Source: Tencent Finance

At 22:15 p.m. on May 4, Beijing time, the annual Berkshire Shareholders' Meeting opened in the American town of Omaha.

At this year's Berkshire shareholders' meeting, business leaders such as Bill Gates and Apple CEO Tim Cook all appeared at the conference.

At the shareholders' meeting, Buffett discussed hot issues such as his late partner Munger, reducing Apple holdings, the impact of AI, cash reserves, successors, and investing in BYD. Tencent Finance conducted a live online live broadcast in Chinese. The following is a full transcript of this shareholders' meeting:

Buffett interprets first-quarter Berkshire earnings

WARREN BUFFETT: Now that's the first projection you see, this is the first quarter report. The current operation of Berkshire and all operating income are also some of the results obtained during operation. There is also the integration obtained after our market turmoil, and there are other changes in the middle. For example, the first quarter saw everything we had, which was also better than the average quarter. Mr. Jain wants me to tell you today that when he talks about insurance calculations for the first quarter, it is not possible to analyze insurance accordingly. Of course, we have experienced corresponding storms all over the world, which will also affect our income. This is the first and most important reason right now. Maybe by our standards, the timing might not be right. In particular, what happened on the east coast is the first thing that I feel is the most dangerous thing that must be assessed. In addition, there is also an earthquake.

As for some of the results obtained in the first quarter, we can't say that it was the best quarter, but we can't say that it was the worst quarter. As far as the insurance industry is concerned, there are lucky times or times that cannot be considered at all. However, in the underwriting industry and insurance industry, we will definitely make further improvements. In every annual report, this return is particularly high, so in the report, we see that we have received fixed short-term investments and some changes in interest last year. These figures seem very impressive. I can tell you that we can invest more money now than before; this is a phenomenon now. Also, I think it's reasonable and can be predicted.

Let's take another look at railway earnings; I think its decline is still relatively moderate. Of course, we can't speculate right away. Sometimes, some benefits, such as seeing some actual changes now, or some situation that has occurred immediately. In terms of the railroad impact you've just mentioned, it still has potential revenue. For example, how many carriages did we install in the previous week, and the size of the car in the middle of the previous week may also change again. So every week, we'll have different earnings results. But let me tell you, these are still pretty average. These benefits are some of the numbers we're looking forward to. But our expectations are that we should make more money.

In particular, as I just mentioned, there are energy companies, and we have relatively good profits, but sometimes because the environment is affected, we have to indicate this in our annual report. For example, there were times when it rose last year, but when the final numbers were obtained, there were 11.2 billion dollars (note: US dollars, same below), which is still an increase over last year. We expect earnings to be very steady, rising year by year, and maintaining 37 billion dollars, compared to last year's earnings. I think this situation, which is Berkshire's goal, would also like everyone to be satisfied. Under economic goals, this is an example I just wanted to give, which can increase our operations. It's very simple, but it's something we've been trying to maintain.

We have some history like this, and I've mentioned examples of outbreaks before. At that time, we already had 24 billion, but with the outbreak of the epidemic, our numbers went from 27 billion to 30 billion, etc. The benefits mentioned are very interesting, but you also need to consider depreciation, amortization, taxes, etc. What I want to talk about is that Berkshire will have at least 100 million entries and exits every day, including weekends and holiday dates. All of these deployments are taking place. But we are responsible; for example, if you turn the page and read this number, you'll see why I'm explaining it this way.

Today I'm looking at all the shareholders' rights, and the date above is until March 31. By maintaining some of our current revenue, we are already trying to start controlling it accordingly, except for one day. For example, maybe it was 1968, when its dividend was probably only about 1 dime. If you remove that day, the other dates are already in very good condition at any time, and sometimes some of the things we did might go wrong. But I wanted to make some mistakes, and sometimes they weren't very painful. Probably at least five or six times, or a dozen times, in the past 57 or 58 years. No matter how we do it, I think the most important thing is to make big decisions, and sustainability can be our guiding principle now.

We have accumulated results of at least 571 billion dollars. Now we are talking about J.P. Morgan Chase. Of these, 327 billion dollars have now risen to 338 billion dollars in the current year, and their dividends are also very good. We can also see these returns on investment. And there are no signs of a retreat. So what is shown is what exactly we can do; it's not a miracle we're talking about. But with all your expenses saved, there is a group of really great shareholders, and a group of partners who are always looking to save us money and money, and we also let them do their jobs. That is, the group I just introduced, the David family, and their sons, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, who left us with a lot of luck. This gave us great tools to keep us going. However, they don't live like a royal king or queen. They used to build these houses in New England, and they eat and drink just like normal people every day. I can tell you that you can see him as a group of people similar to me. Sometimes they go to other places and spend unbelievably necessary money. But I can tell you all that no one has missed anything in the past time. Also, there are some integrated results. On some of the long runways I've seen now, it's something I've always talked about later, and I'll hear them explain it again after lunch.

Our cash also has a share of about 182 billion in treasury bonds. It may rise to 200 billion by the end of this year, or reach 200 billion by the end of this quarter. We want to spend this money, but if we do, we need to find the right target. We hope the risk is small enough and the return is huge. The value of stocks has also increased slightly compared to when we bought them. We won't buy stocks in a big way. Since many companies don't sell for large amounts, they will also be careful enough when buying back stocks.

We get to the last slide. Looking at the situation over the past five years, we haven't been able to issue as many shares as other companies. We have so many investors and we need to control the amount of shares in circulation. They wouldn't want to sell our stock, right? We probably don't pay attention to stock prices every day or every week. These people who follow stock prices every day just can't make money. Many times people buy our stock and put it there and don't even read much. This is the story of Berkshire's past. We will bring revenue growth to everyone over a long period of time. We also hope to reduce the number of tradable shares, see occasional investment opportunities, and have an appropriate high-quality position.

