What to expect at Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting
The annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting kicks off this weekend in Omaha, Neb. Thousands of the conglomerate’s shareholders will make the sojourn to the Cornhusker State, where they are expected to discuss the company’s succession plan and future capital allocation.
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett, chairman and chief executive of the company, will take questions during the meeting .
In an interview with Fox Business Network, Buffett said the Berkshire Hathaway board has an undisclosed list of potential successors should he die.
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“There’s no one more concerned about the successor than I,” he told the network. “We spend more time at the board meeting talking about that. If something happens to me tonight ... and my heart gives out, the board tomorrow morning will have somebody.”
He has said he has no plans to retire.
Who his successor may be is unknown, but he offered a signal about the person’s gender: “I’ve used the pronoun ‘he’ and it’s a he -- he will be very good. Maybe 10 years or 15 years from now it will be a she. I hope it is.”
Buffett on Thursday wrote in an essay for Fortune Magazine that women are they key to America’s economic prosperity.
Buffett challenged male executives to think about how women can boost productivity.
“So, my fellow males, what’s in this for us?” he wrote. “If obvious benefits flow from helping the male component of the workforce achieve its potential, why in the world wouldn’t you want to include its counterpart?”
Among topics he is expected to address is the growing size of Berkshire Hathaway, which in recent months has made large acquisitions of newspapers and joined in a $28-billion takeover of Heinz Corp. with 3G Capital.
The conglomerate has more than 80 subsidiaries across several industries: railroad, insurance and utilities to name a few.
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ricardo.lopez@latimes.com
