On the eve of Berkshire Hathaway shareholders' meeting, Buffett suddenly encountered a "forced palace". On April 19, local time, the California Civil Service Retirement Fund, the largest state public pension fund in the United States, revealed that it would vote to remove Warren Buffett as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

However, the share price of Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares does not seem to have been affected by the fact that the stock god has been forced into the palace. On the contrary, the share price rose nearly 0.5% in intraday trading yesterday, but later turned green and finally closed down 0.07%. As of the latest close, Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares have reached $522900 a share, and Berkshire's total market capitalization has exceeded $770.6 billion (4.9384 trillion yuan).

Currently, the California Civil Service Retirement Fund holds more than $450 billion (2.8869 trillion yuan) in total assets, including about $2.3 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares.

Another focus for investors was Berkshire's shareholders' meeting on April 30. At that time, Buffett may give a retirement schedule and finally identify the future leader of Berkshire Hathaway.

Since 2022, Buffett seems to have become more "excited" about mergers and acquisitions and made large bets in a row. Berkshire had $144 billion (920 billion yuan) in cash on its books by the end of 2021, and its future investment plans have attracted a lot of attention.

Buffett was "forced into the palace"?

On April 19th, the California Civil Service Retirement Fund (CalPERS) revealed that it had decided to vote to dismiss Warren. Buffett's position as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway.

The proposal to dismiss Mr Buffett as chairman was put forward by the National Center for Law and Policy (National Legal and Policy Center), another Berkshire institutional shareholder. The agency believes that Berkshire Hathaway should be an independent chairman because Buffett serves as both chairman and CEO, weakening the company's governance structure.

The sudden market attention in support of California civil service pension may have something to do with the background of the fund.

According to data, the California Civil Service Retirement Fund was established in 1932 and has developed into the largest civil service pension fund in the United States, managing pension funds for California government employees, public school employees and federal employees. The fund has benefited more than 1.65 million people.

Currently, the California Civil Service Retirement Fund holds more than $450 billion (2.8869 trillion yuan) in total assets, including about $2.3 billion in Berkshire Hathaway shares.

In fact, Berkshire's board has made it clear that Buffett's chairman has been dismissed. In March, Berkshire's board made it clear that Buffett should also be chairman as long as Buffett remains the company's CEO.

In addition, the board added that in accordance with Buffett's proposal, after he leaves the CEO, another director will serve as chairman, and the two most important positions will no longer be held by one person at the same time.

Buffett has been Berkshire's CEO since 1965 and became chairman of the company in 1970 and has served concurrently ever since.

At present, two important institutional shareholders have simultaneously advised Buffett to step down as chairman, complicating the proposal again.

But judging from Berkshire's shareholding structure, the proposal is also hard to pass. So far, the California civil service pension fund owns less than 1%, while Buffett alone owns 16% of Berkshire and controls 32% of the voting rights. According to past practice, almost all shareholder proposals opposed by the board of directors are rejected by the general meeting of shareholders.

Some analysts pointed out that before Buffett retired voluntarily, Buffett held the position of chairman and CEO of Berkshire, which was very necessary for the management of the company and the stability of the investment portfolio. Once he leaves office, it may cause unnecessary trouble.

The retirement plan is about to be announced?

Another reason for the heated discussion about the "removal" of Buffett as chairman may have something to do with Buffett's retirement plan.

On April 30 this year, Berkshire's shareholders' meeting will be held offline in Omaha, Nebraska. At that time, Buffett's retirement plan will inevitably become one of the topics of concern to all shareholders.

Although he is 91 years old, Buffett is still passionate about work and investment.

In an exclusive interview on April 14, Buffett said it was "the most interesting job in the world" to get up before 7am every morning to watch the news and then arrive at Berkshire Hathaway's headquarters before the stock market opened.

But in this interview, Buffett also admitted that age has begun to have some impact on him, occasionally "forget the name, unable to read as fast as before."