That's all for the background information for the first quarter. I handed over the microphone to Becky Quirk for the next question and answer session, and there would be alternating questions between Becky Quick and the audience.

Although Apple holdings continue to be reduced, they will hold Apple, Coca Cola, and American Express for a long time

Becky Quirk: Thanks Warren! There was some news this morning. Berkshire has sold another 125 million Apple shares, which is now Berkshire's heaviest stock. The 27-year-old shareholder of B-shares is from Malaysia. He said that last year you mentioned that Coca Cola and American Express are the two longest supporting companies in Berkshire, and you also mentioned that these businesses have brought good benefits to our shareholders. But you didn't include Apple among them, so do you think that judging from Apple's point of view, its appeal and investment appeal may have all declined compared to when it was invested back in 2016?

Warren Buffett: We still have a lot of Apple stock. I'd like to say that at the end of this year, Apple is likely to be the largest holder of common stock in our history. Charlie and I will both look at these common shares and equity. We think of it as a business, not just stocks. We also have shares of Ice and Snow Queen, and we also see it as a business. Coca Cola is also a company, and Express is also a company. We think of them as a business and as a company. We can buy great companies, but we can't buy all of them or more than 80% of their shares. But when we look at Apple, Express, and Coca Cola, we think of them as companies, but there are differences in tax, management, and other factors. But when we allocate capital, we look at every company, not just stock investments. Nor would we want to predict the market, nor would we try to select stocks alone.

I've been doing some wrong things over the years. I've been interested in buying stocks for a long time, and I think the stock market is full of charm. But what about the end? I've heard a wise investor's motto to me; it's just a few words. He was better than I said at the time, but that's roughly what he meant. He said that when you look at stocks, you should think of it as a company or a business. Sometimes, in these markets, you don't think of these markets as if they are bringing you returns, but rather how to serve your portfolio in the long term. So this quote inspired me at the time. Well, Charlie and I have always been thinking about this phrase when allocating assets. Our investment philosophy has actually changed over the years as capital has increased, and it has changed a lot. But the most basic principle is still there, Graham's philosophy. If you're just picking stocks, it's a waste of time; you need to put your money in a better place. Charlie gave me better advice to allocate my money to a more suitable place, which is why we have always had excellent businesses like American Express and Coca Cola, and Apple is even a better business or company.

We will still hold the shares of these three companies for a long time, and have had a lot of success in the past. The method is actually really simple, that is, we have to keep working hard. In the process of hard work, we have learned how to do mathematics and how to calculate. I think we, as investors, need to get our mentality right. When something happens, it may greatly change our capital allocation strategy. But in the case of Apple, it would still be a big long-term investment for us. However, in some current situations, I don't mind continuing to grow in cash holdings, and I'll see what alternatives are available in the stock market and equity market.

One thing that may surprise you is that almost everyone I know puts a lot of attention on how not to pay taxes. Of course, I think tax avoidance is reasonable. Although we don't mind paying taxes on the Berkshire side, we now pay taxes at the 21% federal rate. That's 35% on Apple's side; it used to reach 52%. The federal government owns part of our revenue, that is, part of our revenue must be handed over to the government. Moreover, with such a tax rate, they could change its percentage in any year. Well, the current tax rate is 21%. Because of the current fiscal policy, I think this tax rate is likely to increase in the future, and a high tax rate is likely to occur in the near future. The government will want to take a larger portion of Berkshire's revenue, and they may decide they don't want their fiscal deficit to be this big. We know they're spending a lot of money, and they're probably likely to take a bigger portion of a company as big as ours. But we will still pay taxes, and we also want Berkshire to contribute to federal taxation.

It's appropriate for us, for this country, because the country's economic development has brought generous development to our shareholders, and we are very lucky to be part of an American company. We paid over $5 billion in taxes to the US federal government last year, which also makes us very proud. I don't think any American company could be as strict on federal taxation as we are. Also, it doesn't include property tax or social security tax; I think these are all likely to appear in the future. I hope to continue to maintain this market capitalization of 800 billion dollars or more. Because of this market capitalization, paying large amounts of tax won't bother me too much. I want every company in the US to be like this. If I pay 21% tax this year, I won't mind if this tax rate rises again in the future.

BYD's investment is similar to its investment in Japan 5 years ago. This is a large investment that is rare outside of the US

Question: Hello Buffett, I'm from Hong Kong, China. I have my own investment company. We are learning from you, and I feel like this is a very precious opportunity. You previously invested in a BYD company, but now you have reduced your position. Do you think there will be any chance to invest in a Hong Kong or Chinese company later?

Warren Buffett: Our main investment targets are all located in the US, which we firmly believe. Look at some of the companies we have invested in in the US, including like Express and Coca Cola, that have global operations. They are what consumers around the world prioritize, such as drinks or payment methods. The world now has such a consensus that companies like Express and Coca Cola may not be able to find him in the world

I think this investment by BYD is quite similar to the promise we made in Japan five years ago. I think that kind of investment would be very convincing to us. We invested quickly and spent a year investing in five important Japanese trading companies. You probably won't see such a large investment outside of the US, especially given the current world economy. But I understand your questions, America's current role, and our strengths and weaknesses, all of which are known.

