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Warren Buffett prompts laughter, revealing advice he gave himself at Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting
Warren Buffett on Saturday discussed his retirement plans with Berkshire Hathaway stockholders and ended the meeting with several humorous comments.
As Warren Buffett is all set to turn 94 this August, the Chairperson of Berkshire on Saturday discussed his retirement plans with Berkshire Hathaway stockholders and ended the meeting with several humorous comments.
During the conversation, he recalled his late friend Charlie Munger, whose death brought several questions about his succession. Munger, who was also the business partner of Buffett, helped build Berkshire into a $900 billion conglomerate.
“We’ll see how the next management plays the game out at Berkshire, [but] fortunately you don’t have too long to wait on that,” the Oracle of Omaha said, according to CNBC, adding that “I feel fine, but I know a little about actuarial tables.”
He provided more insight on Berkshire's future leadership structure, disclosing that Greg Abel will have the ultimate say on the conglomerate's investment decisions.
"I would leave the capital allocation to Greg and he understands businesses extremely well," Buffett told reporters on Saturday. "If you understand businesses, you'll understand common stocks."
Abel, in response, told investors that there will be no change in the culture of Berkshire while recruiting new employees in the future. “I think we have a very special company at Berkshire. And that’s not going to change.”
During the question-and-answer session, Buffett mistakenly referred to Abel as the late business titan Munger, which drew laughs from the audience. "I'm so used to that," Buffett acknowledged, admitting that he'd probably "slip again". However, Abel replied saying, "It's a great honour."
Also Read: Boy asks Warren Buffett what he would do if he had another day with Charlie Munger
Warren Buffett reveals advice he gave himself as he wraps 2024 meeting
Concluding his 2024 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Buffett showed a “Shut up” as he said, “Just in case, you know my advice to myself would be…has been during this period.”
“So we only got, 30, what, 33 questions or whatever. Thank you very very much for coming. And I not only hope that you come next year, but I hope I come next year,” he quipped, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Netizens react to Buffett's wittiness
Reacting to a video posted on X by CNBC, in which Buffett can be heard making his concluding remarks at the meeting, one of the X users wrote: “Classic Buffett, dude's got a sense of humor sharper than the suits in that room.”
“Vibrant Buffett At Its Wittiest Best..! Love Listening- Watching Him Anytime.!” another commented.
A third user wrote, “Age does not seem to be an issue,” while the fourth one added, “It's apt for anyone at any annual event.”
“You got to love this guy,” one more X user chimed in.
