Last Updated on May 4, 2010 at 9:00 am

Approximately 37,000 shareholders attended the 2010 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting on Saturday, May 1.  Although we did not attend the meeting and cannot provide firsthand accounts of the events, there are many excellent resources available for shareholders who cannot attend.  While this is no substitute for a webcast, there is plenty of information available.  Check back throughout the weekend since the listing will be updated frequently.

Background Information and Analysis

Read The Rational Walk’s Berkshire Hathaway 2010 Briefing Book. Are you interested in learning more about Berkshire Hathaway including estimates of the company’s intrinsic value?  Our report contains extensive analysis, background information on Berkshire’s diverse collection of subsidiaries, and an estimate of intrinsic value using three valuation methodologies.  Download a free sample today or purchase the full version at no risk with our seven day money back guarantee.

Selected Reader Comments:

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Berkshire Hathaway Provided Links

• Annual Meeting Information Sheet. Places to go and things to do during the weekend (pdf file).
• Visitor’s Guide. This is a pdf file version of the booklet shareholders receive along with meeting credentials.
• Borsheim’s Berkshire Annual Meeting website.  Borsheim’s provides a blog and links to items that can be purchased during the annual meeting weekend.
• Berkshire Hathaway 2010 Proxy Statement. Read all about Warren and Charlie’s pay packages, corporate governance issues, shareholdings of Directors, and more.
• Q1 2010 Earnings Preview Press Release. Saturday, May 1. Warren Buffett announced preliminary first quarter results at the annual meeting.  Berkshire had net earnings of $3.6 billion consisting of operating earnings of $2.2 billion and investment/derivatives gains of $1.4 billion.  Berkshire is expected to file quarterly results on form 10-Q with the SEC on Friday, May 7.

News Articles

The following links to news articles are listed in descending order with the most recent first.

• Warren Buffett puts India on his radar, to visit in March.  Monday, May 3. Via The Economic Times of India.
• New York Times DealBook Blog Coverage.  Monday, May 3. Extensive coverage from the New York Times on “Buffettpalooza 2010”.
• Buffett Keen to Stress the Value of Loyalty.  Monday, May 3. Financial Times recap of the meeting.
• Berkshire execs blame turmoil on faulty regulation.  Sunday, May 2. From Forbes:  “Our problem is that our commercial banks and our investment banks have been regulated with a combination of permissiveness and stupidity” — Charlie Munger.
• Buffett:  Bernanke Best Person to Run Fed. Sunday, May 2. From Reuters:  “There’s no one in the United States that I know of whom I would rather have running the Fed than Ben Bernanke,” Buffett said at a press conference.
• Berkshire:  In for the long haul. Sunday, May 2. Omaha World Herald coverage of the events that took place on Saturday at the annual meeting.
• Omaha World Herald Coverage of Annual Meetings Since 1980s.  Sunday, May 2. This is an interesting series of excepts from prior World Herald Coverage of annual meetings starting with the 1985 meeting where 250 attended at the Red Lion Inn.  Warren Buffett had yet to make the switch from Pepsi to Coca Cola.
• Berkshire Movie Highlights. Saturday, May 1. Missed the Berkshire movie?  The Wall Street Journal provides a summary of each of the clips that were shown.
• 50 Facts About Berkshire, Buffett. Saturday, May 1. Interesting compilation of trivia regarding Berkshire Hathaway and Warren Buffett, but not much new here for those who have read most of the Buffett books in circulation.
• “Ajit Jain Cannot Be Replaced” But Insurance Operations Will Last Beyond Jain. Saturday, May 1. The Wall Street Journal reports on Warren Buffett’s comments regarding Ajit Jain made in response to a shareholder question at the annual meeting.
• The Wall Street Journal’s “Live Blog” of the Meeting. Saturday, May 1. This is a frequently updated blog covering the question and answer session.
• Extensive Local Coverage From Omaha World Herald. Saturday, May 1. As usual, the Omaha World Herald has a special section with extensive coverage of the annual meeting.
• Buffett Defends Goldman. Saturday, May 1. Warren Buffett came to Goldman Sachs defense today at the annual meeting.  Read this coverage from The Wall Street Journal for more details.
• Berkshire Posts Profit of $3.6 billion in First Quarter via Wall Street Journal. Saturday, May 1. According to comments made by Warren Buffett at the annual meeting, Berkshire posted profits of $3.6 billion in the first quarter compared to a $1.5 billion loss a year earlier.  Operating profit was $2.2 billion.  Berkshire is expected to post the first quarter 10-Q on Friday, May 7.
• Warren Buffett Defends Goldman Sachs At Berkshire Shareholders Meeting. Saturday, May 1. Alex Crippen of CNBC’s Warren Buffett Watch column writes about Warren Buffett’s comments on Goldman Sachs.

Interviews and Videos

The following links involve  interesting interviews either in video or text format.  The videos are listed in descending order with the most recent first.