I feel that I can't fully understand today's global economy in any culture or other international or national culture. For example, some relatively small countries may not have such a strong economy, but they already have corresponding economies in this country. What I'm going to talk about now is that about half (50%) of the countries in the world may be able to produce more than 20% of the world's products, and it's very satisfying. However, I think the US is still the main focus, and investment in the US is the corresponding main direction now. At the same time, over the past few years, Charlie also told me about it. He often talks to me about these things, and sometimes when I give him suggestions, he says that this isn't great, but maybe this is the best idea you can come up with right now. Sometimes, he still gives me his consent. But Charlie often tells me that you have to think twice, so BYD is what we just talked about, and Costco. Looking back, he was still very active back then. But I should have been more active than him back then, but I wasn't. So for us, it was still a big deal at that time, and many companies considered it. Of course, I'm still aware of some of the situations that actually happen in most markets. But my idea is that for some huge promises or some kind of country, we don't have plans to do that right now, and of course it's not impossible. I feel quite satisfied with the position of investing in Japanese companies.

But you have to look at the overall situation; every place is different. We also need to be able to really take care of the money you invest; we have absolutely no way to tolerate some situations where you lose money. So at present, the US hopes it hasn't caused any major mistakes.

Berkshire's energy sector's business is disappointing. Investors are concerned about environmental changes and regulatory measures. How do they view Berkshire's investment in energy

Becky Quirk: We know that in the 2024 annual report, you've explained it now, but when it comes to the energy part, Berkshire probably disappointed us a bit, especially now that we're seeing this situation. So of course, our investors are worried about some changes in the current environment, as well as some regulatory measures. In this case, have we accepted the so-called utility model for electricity, and then we are moving in their direction? Also, we know that regulators in Utah have also enforced plans to buy energy, which means should we reconsider investing in energy before we retire? Or invest in some power plants? What I want to ask now is whether Berkshire's decisions at the Rocky Mountain Power Company and in some of the jurisdictions that are currently being made, Berkshire Energy in Utah can reduce future losses? Because some states have already begun to control electricity, or in public utilities.

Warren Buffett: I feel like some of the things that happened in Utah should be our move; in fact, they are fair. Their work still gave us some respectable rewards, because these things are still our own assets. If we talk about public electricity, in the 1930s Mr. George Moore was our senator, we also had some different experiences back then. I must point out whether a free economy, free competition, or a role they are playing now. Some privately owned power companies or public utility companies may operate more efficiently and better than those carried out by various states or countries. But we know what we're talking about now about public utilities or public electricity. There are probably many places in the middle where we have to start investing a lot of money, and we have to spend a lot of money on power companies. Sometimes private investors may not be able to do anything about these situations, so Berkshire's company is quite satisfied with the current participating parts and places in the country that are in high demand, and we will be rewarded. But the rate of return may not make us very rich; the rate of return in the middle is still sensitive. Of course, we wouldn't be working on this if we didn't get any return on our investment. It would be crazy if they actually did that. You'll see that some of the activities we've been doing for a few weeks, their cost, and some of the work in progress may all be related to the current changes in the environment. Of course, the cost of electricity or some public expenses today, especially vehicles or other supplies, is quite surprising. But I think we still have some funding, and we also have support for some major projects we have participated in. These are all very important actions in this country for us. I think we'll still do it, but we won't actually throw this money into the water.

It's not that kind to the current environment in Utah. I'm going to ask Greg to answer that now.

Greg Abell: I'm also very honored to be in this position today, when you mentioned the energy section in this letter. The challenges facing the industry today, I think, are due to the huge investments we have now. As for energy, there is also a part for more public utilities, and there are still many years in between that will have to be carried out continuously. I think in this place, you just mentioned that it must have been affected in other states of Judea. But looking at the demand at the bottom, in this state of electricity, utilities and the amount of money invested today, this is something that people think cannot be ignored, and it is also very remarkable. Referring to the situation in this letter, public utilities, such as Utah, are one example. Among these, it may become a future public power company, and maybe the state plans it as a state-owned company. Are we still investing heavily? At the same time, we are all very careful about public policies, and we are also very persistent. Also, we also have specific regulations that will make us feel worthy of encouragement. In particular, within 100 years, these public matters were in the US, public electricity in Iowa, and more than 20 different related regions. In particular, AI has now been developed and required accordingly, and will double in the future.

Over this period of time, I think doubling will definitely happen. We are now asking for larger investments in today's American community, as well as our shareholders, and these will function accordingly. If we talk about Nevada now, this is another example. We have two different utility projects there, and the route cannot be ignored in Nevada. After 2030, I think there will definitely be at least a billion changes in these required routes, as well as all of the requirements. The money that needs to be invested in the middle is also something that cannot be ignored.

As I mentioned earlier, the real growth rate in Utah has already surpassed about 10 billion dollars, so these growth rates have also begun to occur in corresponding places. But we talked about the rate of return. We just talked about how the wildfires occurred, and there were active discussions locally or in the corresponding regions, because this is a very serious matter, and the wildfires have also caused very significant losses. This is a very important situation in which we are talking and communicating with each other right now, and we must communicate properly. Wildfires have occurred, and they have also occurred in many places in the middle. Also, with regard to our claims, we learned last week that there are already over 30 billion dollars. Of course, this is not a very negligible situation that cannot be ignored.

The first thing is also the most important one. All of these are facing lawsuits or challenges related to the rule of law, because I think we all think we will continue to operate under the challenge in an unprecedented situation to resolve these current issues, especially in the Pacific region.

One more thing is how do we operate our assets in this situation? We have been working with the local state government for many years and have coordinated across all regions of the state government. The basic goal is to keep electricity flowing. Additionally, all the corresponding teams, as well as employees, are able to work at sunrise and sunset without any interruptions. At the time of the 2020 wildfires, we also knew that fire brigades and hospitals must respond and work in undisturbed situations. So first thing we have to do. At that time, we took a step back and thought that we must change some of our current culture in this area, and begin to comprehensively rethink electricity and utilities. We have to start really re-understanding some of the current state of all our assets. This is something we haven't experienced before, something we didn't know at all, so let's start with culture.

