Over the years, Smith estimates she has probably attended about 20 annual meetings — often bringing a friend.
“I really like to listen to Warren Buffett — particularly this year with everything that has happened,” Smith said.
Buffett has long said he has no plans to retire because he enjoys figuring out where to invest Berkshire’s money too much. He plans to continue working until he dies or becomes incapacitated. But he remains in good health even though he does use a cane, and he shortened the meeting’s question and answer period this year by a couple of hours.
“I think even if he dies, these businesses will retain their value,” Smith said while looking around the 200,000-square-foot exhibit hall filled with booths from Berkshire companies like BNSF railroad, Geico insurance, Pilot truck stops, Duracell batteries and many others. “I anticipate my stock going down for a while but good businesses and good people will come back,” she said.
But Smith and thousands of others will definitely miss hearing Buffett’s voice of reason after he is gone. Buffett has now been leading Berkshire for 60 years.
Buffett has said that Vice Chairman Greg Abel, who already oversees all of Berkshire’s non-insurance businesses, will take over as CEO when he is gone.
Shareholders like Steven Check, who runs Check Capital Management, aren’t especially worried about succession because Abel is proven and Berkshire’s businesses largely run themselves. Buffett has said that Abel might even be a more hands-on manager than he is and get more out of Berkshire’s companies.
“I think we’ll get a more hands-on manager and that could be that a good thing,” Check said. But he said Abel also knows that those managers enjoy the freedom to run their businesses and Abel isn’t going to do anything to turn them off.