As a result, some Wall Street analysts speculated that at this year's shareholder meeting, Buffett may give a retirement timetable and finally identify Berkshire's future successor.

With regard to successors, Buffett has said that directors have agreed that Greg Abel, vice chairman of Berkshire's non-insurance business, will take over as CEO of the company when he leaves office.

According to public reports, Abel has a wealth of experience in mergers and acquisitions and achieved excellent results, but unlike Buffett and Charlie Munger, Abel is introverted, modest and does not like to stand in the spotlight.

Separately, according to Reuters, Berkshire plans to have Buffett's son, Howard Buffett, as non-executive chairman after Buffett leaves office.

Buffett is "buying".

Since 2022, global capital markets have continued to encounter "black swan" events, increasing the risk of volatility, but Berkshire, at the helm of Warren Buffett, remains sound.

Berkshire Hathaway class A shares hit an all-time high of $544400 a share on March 29th. By the latest close, Berkshire had risen more than 16% in 2022. Berkshire's total market capitalization has exceeded $770.6 billion (about 4.9384 trillion yuan).

Benefiting from the contrarian rise in Berkshire's share price, Buffett has become one of the few super-rich people in the world to achieve positive wealth growth this year. Buffett is now worth $124.2 billion, surpassing Zuckerberg to become the fifth richest person in the world, according to the Forbes real-time rich list.

It is worth mentioning that since 2022, Buffett has become more and more "excited" about mergers and acquisitions and buying, making large bets in succession.

Since the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Buffett has continued to "bet" on oil stocks and is very determined to increase his positions in Western oil companies. Since March, Buffett has spent a total of $5.6 billion (about 35.6 billion yuan) to increase his position in Western Oil. A total of 136.4 million shares.

In a subsequent interview, Buffett revealed the reasons for his investment in Western Oil. On February 25, he carefully read the full minutes of Western Oil's fourth-quarter earnings meeting and decided to increase his stake in the company. because Western Oil is doing the right thing.

Driven by soaring international oil prices and Buffett's sweep of goods, the share prices of western oil companies have soared, rising by more than 107% in 2022. The latest closing price has exceeded $60, and the total market capitalization has risen to $56.2 billion.

Soon after, Buffett stepped in again, planning to buy insurance company Alleghany. Berkshire announced on march 21st that it would buy insurer Alleghany in cash for $11.6 billion or $848.02 a share, a premium of 25.3 per cent to its share price at the time.

If all goes well, the deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of this year, when Alleghany will become an independent subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway and will be Berkshire's largest acquisition since 2016.

Subsequently, Buffett is rare to buy established technology stocks-Hewlett-Packard.Berkshire bought HP shares in the secondary market four times in a row from April 4 to 6, with a cumulative total of 11 million shares at a price of $34.88 to $36.43 per share, or about $320 million, according to data disclosed by the Securities Regulatory Commission. So far, Berkshire has accumulated 121 million shares in hp, with a corresponding stake of 11.4%, with a market capitalization of $4.79 billion (30.7 billion yuan) at the latest closing price.

A series of actions by Mr Buffett this year have sparked heated debate in the investment community because he has not made any bets and made few big acquisitions in the past six years.

In fact, in February, Buffett complained about the lack of attractive investment in the market. In his letter to shareholders, he said bluntly that there was nothing exciting.

By the end of 2021, Berkshire's balance sheet had $144 billion (920 billion yuan) in cash and cash equivalents.

However, after the outbreak of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Buffett suddenly became "excited". Some comments said that Buffett's return to the market seemed to send a signal to people that he could buy stocks under uncertainties such as geopolitics, economics and interest rates. can be in a comfortable position to buy long-term optimistic assets, but also a real vote of confidence in the economy.

It is believed that at the upcoming Berkshire shareholders' meeting, Buffett will give a more detailed response to the change in investment style so far this year, and investors may be more looking forward to his investment prospects and plans for the future.