Trump, but made clear his distaste for tariffs.

Buffett made the comments in response to the first question during his widely watched Q&A, the centerpiece event of the annual meeting.

"Trade should not be a weapon," he said."

Buffett called the policies a "big mistake," warning that protectionist policies could have negative repercussions for the US.

"I do think that the more prosperous the rest of the world becomes, it won't be at our expense, the more prosperous we'll become, and the safer we'll feel, and your children will feel someday," Buffett added.

"I don't think it's right, and I don't think it's wise," he said. "The United States won. I mean, we have become an incredibly important country, starting from nothing 250 years ago. There's not been anything like it."

The comments are his most direct yet on the global trade war sparked by Trump's imposition of sweeping tariffs at the beginning of April.

Buffett's comments came after the company reported that its first quarter profits fell by around 14% compared to 2024 to $9.6 billion, while its cash stockpile rose to more than $347 billion.

Buffett's holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, has surged despite volatile financial markets since Trump's election last year.

The conglomerate is up more than 20% since Trump won victory on November 5, in spite of the S&P 500 being down almost 2%

Trump's administration has imposed tariffs of 145% on China, which were countered with retaliatory Chinese levies of 125%.

• Warren Buffett said he isn't building up a huge cash pile for his planned successor to spend.
• The billionaire quipped that he wouldn't do something so "noble" just to make Greg Abel "look good."
• Berkshire Hathaway's reserve doubled to over $300 billion in 2024 and hit a record high last quarter.

One of the biggest questions hanging over Berkshire Hathaway is why Warren Buffett has built such a large cash reserve.

The famed investor and Berkshire CEO dismissed the idea that he was setting aside a huge amount of cash, Treasury bills, and other liquid assets for his planned successor, Greg Abel, to invest once he's gone.

"I wouldn't do anything nearly so noble as to withhold investing myself just so Greg could look good," he said at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday, causing a wave of laughter to roll through the crowd.

Berkshire roughly doubled its cash pile to north of $300 billion last year, and it rose to a fresh record of nearly $348 billion in the first quarter of this year, the company's earnings revealed on Saturday.

A big factor in the surge was Berkshire's sale of two-thirds of its Apple position last year, which had been its largest portfolio holding for years. Buffett still praised Apple CEO Tim Cook, who was sitting only a short distance away from him in the crowd watching at the CHI Health Center, where Business Insider was watching the proceedings live.

Buffett said he would happily spend $20 billion, even $100 billion, on the right opportunity if it were a business or other asset that offered good value and they felt comfortable owning for the long term.

Soaring valuations for public stocks, private businesses, and even Berkshire stock have thwarted the value investor in recent years.

The billionaire said that he'd prefer if there were enough bargains on offer that Berkshire would only have $50 billion in reserve. But he said it would be the "dumbest thing in the world" to consistently invest $50 billion a year just to shrink Berkshire's cash pile, as quality buys only appear occasionally.

He also emphasized that he may have already been too active in the market over the years.

"Charlie always thought I did too many things," Buffett said, referring to his late business partner, Charlie Munger.

• Warren Buffett praised Apple CEO Tim Cook for making more money for his company than he ever did.
• The Berkshire Hathaway CEO praised Cook as a worthy successor to Apple cofounder Steve Jobs.
• Berkshire sold two-thirds of its Apple stake in the first three quarters of 2024.

Warren Buffett hailed Tim Cook as a one-of-a-kind leader after selling two-thirds of his stake in Apple last year.

The famed investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO praised the tech titan's CEO in his opening comments at his conglomerate's annual meeting on Saturday.

"Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more than I have made Berkshire," Buffett quipped to laughter in the auditorium, nodding to the fact that Berkshire's roughly $35 billion investment in Apple between 2016 and 2018 grew to $173 billion by the end of 2023.

However, Berkshire sold about 67% of its Apple shares in the first nine months of 2024, leaving only 300 million shares at the end of December, worth about $62 billion at Friday's closing price of $205 per share.

Buffett also gave Cook perhaps the best compliment when he favorably compared him to his iconic predecessor and Apple's cofounder.

"I knew Steve Jobs briefly," Buffett said, adding that the creator of the iPhone "of course did things that nobody else could have done."

"Nobody but Steve could have created Apple, but nobody but Tim could have developed it like it has," Buffett added.

Since Cook took the reins in 2011, Apple stock has soared from under $15 on a split-adjusted basis to $205, a roughly 14-fold gain, boosting Apple's market capitalization to north of $3 trillion.