The second thing is to change the current operating system, that is, in the event of a fire, all power supplies can be turned off immediately, so that the system can directly carry out corresponding uninterrupted and uninterrupted restrictions, and not interfere with normal areas in areas where disasters have occurred.

The third thing, which is also very important, is that when it comes to investing, we must allow us to do something to reduce risk. But when you talk about Utah, and the Pacific region, these are some very challenging situations. When we respond to lawsuits and execute this company, we will also continue to maintain a certain amount of capital and profit in this company, and we also need to reinvest in these businesses. However, from a fundamental point of view, I think legislative and regulatory reforms are needed in the future. This must be carried out in all Pacific states, so that gradual capital investment can be used to contribute to these businesses. Because we don't want to simply throw money out and let this money go to waste, we need to have more discipline.

But now we are also seeing some opportunities, that is, the introduction of some methods of legislation and regulation. One of our best examples right now, and I think it should be the gold standard for the entire country, is in Utah. Warren mentioned Utah's investment was very reassuring. They certainly aren't on the Pacific coast, but they have some space and buffer. Their most recent legislation, Utah passed this bill, and they did a few very important things. The first is to set an upper limit on insured losses from non-economic wildfires. Let's take another look at the state of Oregon. Everyone heard that these insurances are not just financial losses, but these economic losses must be insured. However, despite some lawsuits in Oregon, non-financial losses related to wildfires are not covered by insurance. Utah, however, is very proactive in this regard. He said that he will set an upper limit on the insurance amount for these non-financial losses and return to this environment to see if there are any places where investments can be made. Gradually, they also set up a relatively large fund to support the Utah wildfires. The first is to help liquidity on the one hand, and to solve the problem on the other side. So in Utah, it's not just legislation; I think this should become our gold standard in this regard in the future.

As Berkshire Energy, this is important. Also, this is a problem on the side of Pacific Power. There is no way for the regulatory side to respond within this broad range. It has always been a concern for us, so I think Pacific Electric Power will also have some other opportunities to make improvements on this side. The same goes for Berkshire Energy.

Warren Buffett: In terms of equity investment, its returns have been realized over the years, especially in recent years. The return on this equity investment has been very rich throughout the US. So how much is your profit in percent? Sometimes, some states are bigger than others in terms of return. Whether you're bankrupt or profitable, we won't lose all the money our shareholders gave us in the first place. Of course, we hope to have some profit in the middle, but in terms of electricity, it certainly won't bring us such rich returns like some other businesses. Take a look at these tangible benefits, like Coca Cola, American Express, etc., or Apple, which are completely different. Utilities, and energy in particular, can only reap some very moderate returns at most. And now there's the threat of climate change, bringing us more wildfires, so these are some of the costs of doing business. But that doesn't mean we can't take some measures to mitigate the future threat of fires, such as policies that can let you cut electricity in the event of a fire. However, before that, trillions of dollars were still being invested in climate change. This can be done through the power of the public, or the power of private enterprises to help. We're definitely going to spend more than 100 billion dollars on this, but we can't just throw money in and let it go to waste.

Buffett: I don't know anything about artificial intelligence, but the impact of artificial intelligence on the world is comparable to that of an atomic bomb

Q: I'm from San Francisco. How much advantage do you think current advances in technology, especially generative AI, have compared to traditional industries?

Warren Buffett: I asked the Zone 4 question, and now I regret it; I should have asked the Zone 2 question. I don't know anything about AI artificial intelligence, but that doesn't mean this technology isn't important. I also mentioned last year that we've let the genie jump out of the bottle, especially when nuclear weapons were invented before, and now it's doing some bad things. The power of this “genie” scares me sometimes, and it can't be put back in the bottle anymore. I think AI might have some similarities, and it's already made it pop. Of course, it's very important, and it works a lot for many people. But we hope that such an elf can do good things in the future, but I have no way to evaluate it; in particular, I have no way to evaluate it at all. Like in World War II, when we had nuclear technology, and we invented the atomic bomb at the time, we thought it was very necessary to stop the war. For America, it can save lives in the long run. Moreover, Einstein also mentioned that if you do a nuclear test, you may end civilization, but the US finally decided to release this “elf” from the bottle. I think decisions like this will affect the next generation and the future, which is what we are seeing now.

To be honest, the development of AI still makes me a bit nervous, especially some recent developments. I sometimes have a picture like this in front of me, and I show up screaming at me in that picture. So what does that mean? There was a problem with me at the time, and no one saved me, so when you think about using this kind of technology in the future to defraud and recreate an image like this. For example, I'm also in the picture, and then I come to you and say I need money, that is, generative AI can do this kind of thing, and I suddenly appear in an image, making it difficult for you to discern the truth or falsehood, and say how much money I need. Fraud is always a common occurrence in the US, so if I had been interested in investing in the fraud market before, it would probably grow very fast. I think AI certainly has the potential to do good things, but I think the examples I just mentioned and some of the phenomena I've seen before may be a bit scary. Maybe even after seeing this picture, I can't tell if it's real or fake, and even send money to me who lied to me. So just like nuclear technology, I think this “genie” was released in a bottle, and I don't know anything about it. I think AI still has a lot of potential to do good or bad things; it can only let it happen naturally in the future.

Buffett defended Geico, the third-largest auto insurance company in the US, saying that its insurance cost is the lowest in the industry

Becky Quirk: If you have questions about insurance today, please ask them in the morning. A shareholder in Minneapolis had an interview like this in the past year. He said that Geico is better at branding and marketing. Now that Geico has a new strategic direction, will you still let them do it? Would that make them vulnerable? Berkshire's current CEO also mentioned that these business departments have been derailed. Can Ajit Jahn answer this question?

