To attend the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting very likely on most investors in the stock market bucket list. The event is often called the Woodstock of capitalists by those who have attended. It is a massive meeting that is held every year near the start of May in the city of Omaha, Nebraska. All of the companies that Berkshire Hathaway own have stands in a hall next to the main meeting auditorium. The meeting has grown to epic proportions these days with many tens of thousands attending.
I have owned Berkshire stock for many years, just the B class shares, A ones are well out of my league. I have always wanted to attend the meeting to be able to say that I attended in person once. Even with living in the UK, getting hold of a pass to the meeting is relatively simple. I sent a message to the broker that holds my portfolio saying that I would like to attend the Berkshire Annual meeting. They then contacted Berkshire on my behalf and some meeting credential badges arrive in the post several weeks before the event takes place.
With credentials to the meeting sorted out I moved onto getting there and finding a place to stay. These two are a bit harder to sort out, and it turns out to be quite expensive. I cannot fly directly into Omaha from the UK so I need to transfer at one the US hub airports. There are a few options to choose from but as I had never been to Chicago before that one seemed to best, so I could visit that city too.
There are many hotels in Omaha to choose from, but as I wasn’t on planning hiring a car just for the few days that I would be there I wanted one close to the meeting venue. In the end I chose to stay at the Courtyard Marriott, as it is within walking distance of the venue.
I arrived on the Friday morning before the actual meeting was scheduled to take place. The hotel is a short drive from the hotel, they will actually come and pick you up of you give them a call. The hotel looks like it was built in an old factory the room are large with some very very high ceilings in them.
As I already had my pass I didn’t need to queue to get one and I could go straight into the exhibition hall. Coming from the UK we don’t really have events like this. There are so many people and it is just so large. All of Berkshires subsidiary’s seem to have a booth there. From Sees Candy to BSNF railway. For me it was a very fun afternoon walking round. Getting to sit in expensive private jets or RVs. There is plenty of special event merchandise available to buy. I got a few goodies to remember my time here.
Next day I thought that got up what I thought was early enough to be near the front of the queue to get in. Boy how wrong I was about that. Even very early in the morning there were already thousands of people there. The queue was enormous, it snaked from the main doors round the side of the building and then round the back too.
One positive of having to join the queue so near the back of the building happened a little while later. A few big SUVs pulled up beside me and out pops a few massive men and Warren Buffet himself. What an amazing thing to be so close the man that all the people were here to see.
The queue does move quite fast even with the security checks that there are to get inside the building. There is no reserved seating except for a small section at the front for managers of subsidiary companies so you can wherever you like. But seats do fill up fast and there is actually not enough of them in the main hall so some have to sit in overflow rooms and watch a live video stream.
There are so many people inside the main hall. It is very impressive to believe that they are all here just to see Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger. There is always a fun little movie that is played to start the meeting. You have to be there in person to see the movie as it is never live-streamed to the world. They are funny little movies with famous people and Berkshire companies. The picture below is of the hall as people were leaving for the lunch break.
The main bulk of the day is given over questions to Buffet and Munger. The questions are from press, and also you can ask your own question if you are brave enough to stand up in front of everyone and ask it. Buffet will answer questions on any topic except for those that relate to what Berkshire is currently investing in.
Both Buffet and Munger are very impressive, especially when you take into account that they have no idea what questions are going to be asked of them. The can seem to pull dates and figures out of their minds with ease. It is nice to listen to people that have lived for so long, that have seen and done so much.
After four hours of questions lunch break is called. Time to stretch my legs and find something to eat. Finding something to eat it actually quite easy as most of the food places are open inside the stadium where the meeting is held. I decided to go with the lunch boxes that are also available. To get one of these you have to pay for a token and then walk over to and pick a box what what lunch you would like. I picked a ham one, and it was very nice. Plenty of food inside and very enjoyable.
After the lunch break its back into the hall to find your seats and then back to questions. There was another four hours or so of questions from the public then it was on to the official meeting. This is the meeting that they have to do by law, they vote on board members ect. It is actually quite funny to watch, there are lots of yes yes motion passed. The official part probably doesn’t last more than five minutes.
On the Sunday Berkshire put on a 5km running race. They are actually very well attended with all sorts of people. This was actually the first time I had ever done a 5km race. The race winds its way though the streets of Omaha, starting outside the meeting venue and ending next to the river.
I am very happy that I got the opportunity to attend one of these meetings in person. The atmosphere is amazing it is far better then watching the livestream from home. It is just a shame that it is a little expensive to visit for international people.
As to whether I would do it again. I think my answer would be yes if I had the spare money and time. I think that most people who are interested in investing would enjoy doing it at least once.
Getting there
Getting to the meeting for international people is a bit tricky. There are no direct flights to Omaha from the UK so you need to swap planes at one of the hubs in America. I fly into Chicago then fly to Omaha from there. The flight prices to Omaha are very high during the time the meeting is on, the planes are also extremely full too. To give an example it was cheeper for me to fly from the UK to Chicago that in was to fly from Chicago to Omaha.
Language
The language in the United States is English.
Currency
The US dollar is the currency used in the country.
Electricity
The electricity used in America is 120V. They actually use two types of plugs. A type plugs are with the two flat parallel pins. They type B plugs have the same pins as type A but also add a ground pin in between.
When to go
The Berkshire Annual meeting is roughly the same time each year. Either late April or early May. The actual day of the meeting is always on a Saturday. There is a shopping event the day before and the 5km race is on the Sunday after the meeting.
Helpfull websites
Meeting information – Info
British Airways – Flight to Chicago from UK
American Airlines – Flights from Chicago to Omaha