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway posted a 14% drop in first-quarter operating profits on Saturday.
• Berkshire sold a net $1.5 billion of stocks and grew its cash pile to a record $348 billion.
• Buffett has been stymied by hefty valuations for stocks, acquisitions, and buybacks.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reported a 14% drop in first-quarter operating profits to $9.6 billion ahead of Buffett speaking at the company's much-watched annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday.

Berkshire's insurance underwriting division's 49% year-on-year profit decline to $1.4 billion was largely to blame for the company's overall earnings decline.

The famed investor's conglomerate sold a net $1.5 billion of stocks, as it bought $3.2 billion on stocks and sold $4.7 billion worth. The disposals marked the 10th straight quarter that it's been a net seller of stocks.

However, the sales were significantly smaller than last year, when Berkshire sold a net $134 billion of stocks in just 12 months.

The disposals contributed to a 4% increase in Berkshire's cash pile to a record $348 billion, or $333 billion if $14.4 billion of payables for Treasury purchases are subtracted. That figure exceeds the market capitalizations of most S&P 500 companies, including Bank of America and Coca-Cola.

Buffett didn't opt to repurchase any Berkshire shares last quarter, making it three straight quarters without any buybacks.

The bargain hunter and his team have been thwarted by lofty valuations for public stocks, private businesses, and even Berkshire shares in recent years.

The lack of opportunities — and Berkshire cutting key positions Apple and Bank of America last year — has boosted its cash pile to record levels.

Regardless, Berkshire Class B shares have soared 20% this year to trade at all-time highs of about $540. The stock has benefited from tariff turmoil that has pushed the S&P 500 down 3% this year, as investors seek haven in Berkshire and bet on Buffett to capitalize if the market crashes.

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hosted a shareholder shopping day as part of its annual meeting.
• See's Candies, Squishmallows-owner Jazwares, and truck-stop chain Pilot were among the brands there.
• One shopper was carting two dozen plush toys, while another two had a massive haul.

Warren Buffett's shareholders have traveled from far and wide to hear him speak this weekend — and to scoop up their own deals at Berkshire Hathaway's "Bazaar of Bargains."

Around two dozen of Buffett's businesses — including See's Candies, Squishmallows-owner Jazwares, and truck-stop chain Pilot Flying J — set up shop on Friday and Saturday in the CHI Health Center, the venue for his annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.

Business Insider scoured the wares on offer and interviewed shoppers about their hauls. Scroll down for a photographic tour of the event.

Shoppers arrived early to skip the lines.

Friday's shareholder shopping day only began at 12 p.m., but people were already lining up to collect their entry passes and waiting for the doors to open before 8 a.m.

Once attendees were allowed inside, there was a huge rush to buy golf-themed Squishmallows in the likeness of Buffett, his late business partner Charlie Munger, and a caddy character named Omaha.

Within moments of the event's start, people were lugging around huge Squishmallows bags filled with the trio, as well as Pikachu and other cuddly critters.

They couldn't resist the photo ops.

Shareholders waited patiently to have their photo taken with various cardboard cutouts of Buffett around the room.

They also posed for pictures under the welcome sign and took selfies with giant mascots for Geico, Oriental Trading, and Squishmallows.

Squishmallows were hot commodities.

"We bring the fun," Bret Ingraham, a senior director of public relations at Jazwares, told BI during a tour of the company's booth.

Squishmallows is best known for its plush toys — Ingraham said they sell 1,000 an hour at the busiest times. But more recently, they've struck licensing deals to roll out building kits, cosmetics, electric toothbrushes, and more.

The maker of plush toys has expanded into bedding.

Squishmallows has also ventured into the bedding business by making its own pillows and pillowcases.

Ingraham said the company makes Buffett more accessible to the masses, adding that it's "introducing a new generation to Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway in a fun, cuddly, cute way."

Bill Hughes was bringing home the Buffetts.

Bill Hughes, 40, told BI he works at a financial advisory firm in Oklahoma. He was lining up to ship multiple massive bags of Squishmallows back home when BI caught up with him.

Hughes told BI he'd purchased about 24 of the plush toys to bring to people he knows back home. He also scooped up a Buffett hat, a pair of gloves from Wells Lamont, and household goods from Pampered Chef. He estimated that he'd spent $1,200 in total that day.

See's Candies' theme this year focused on the outdoors.

See's Candies' booth had a camping theme and featured Buffett and cofounder Mary See across cardboard cutouts, box sleeves, and other displays.

There was an exclusive "Berkshire Box" on sale that was filled with Toasted Marshmallow Scotchmallows. Other popular flavors, including Chocolate Walnut Fudge, were also on hand.