Ajit Jahn: Warren also mentioned in the past that some of Geico's shortcomings now is that when it comes to comparing insurance coverage rates and analysis, this ratio isn't very good. This has been the case with Geico for a few years, and we're still catching up. Moreover, technology is also a big bottleneck for us, but we are still making continuous progress. Also importantly, the employees we now hire are better at analyzing and pricing data than before. We are also taking steps now to close our gap, especially by the end of 2025, and we should be one of the best companies in the industry for data analysis. We still have a long way to go in terms of pricing and insurance.

Warren Buffett: I think in terms of rates, the ratio between rate and risk must be appropriate. Sometimes we may just risk losing a small amount of money, and other times we risk losing big money. We at Geico still have its advantage, that is, the cost of insurance is the lowest in the industry. We want to reduce this underwriting risk rate to less than 10%. This is not just a matter of survival; it is also about profit and profit. We didn't lose much of our insurance policies in March, and we also operate at a low cost, so I don't think this is a threat; it's not enough to pose a threat to survival now. There is no threat to profits, but over the long term, our growth is based on the best insurance industry models to continue delivering value to customers in a low-cost manner.

This company was founded in 1936, and the principles of routine have not changed for a long time. The insurance amount has always been lower than that of other competitors in the industry. This is our competitive advantage. Geico Insurance is also a very attractive business. Of course, with this slow progress at some costs, sometimes we still have to completely match today's risk ratio. When major incidents occur locally, I think we can do it gradually, but we still need to consider the risks at the time. At present, intensive work is already being carried out, and the evolution of what needs to be done is also being carried out. I think we should still be able to compare the insurance industry to other companies and still be profitable.

Buffett: I won't recommend stocks to my wife or kids

Question: I'm from Munich, Germany, and I'm from a very respected German company. We've just seen your wife and kids, and you've also suggested what is the highest value for them?

Warren Buffett: When it comes to advice on investing money, of course, it also depends on other things. I trust my kids and my wife, and I completely trust them, but that doesn't mean I would recommend that they buy any stocks. When it comes to managing your money, I think if you want to talk to me, I'm not necessarily the most ideal person to talk to in the world; that doesn't mean I don't refer to other people's opinions. Also, if I were doing it myself, of course I wouldn't be involved in such a job. Sometimes, of course, I talk to myself, and I do the same when investing. My kids have been getting smarter over the years, and of course so has my wife. Sometimes I listen to them talk about a lot of things, especially my daughter, who also lives nearby; she actually knows a lot more than I do. Sometimes I listen to what my wife says, and sometimes I overlook the details of what they say, but this is a very important matter.

If you live in the present or are concerned about the lives around you, you certainly can't be limited to yourself or the people you believe in. If that were the case, this life wouldn't be that interesting. Like my own true position, when I was 20, I trusted the people around me. But sometimes I find myself making mistakes. For example, I met Charlie back then and met him. I think everything is very important to me, especially when it comes to investing. Charlie has never lied to me in all these years that we've been running the business together, but only once. Also, he never talks about anything again, so he doesn't completely force me to do anything. Sure, he'll ask me to think about a lot of things, and he never lies. Of course, he sometimes makes minor mistakes when we eat dinner or send a team. Actually speaking, everyone in the room can hear it.

But from a partner's perspective, I have absolutely no way of coming up with any of the conversations I've had with Charlie that aren't important, so you're talking about the very important people you've mentioned, and of course that's what I'm suggesting.

How climate change is affecting Berkshire's insurance business

Becky Quirk: Changes in the environment have now played a very important role in the insurance industry. What kind of changes do you think are there in terms of expanding the risk business of insurance and all investments?

Ajit Jahn: I know that some changes in the environment and the increase in environmental risks are definitely playing a very important role now, and this is a very big topic. To solve these problems, especially the liability insurance we are talking about now, or some disaster insurance, etc., these are some of our most important topics. At the end of last year, we were already beginning to seize the opportunity to reprice and make some decisions accordingly, which is very important. This industry is also an industry of pricing. Some factors also make us start to think that every year when making this kind of thinking, we have to consider all the possibilities. Of course, when it comes to changing prices or some changes in the environment, how much will we increase, or should we consider it in a very scientific way? In addition to these prices, we all have to raise prices to maintain the status quo.

Also, regulators won't make our industry any easier, because there are many regulations. In the middle of these, when changing prices, we sometimes have to refer to more results. Insurance, in particular, also some insurance companies, and some changes in today's regulations. My point is, which company are you using for insurance today, and should you care about its return? Also, in the middle, this company must have a corresponding rate of return on allocating assets. You talked about asset allocation, and did every company start making money in the past few years? Of course not every company would do it. In our insurance industry, regardless of the current environment, or situations such as fires, storms, or floods, will all have an impact.

Warren Buffett: I think changes in the environment will actually increase our risk. This is certain, and everyone knows that. Also, in the end, can the business we consider become larger? Will we go bankrupt or lose more profits after a period of time? These are all things we need to consider. This was the case in one year, but not necessarily the next. I usually re-evaluate these results or do some more analysis from managers. I'm also considering reaching the Western region, and the typhoon disaster has begun. Aren't these some of the biggest risks? So do you know if some of the things we're going to do today can we do more? Also, in the case of this hurricane, what do you really know? What are the most needed, the best, or the bad ones. Also, has the extent and frequency of occurrence changed? This kind of thing probably happens once a year, so I have no way of telling you if something like this will happen in five or ten years.

Sometimes people don't have a mentality of so-called proximity related to our insurance. And some don't expand his knowledge either. Sometimes, we also get some letters from many people, and of course we have doubts about its IQ. But what we don't know is that you may have learned about the insurance business, but there is no way for you to fully believe that changes in today's environment will occur.

