US billionaire Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, answered questions he received during the company’s first non-virtual annual meeting since 2019, which was held in a plaza in downtown Omaha, Nebraska, USA. He was also joined by Vice President Greg Appel, who was named CEO to succeed Buffett.
The meeting came after the company revealed that it had raised more than $51 billion in shares in the first quarter, including a larger stake in Chevron Corp., while at the moment it stopped repurchasing its shares.
Berkshire also announced that operating profit did not change much in the first quarter; Many companies have managed to increase revenue despite supply chain disruptions caused by the mutated Omicron strain of the Corona virus and the events in Ukraine.
In his annual letter to shareholders last February, Buffett lamented the lack of investment opportunities.
That prompted a shareholder to ask what had changed in March when Berkshire bought 14.6 percent of Occidental Petroleum and agreed to pay $11.6 billion to the insurance company Allegheny Corp.
Buffett responded by saying it was simple, explaining that he became interested in Occidental after reading an analyst’s report and Allegheny after a letter he received from its CEO.
“The markets go crazy, and sometimes Berkshire gets a chance to do something,” he said. Not because we are smart. I think we are wise. It is important to keep enough on hand.”
“We’ll always have a lot of money,” he added. “It’s like oxygen is there all the time, but if it disappears for a few minutes, it’s all over.” (Archyde.com)