See's brought close to 25,000 pounds of product to satisfy hungry shareholders.

Leslie Horenstein, senior vice president and marketing chief for See's, told BI that the company had brought close to 25,000 pounds of product, or more than 41,000 units, to the meeting.

Echoing Buffett's love of the brand for building an emotional connection with customers, she said that virtually every person she meets has some "association" with the brand, despite it not being nationwide.

Oriental Trading had all sorts of Buffett and Munger knickknacks.

Oriental Trading's booth had the widest variety of Buffett and Munger-themed items.

They included rubber ducks, chocolate coins and bars, bobbleheads, plushes, T-shirts, socks, mugs, pins, figurines, and playing cards.

One shopper said the experience was good value for time and money.

Claudia and her daughter Miranda were surrounded by their shopping when they told BI they were visiting from Miami and came to the meeting every couple of years.

Claudia said the prices, quality, and staff were "amazing." She'd purchased shoes from Brooks Running, clothes from Fruit of the Loom, candy from See's Candies, kitchenware from Pampered Chef, and bits and pieces from Oriental Trading.

Miranda told BI that she loved spending time with her parents and had bought clothes, shoes, board games, and slime.

Pilot also went big on Buffett-branded swag.

Pilot's booth featured meeting-exclusive trucker hats, "Berkshire Blend" coffee, T-shirts emblazoned with Buffett quotes, co-branded boxes of See's, and Buffett-inspired fortune cookies and Yeti tumblers.

A giant, red, Pilot-branded truck was also parked next to the stand with a cardboard cutout of Buffett in the driver's seat.

• Warren Buffett will host a nearly five-hour Q&A at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting this weekend.
• More than a dozen of Buffett's close followers told BI the burning questions they hope he'll answer.
• They're eager for him to speak about tariffs, Berkshire's cash pile, and retirement plans.

Warren Buffett kept quiet when stocks tumbled. On Saturday, the famed investor will break his silence with nearly five hours of questions at Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting.

The $1 trillion conglomerate, which Buffett still heads at 94, owns many businesses, including auto insurer Geico and the BNSF Railway, and holds billion-dollar stakes in public companies such as Apple and Coca-Cola. If it's affecting the US economy, it's affecting Berkshire. That, combined with Buffett's decades of investing experience, will have tens of thousands of followers hanging off his every word during the event in his hometown of Omaha.

More than a dozen of Buffett's close followers told Business Insider the burning questions they want him to answer, from tariff impacts and Berkshire's cash pile to his retirement plans and Apple disposals.

Trade war fallout

Tariffs have reignited investors' fears of inflation and recession, sparking an exodus from US stocks, Treasurys, and the dollar in recent weeks.

"I'd like to hear how the tariffs are affecting Berkshire's businesses now, and how they may affect the businesses in the future," Steven Check, the CEO of Check Capital Management, told BI. He also wanted to hear Buffett's views on tariffs from a global perspective.

Adam Mead, the author of " The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway " and a money manager, told BI that Trump's tariffs "might change the calculus" for Berkshire's solar projects, adding they likely source many of their panels and equipment from overseas.

Adam Schwartz, the founder and chief investor of Black Bear Value Partners, told BI he hoped Buffett would address tariffs and advise investors on protecting their portfolios.

Schwartz said, "Does he view the tariff policy as a structural change in the environment, and how do you handicap the downside?"

John Longo — a finance professor, investment chief, and the author of "Buffett's Tips: A Guide to Financial Literacy and Life" — told BI he hoped Buffett would say whether he still thinks the US trade deficit is an urgent problem as he argued in a Fortune article in 2003.

Spending plans

Buffett nearly doubled Berkshire's pile of cash, Treasury bills, and other liquid assets to a record $334 billion last year, partly by selling a net $134 billion of stocks and halting share buybacks in the second half.

His followers want to know what he plans to do with that war chest, which exceeds Coca-Cola's entire market value. He could use the dry powder to make a blockbuster acquisition, scoop up stocks, reinstate share purchases, or even pay a dividend.

"Why is he amassing this huge cash position, and where would the stock market need to fall for him to write 'Buy American. I Am.' like he did in the fall of 2008?" asked Bill Smead, the founder and chief investor of Smead Capital Management.

Smead was referring to Buffett's famous New York Times op-ed at the height of the financial crisis, in which he urged others to join him in making long-term bets on American businesses.