We don't mean that climate change is completely risk-free. We can do this in a certain year, or we can make some exceptions, but can this be the case in the future? Can these decisions be delayed for a bit longer? These are all considerations that must be made in terms of the future, or whether we can avoid certain things. What we're going to talk about now is that you have to analyze and do a thousand more things, understand some of the current water, or some other rainfall things, so this must be very smart.

Ajit Jahn: Today's climate change is the same as inflation.

Warren Buffett: That's right, now you mentioned Geico Insurance. We now have 7,500. The result was in 1950, and now the value of a car can reach 450,000, so now we have 2,000 dollars or an onslaught participating in the resolution on everything, whether in terms of technology or anything. In the past, you could do a lot of things for 4 yuan, but today's vehicles are very safe, but they are also getting more and more expensive when it's time to repair them. Also, there are some effects of inflation. When we talk about the 40 billion dollar business, it all happened from this situation. Whether 7 million recycling can be supported and operated is very good if there is no inflation, but Geico has no way not to consider some other factors.

How to evaluate investments in Canada

Question: Hi everyone, I'm from Ontario, Canada. At that time, my father introduced me to Berkshire stock, so for about the past 27 years, the job I had at that time had always changed. Some thoughts in Canada. My question is that the Canadian economy now has some topics in the middle, such as banks and stocks we talked about. My current thinking is in the 90s. If the rumor was true back then, if you said you were investing in McDonald's, I think people have been eating McDonald's and drinking Coca Cola for 90 years.

WARREN BUFFETT: Our gentleman is from Canada and probably answered better. But if you look at what I've eaten, you'll see how it is. I'll leave the time to Mr. Greg Abell.

Greg Abell: I'm very lucky to tell you that there are several projects operating in Canada, but the entire company's operation and investment in Canada is still acceptable. We are also looking at whether we can make a corresponding increase in investment in Canada, because this must be considered environmentally. We are very humble. We need to really understand the US environment and some of America's businesses. Of course, we also have the same considerations for Canada. You need to know that there are different businesses in Canada. Of course, there may also be quite a big difference between the US and Canada when operating. Also, in the energy sector, we have invested heavily in Alberta, Canada, and we are continuing to grow. I've seen it in the past few years too.

Warren Buffett: Yes, there are many big companies in Canada, just like in the US. But the Canada we see now, we saw a few years ago that if something were suggested, would we consider it? Whether it's big or not, and whether you're interested in it or not. If they all meet our standards, or if there's no risk of investing more money, whether in Canada or anywhere, we would do it. Canada can benefit from some of Berkshire's investments. We have investments, but they also have their own financial institutions, and they have their own problems. I remember the issues that came up there, sometimes like a snowball rolling bigger and bigger, and it wasn't even a fundamental issue. Once there was a problem on our side, we went over there and quickly solved the problem. At the time, the problem had reached the brink of collapse. I don't think in any way we feel that putting our money into the Canadian market makes us that comfortable.

They must meet our investment standards; of course, many countries other than Canada can't understand it. Canada has a very stable economy, although its economy is not as large as that of the United States. Overall, however, the economy is improving. I think that as we slowly figure things out, we will also gain confidence in operating in Canada.

Talk about the importance of the insurance business that Jahn is in charge of

Becky Quirk: Warren mentioned that he would prefer Agit Jahn to evaluate the insurance on the insurance side, which is more convenient than other insurers. I've been talking about Ajit Jain's influence on Berkshire for years, and even joked that you and Agit Jain only saved one person when a shipwreck; you let everyone save Ajit Jahn. Regarding Berkshire's future CEO, you didn't mention that Ajit Jahn will be his successor. There are so many insurance challenges in the future. What do you think of Ajit Jahn's heir?

Warren Buffett: It's really hard to find a successor to Ajit Jahn. Now Ajit Jahn is much younger than me, so we don't need to worry about him; you guys are better worried about my age. Indeed, it is impossible to find a second Ajit Jahn. He helped us build an excellent operation on the insurance side, or at least a large part of it was thanks to him. Without him, it would be difficult for a second person to replicate this current performance. Nor will I try to replicate the results he created for us; we have institutionalized some of our strengths, and Ajit is indispensable to them. His presence made us do all of this. The insurance business structure we have now created was completely unimaginable before he appeared in 1996. Insurance is really one of our most important business lines in Berkshire. Of course, investment is also important, but compared to the insurance business, they are completely incomparable. Without Agit, our insurance business really wouldn't be as good as it is today, so be sure to thank Agit.

When he arrived in 1986, we were already involved in the insurance industry. I bought Geico in the 50s, national insurance in 1957, and a range of other insurance companies. But Ajit came to my office on a Saturday, and he faced a lot of challenges in academia at the time. I told him that there are also many challenges on my side, and he told me that we now need to take some of the following measures in insurance, that is, one moment changed the future of the entire Berkshire insurance business, so thank him!

Ajit Jahn: Thank you Warren for your kind words, and thank you all for the applause. What do you think the truth is? No one is irreplaceable. For example, Apple CEO Cook is now below. He has also set a very good example for us. He has done a great job since succeeding Jobs. Having said that, our board of directors has also been watching the successors, not only Warren, but also on my side. Every year they ask questions, ask me questions, and let me share some of my thoughts with them. If I get hit by a truck, how does our insurance work? We have also gone through some cycles of operation, and we have slowly developed an image of future candidates in our minds. We will also slowly find a successor that gives me confidence in the future. Of course, this is an issue we all take very seriously. As Cook confirmed to us, I think that when the great people leave, the Earth will turn, everything will come to an end, and no one is irreplaceable.

Warren Buffett: We know what we're going to do, and that's probably the best answer. However, we really couldn't find a second Ajit. This is also true.

A child asked if Buffett had another chance to spend another day with Munger, what would he like to do?

Q: I think if you could spend another day with Charlie, what would you like to do with him?

