OMAHA â€" It’s time again for Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting at the CenturyLink Center here, where thousands of shareholders flock to listen to Warren E. Buffett’s latest thoughts on his company, the country and the world at large. The questions will begin at 9:30 A.M. Eastern and DealBook will have live reports throughout the day.
After the usual Berkshire pageantries, Mr. Buffett and his partner, Charles Munger, will take the stage to field hours of questions from shareholders, the press (including DealBook’s own Andrew Ross Sorkin) and analysts.
The 83-year-old Mr. Buffett is likely to again field questions about who will succeed him, with old and new names again being floated in the media. In the former camp: Ajit Jain, the head of Berkshire’s formidable reinsurance operations, and Matthew Rose, who ran Burlington Northern Santa Fe until last December, when he was promoted to executive chairman of the railroad.
In the latter camp is Greg Abel, the head of Berkshire Hathaway’s energy arm and the subject of a Bloomberg BusinessWeek profile this week.
Mr. Buffett will also likely face queries on any number of other topics. Among the most interesting may be his actions behind the scenes in getting Coca-Cola to reconsider a proposed executive compensation plan that has received criticism from shareholders.
The CenturyLink Center has just opened, and Berkshire Hathaway shareholders have already dashed for the prime seats. (It’s like Pamplona on the Plains.)
There’s about an hour and a half for shareholders to mingle and check out the cavernous exhibition hall, stocked full of wares from Berkshire-owned companies like Justin Brands and Dairy Queen.
Check out my Twitter feed, @m_delamerced, for snapshots of the exhibition hall and the event throughout the day.