Alex Morris, the author of "Buffett and Munger Unscripted" and the founder of investment research service TSOH, told BI he was "curious" to hear whether Buffett still believes Berkshire should have a minimum of $30 billion in cash reserves, and what "the largest deal they could do today" would be.

Buffett's acolytes are also waiting impatiently to learn whether the legendary bargain hunter capitalized on the recent stock plunge.

"Has Berkshire been investing its cash after the sharp market decline in April?" asked David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland and longtime Buffett blogger.

Signature stocks

Berkshire sold 67% of its biggest stock position, Apple, in the first nine months of 2024. But it left the remaining 300 million shares intact in the fourth quarter, even though the iPhone maker's stock traded higher than it did earlier in the year.

That raises a roughly "$60 billion question of why not sell the whole position?" Mead told BI. "It's a bit perplexing."

Darren Pollock, a portfolio manager at Cheviot Value Management, also queried the remaining Apple stake. The stock is down around 12.5% year-to-date.

"He's Warren Buffett, he obviously has a thoughtful rationale, and I'd love to hear it," Pollock told BI.

Berkshire businesses

Buffett often sheds light on Berkshire's myriad subsidiaries during his annual Q&A.

"I always enjoy the color provided on the key businesses," Paul Lountzis, the president of Lountzis Asset Management, told BI. He reeled off Geico, the overall insurance division, the BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, and Berkshire's manufacturing and retailing segments.

Several followers said they hoped Buffett would compare Geico, the revitalized auto insurer, to its archrival Progressive on profitability, market share, and underwriting expenses.

Mead said he wanted to know why Berkshire valued energy giant BHE below $50 billion in a deal last year to buy a minority interest from his late friend Walter Scott's estate, despite valuing it closer to $90 billion when Berkshire purchased non-insurance chief Greg Abel's stake in 2022.

"Is BHE really worth that much less today compared to then, or was that a quirk in the purchase agreement with the Scott estate?" Mead asked.

Winding down

At 94, Buffett has been detailing his estate planning and championing his planned successor, Abel, in his recent letters to shareholders. Kass told BI he'd like to know whether Buffett plans to resign as CEO in the near future.

Others said they were hungry for insights into how Abel would run the company.

Lawrence Cunningham, the author of numerous books about Berkshire and the director of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center on Corporate Governance, told BI he wanted to hear from Abel, "particularly his vision for Berkshire's future and how he plans to uphold the company's core values and strategic direction."

Luke Rahbari, the CEO of Equity Armor Investments, told BI he was eager for Abel to elaborate on how he'll "approach capital allocation, including stock picking and acquisitions, and how might his leadership style differ from Buffett's?"

Morris referred to how Buffett urged the US government in his latest shareholder letter to use Berkshire's record tax payment to help the less fortunate.

"Relative to current US policies, what does Warren believe would be the most effective additional way to take care of the people who got the short straws?" he asked.

Brett Gardner, an analyst and the author of the recently released "Buffett's Early Investments," told BI he's crossing his fingers that the Berkshire chief will be asked about some of his findings: such as whether an early bet, Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, was an "inspiration for Berkshire," and details on how Buffett analyzed the corporate governance risks attached to buying 5% of Disney in 1966.

"Selfishly, I am hoping he gets some questions on my book!" Gardner added.

Brian Gongol, a Buffett superfan who's been a shareholder since 2007, told BI his question was inspired by Buffett's oft-repeated advice: "Invest in yourself."

"I'd like to know what he thinks was Berkshire's best reinvestment in itself, whether it took place this past year or simply bore fruit in the last year," he said.

• Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway will host its famous meeting this weekend.
• The colorful event, featuring a long Q&A with the investor, has been dubbed "Woodstock for capitalists."
• BI spoke to seven Berkshire gurus about why they're attending this year.

Tens of thousands of investors, from hedge fund managers and tech executives to students and retirees, will soon descend on Omaha to hear from the patron saint of level-headed investing.

Warren Buffett, 94, is riding high after cashing in $158 billion of stocks over the last two years, before President Donald Trump's tariffs tanked the market.

Berkshire Hathaway's billionaire CEO rarely speaks publicly, but on Saturday, he will answer questions onstage for nearly five hours — the high point of his conglomerate's annual shareholder meeting.

"Woodstock for capitalists" sees attendees immerse themselves in all things Buffett for one weekend a year. Many of Berkshire's businesses offer cut-price goods at a two-day shopping event. There's also a picnic and 5K run.

Omaha's hotels, bars, stores, and restaurants fill with subscribers to Buffett's philosophy of seeking bargains, owning for the long run, and remaining calm when others panic. They forge relationships with fellow tribe members, trade stock tips and investing stories, and debate Berkshire's latest moves.