WARREN BUFFETT: An interesting question. I think I do have one more day, but probably not a full day. The way we live is all about making ourselves as happy as possible. Charlie is very fond of studying, and I mentioned in the short video just now that he is interested in many things; his interests are much broader than mine. He's not like me, and I don't want to be like him, but the two of us have very similar interests. We do a lot of things together, play tennis, golf, and do many things together. The time we spent together was even more enjoyable than being alone. We still have to work and overcome difficulties together. So having a partner like Charlie to help us get out of all kinds of trouble together has really made me very happy over the past few decades. Moreover, many of the ideas he gave us ten years ago are still continuing to profit from us. He lived to be 99.9 years old, ah, think about it.

He also mentioned that apart from when he joined the military, he never went out to exercise on his own; he never thought about what he wanted to eat; he never thought that the camp he ate was not nutritious or healthy, but he was still 99.9 years old. Charlie has a wider range of interests than mine. When we were together, we never had doubts about each other.

If we spend another day together, it won't be much different from all the days before. Of course, I don't know when we'll leave, which is a great blessing. Charlie also keeps saying “I'm going to die soon, then don't go to my place”; he never said anything like this. Still curious, he went to so many places.

Not only is he interested in this world; I think the whole world is beginning to be curious about him. I think this is really an unparalleled thing. I've mentioned this in the past few years; I said I've never seen anyone live to the peak of their lives at age 99. At 99, the whole world wanted to find you.

There's no perfect answer to this question, but I'd say Charlie and I will spend the next day together in the same way as before. I asked Charlie questions about some of the books, and he always said I had read them. He usually goes to restaurants, but he also reads books. He really is an unrivaled, outstanding person, and he has met almost all the people he should have met.

This is a very interesting question. I think you should ask yourself a question, do you think anyone would like to spend the last day of your life with? If you think of someone like this, go meet him now, go find him tomorrow, and meet him often, so you don't have to wait until the last day of your life.

What new changes have been brought about in the insurance business in cybersecurity

Becky Quirk: This question comes from Switzerland. Now, with some changes in politics and more such as online attacks and pressure, all risks have increased as a result. What are your current thoughts on insurance for cybersecurity today? Or I'm talking about some of the many businesses I'm talking about, such as airports, power companies, ports, etc. What are your possibilities for the future?

Ajit Jahn: The cybersecurity insurance we're talking about now is probably a very trendy topic and product now. Moreover, as we have already mentioned, it has a market value of at least 10 billion dollars or more. But I think if I actually want insurance, at least 20% will increase the value of the insurance policy. Having said that, does Berkshire do this kind of cybersecurity insurance? We are very careful. For two reasons:

First, deepening understanding is very difficult. Some of today's quantum measures, or after damage has occurred once, it is very difficult to calculate this kind of loss. Also, at the operational level, are there any certification standards, and is there any calculation of future risks? This is huge.

Second, some of the costs of the losses you're talking about today are very difficult to calculate, and it's not necessarily a loss after an attack, and these losses may take a long time and have a long term impact. Perhaps this loss is not something that can be captured by investing 4 cents a dollar, or that it can be mitigated; it cannot be calculated this way. How to calculate today's actual losses, this is difficult to calculate. As far as the insurance I run now is concerned, many people probably want to be able to operate this situation, so when you want to write an insurance policy, you must understand how the insurance policy can calculate the rate. After having such an insurance mechanism, you won't actually lose too much money. Sometimes you make money; other times you lose a lot of money.

Today's trajectory, of course, everyone thinks this is a huge business, but my guess is that at some point it may suddenly plummet and suffer huge losses, because so many serious things will happen. This is my idea.

Warren Buffett: His ideas are broad. Right now, it's still worthless. Because you want to guarantee or secure something, to secure a certain transaction. The first problem is that back then, back in 1968, riots had occurred in various places. That was when JFK was in office. When it comes to any event, when you want to write an insurance policy, you must limit yourself to the scope of insurance policy intermediary insurance. But the problem now is, if this incident happened, for example, someone carried out a serious assassination in a certain city, and caused tens of thousands of businesses to have already been lost. But you've already written these insurance policies, because it's a one-off incident, how exactly can you remedy it? So now we're talking about cyber attacks, which may not necessarily be more serious than assassinations, or they may be more serious than cyber attacks.

Speaking of some of the values that can be calculated in terms of these risks, sometimes tens of millions of dollars can be lost at once. If I actually discovered this problem, I wrote a lot of insurance policies, but some incidents had a chain reaction. There may be a thousand insurances available today, but this is also linked to other events. Sometimes, you have to have a court make these decisions. Most people, I think they want to take out a so-called online insurance because they are looking for fashion. Of course, these insurance agents can also earn good commissions. But when you write an insurance policy, you must know that these people must fully understand the current accumulated risks when managing these policies? There's no way you can think of it one day.

Speaking of earthquakes today, earthquakes have already occurred in some places. Human disasters have also occurred. There are tens of millions or millions of limits, but some natural human disasters are what insurance companies now face, so now we are not really excited because of their fashion; everyone still needs to be very optimistic.

Why isn't Berkshire investing more in new energy

QUESTION: Please ask Mr. Buffett and Mr. Greg Abell. I'm a retiree from Las Vegas, NV. There are so many Latinos around, and there are many more people in our region. I can now represent almost all Latin Americans in Nevada. Some of us are already struggling to pay for Nevada's electricity. We are evaluating the affordability of electricity in Nevada and the availability of clean energy. Why doesn't Berkshire open a new gas plant or invest in natural gas in that location? If this is the case, since we have sunlight all the time in Nevada, are you seeing the future of energy and making other investments accordingly? Also, don't invest in some of the petrochemical investments we just mentioned, and make other new energy sources.