• Warren Buffett on CNBC:  Goldman Sachs, Derivatives, and the Economy. Monday, May 3. One hour CNBC interview regarding a variety of topics, many covered at the meeting or in prior interviews.
• Warren Buffett on CNBC:  Interview w/Becky Quick Morning of Meeting. Saturday, May 1. CNBC’s Becky Quick talks to Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett about Goldman Sachs, Berkshire Hathaway, the economy and his reservations about the financial reform proposal currently being debated in the Senate.
• Warren Buffett on Fox Business:  Big Upswing in Business Starting in March. Friday, April 30. In one of the first of many interviews leading up to the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, Warren Buffett discussed preparations for the meeting, anticipated attendance, and also comments on a big upswing in business at Berkshire subsidiaries starting in March.
• Charlie Munger on CNBC: Lehman’s Fuld Guilty of “megalomania”. Friday, April 30. Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charlie Munger rarely gives interviews, and when he does investors are wise to listen carefully.  In this CNBC interview with Becky Quick, Mr. Munger provides his general views regarding investment banking and says that Richard Fuld of Lehman Brothers was guilty of “megalomania” and “isolation”.  Mr. Munger also gives Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein an endorsement with the caveat that he believes the entire industry is engaged in practices that are “socially undesirable”.
• David Sokol on CNBC: Berkshire Doesn’t Want Special Treatment on Derivatives Regulation. In this CNBC interview, Becky Quick asks David Sokol about Berkshire’s views regarding proposals in Congress to retroactively require collateral on derivatives contracts.  Mr. Sokol emphasizes that Berkshire has not asked Congress for any special treatment and is not lobbying regarding how legislation should be shaped for future contracts.  However, he believes that retroactively modifying existing contracts may be unconstitutional and could be a “disaster” for the United States.  At the same time, he says that the impact on Berkshire itself should be a “non-issue”.
• Matthew Rose of Burlington Northern on PBS. Thursday, April 29. Susie Gharib interviewed Burlington Northern CEO Matthew Rose regarding the acquisition of Burlington Northern earlier this year and prospects for the economy in general and railroads in particular going forward.
• Warren Buffett’s ‘Steakhouse’ Argument Against Retroactive Derivatives Rules. Wednesday, April 28. For Warren Buffett, it’s a matter of simple fairness: “If the restaurant only gets paid for an 8-ounce steak, they don’t want to give you the 12-ounce one.”  Just as with steak, Mr. Buffett does not want the government modifying existing derivatives contracts to require collateral and thereby alter the underlying economics of the deals.

Twitter

Twitter is a good source of “real time” information for the annual meeting, particularly for those who might be in Omaha and want to keep up with events.  We recommend using Tweet Deck for your computer or mobile phone.  The hash tag #BRK2010 is being used by many individuals on Twitter to track meeting related posts.  You can filter on #BRK2010 using a tool such as Tweet Deck or run a search directly on Twitter’s site.

The following accounts are useful to follow on Twitter.  Please note that the many Twitter accounts claiming to be Warren Buffett or Charlie Munger are not considered to be authentic.

• @andrewrsorkin.  Andrew Ross Sorkin of The New York Times will be one of the journalists asking questions during the annual meeting.  He provides frequent Twitter updates.
• @beckyquickcnbc.  Becky Quick of CNBC is another journalist who will be asking questions at the annual meeting.
• @BettyInTheLoop.  Betty Liu of Bloomberg will be at the meeting interviewing Berkshire executives.
• @nfmtweets.  Nebraska Furniture Mart official Twitter account provides information on events and news related to the annual meeting.
• @borsheimsbrk.  Borsheim’s Jewelry official Twitter account.  Provides frequent tweets regarding events and news related to the annual meeting.
• @billgates.  It is not clear whether Bill Gates will tweet about the annual meeting but he will be attending and this account is verified to be legitimate.

Meeting Notes

The following links are to articles providing notes regarding the meeting.  This list should grow over the next several days and selected quotes also appear in many of the news articles listed above.

• The Inoculated Investor Meeting Notes. Tuesday, May 4. Excellent and comprehensive set of meeting notes from a respected value oriented investing blog.
• Peter Boodell’s Meeting Notes. Monday, May 3. By far, the best and most complete set of notes available for the meeting.  Now available free of charge.
• ValueHuntr’s Berkshire Meeting Notes. Monday, May 3. This is a good set of meeting notes from a reliable value investing blog.
• Thoughts on the 2010 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. Sunday, May 2. Meeting observations and notes from The Personal Finance Playbook blog.
• Dealbreaker Blog Meeting Observations. Sunday, May 2. A humorous account of the weekend festivities from a shareholder who may have taken the “Woodstock of Capitalism” theme a bit too literally …
• Alan Schram’s Notes. Sunday, May 2. Mr. Schram is Managing Partner of Wellcap Partners, a Los Angeles based hedge fund.  He provides a summary of various topics that were covered in this article published on the Huffington Post.

Other Links

• Peter Buffett on Inheritance. Thursday, April 29. Warren’s youngest son received $90,000 in Berkshire Hathaway stock at the age of 19.  Today, those shares would be worth $72 million, but Peter sold the stock long ago and has no regrets.  Read this excerpt from his book to find out why.