It might sound like an investing conference, but devoted attendees told Business Insider it was a "pilgrimage," a "celebration," and a "blessing."

"The gathering offers a unique blend of wisdom, camaraderie, and tradition," Lawrence Cunningham, the author of several books about Berkshire and the director of the University of Delaware's Weinberg Center on Corporate Governance, told BI.

Cunningham said the meeting is far more than an investor retreat; it's a "pilgrimage where shareholders connect, learn, and celebrate shared values of integrity, learning, and community."

David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland who's been attending the meeting for 20 years, told BI he's going for the "excitement of being in the same room" as Buffett and 40,000 other investors.

"I will also be renewing friendships with several value investors and meeting other investors for the first time," he said.

Paul Lountzis, the president of Lountzis Asset Management, told BI he began attending the meeting after joining the storied Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb in 1991, and has now gone more than 30 times. He's returning with his two sons this year to see Buffett impart his knowledge and to reunite with friends, join meetings, and enjoy the city.

"We are just so happy to see him given how much he has impacted our lives," Lountzis said, adding that the chance to see Buffett was "first and foremost a blessing."

Holding court

Buffett's Q&A is the weekend's main event. The living legend dispenses wit and wisdom to a packed stadium about investing, business, government, economics, psychology, history, and life.

The Berkshire boss and his lieutenants will field a mix of questions curated by CNBC's Becky Quick and posed by audience members.

Steven Check, the CEO of Check Capital Management, who's been showing up for three decades, told BI it's a "wonderful chance to get your bearings realigned," calling Buffett "the leader of rational thought."

Check hailed the investing legend as "America's business leader" but noted he rarely gives interviews anymore, so the meeting "has become about the only time during the year to hear directly from Buffett."

"Upon leaving, you always have a good feeling that things will be just fine, no matter what is going on," he added.

Cunningham said Buffett's "ability to expound on a wide range of subjects with clarity and humor" is a core part of his appeal to many acolytes.

This year's meeting will be only the second since Buffett's right-hand man, Charlie Munger, died at 99 in November 2023. Buffett's folksy humor and colorful anecdotes combined with Munger's blunt manner and scathing judgments to create a remarkable double act for corporate America.

Buffett will be accompanied this year by his planned successor, Greg Abel, who heads Berkshire's non-insurance businesses. Berkshire's insurance chief, Ajit Jain, will also join the first session of the day.

When asked why he was going, Brett Gardner, an analyst and author of "Buffett's Early Investments," said he simply wanted "to hear from Warren Buffett!"

"I am in awe of his investment record and how he created a trillion-dollar company built on integrity, trust, and his (and Charlie Munger's) genius. It's an incredible creation, and I view the meeting as a celebration of what he's accomplished," he added.

Brian Gongol, a Buffett superfan and shareholder since 2007, told BI that he thinks of the investor as an "intellectual grandfather" whose teachings have made him money and helped him to build a college fund for his kids and nest eggs for loved ones.

"The least I can do to say 'thanks' is to show up when I know how much shareholder attendance at the meeting means to him," Gongol said.

Bargain hunters unite

Gongol is a particular devotee of another big draw: a two-day shopping event in the venue's exhibition hall where about two dozen of the conglomerate's subsidiaries, including See's Candies, Pampered Chef, and Squishmallows-owner Jazwares, showcase their wares at discounted prices for shareholders.

Gongol said he's attended so many meetings that Berkshire merch makes up a "meaningful share" of his wardrobe, rivaling his Chicago Cubs gear and college sweatshirts.

Preparing for departure

In his February letter to shareholders, Buffett mentioned using a cane, emphasized that his time as CEO is nearing an end, and championed Abel as a worthy replacement. Those comments have stoked fresh intrigue that he might announce his retirement at this year's meeting.

Alex Morris, the author of "Buffett and Munger Unscripted" and the founder of investment research service TSOH, told BI the meeting was a chance to "see Warren share his wisdom with the investment community, potentially for the last time," and to reconnect with other investors who "worship at the altar of value investing."

"It is a unique weekend with no parallel in corporate America," he added.

Buffett's advanced age and whispers he could step down have stoked intense interest in one of the last, precious chances to watch, listen, and learn from him in person.

The nonagenarian is all too aware of his mortality. "I not only hope that you come next year, but I hope I come next year," he quipped at the end of last year's gathering.

"I hope it is not Mr. Buffett's last meeting — don't want to think about that," Lountzis said.