Greg Abell: This is a very serious issue. We've talked about energy before, but now it's also in a different realm. Solar energy is also a great opportunity for our energy, and it is also an enviable energy source. We will continue to use this resource, and there are other investment possibilities in Nevada.

But now we're talking about switching to different energy sources; it turns out we all use carbon energy. But now they are also starting to use renewable energy, and this transformation has been taking place for many years. When it comes to renewable energy, such as solar energy or wind energy, these are all currently being considered. Sometimes we need an integrated battery. However, there is no way to immediately convert at this point; that is, from using carbon as an energy source, to immediately switch to other renewable energy sources. But over the next two years, we will reduce the possibility of so-called thermal power generation, and this is already happening fast. We also need to know whether the current system is trustworthy and whether customers can use it accordingly under the current circumstances. We want to be able to better serve our customers every day, and provide corresponding services every minute and every second.

We have also used a corresponding percentage of wind energy. So every Earth Day, we also notice this. But if the wind goes away the next day, we'll have to have other natural gas resources or other gas plants to make up for the demand. These are some of the problems we're having in Nevada right now.

Of course, I'm telling you now that we will continue to make the corresponding conversion in Nevada, whether it's Nevada wind or other regional integrated batteries, etc. In some of the visions we have seen in the future, natural gas is also a very important resource, but we also need to consider the cost requirements of customer service, so thank you for your comments and questions today.

Warren Buffett: I think we have enough capital to do it, as long as we have reasonable considerations to make corresponding investments, but they must be sensitive. This is true in Nevada and all states. So I think every day when we invest, and in the various relevant committees, they also have different ideas. When it comes to public service, what things can be done and can actually meet our required standards are businesses that require decisions and are very complicated. If you're going to switch from one method to another, you have to see if this approach will have a significant impact, or if something like what I just suggested, can we actually do that? Maybe if you do this today, the problem will happen tomorrow. There is no transition period; the problem cannot happen every day. Our company needs to determine that every day has the possibility of lighting, and that they can get the hope of using the light. Of course, I've mentioned that fossils are the oldest resource, in terms of generating electricity. But we also mentioned that when it comes to storage, for example, it's also something we consider.

Greg Abell: Also, as I just mentioned batteries, batteries are now a relatively economical method. However, a battery may only have four hours of electricity. There are more economic challenges in the middle, that is, it also requires technological advancement, so in any case, we must seek its reliability and balance. Electricity costs are a very important consideration today. Being able to provide the most reliable and reliable electricity is our goal.

Warren Buffett: I think my friend Bill Gates has been working in this area, hoping to shorten the time it takes to provide electricity, and the battery's working time difference. However, I now understand that there are a lot of smart people working on these projects today. Sometimes, I don't know what the reason is in the middle, when to turn on the lights and when to turn them off. Also, our company has more assets to provide corresponding investments to implement, but some things must take some time before they can begin.

My daughter sometimes really hates some of the examples I've given. She said you can't get a woman pregnant or start having children in seconds. Maybe you've always wanted to have children, but you have to listen to God's wishes in the middle, so let's go ahead and ask questions.

Becky Quirk: This question comes from Florida. Can Warren and Agit let us know the solution to car insurance, that is, the feeling in Florida is out of control. Our residents have already discovered it. Does Berkshire have a better chance?

Agit Jahn: Over the past few years in Florida, insurance, home insurance, and car insurance have faced major twists and turns. Of course, there are also lawyers, and in the middle there seems to be some so-called collusion in Florida, which has led to a sharp increase in Florida's premiums. Also, there are some typhoons in Florida, and some other typhoon situations have become more frequent. Therefore, Florida's losses have also caused the insurance industry to lose money today. Having said that, we've also recently made some corresponding considerations in Florida, and there are more future ideas coming up here as well.

Florida is a very large market, and this market will complement other states accordingly. Over the long term, Florida's lawmakers have also passed a series of laws to lower Florida's rates. We hope that Florida's insurance industry will return to normal in the future. Because they are facing a bigger insurance risk crisis than other states, such as California and New York. It is true that Florida has its own problems; premiums will rise in the future, but in the end, a check and balance will be reached, so that risk takers can also get the profits they want.

What do we all need to hear most?

QUESTION: Thank you for being one of our great mentors and sharing your wisdom with us over the years. I was wondering if you could share with us today what do you think we all need to hear the most?

WARREN BUFFETT: What you should be asking is, what do we all want to hear? I'd like to say, if I had one suggestion here, you're very lucky. You live in the US because there are endless opportunities here that you can't find in many other countries around the world. I wanted to use some of Charlie Munger's previous suggestions, just like I was reading his eulogy. I want to tell you, first of all, do a good job in education and deal with the right people for your own personal situation. For me, I just want to find someone to help me find the right direction in life. Charlie would say it's like you're providing the same benefits to your partner. I think the greatest opportunities in America are truly limitless. If you go back a few centuries, if you were a shepherd 100 years ago, can you imagine that your granddaughter would also be a shepherd character? You can't even imagine what happened in the past 200 years. First, there was the industrial revolution, then huge advances in science, education, and medicine. We are really very lucky to be born in such an era.

Many of us here are also lucky enough to have been born in America. The world you live in is the best it has ever been. You also need to find activities you love to participate in, and find like-minded people to share the luck that the world is bringing you now. Charlie and I were like that; we found each other, we found common interests. If you can't find it now, keep looking.

I've also been telling my students that when you find a job you want, sometimes you can find a job like this very early, sometimes for a long time, but don't forget your original intention; you must do this. I think it's possible in the US, and you can also find people to share your life with. Sometimes you may have been on the right path a long time ago, but other times you have to make mistakes to get on the right path.

So I'd like to say that, in general, my advice to you is to try to review your life path, start on the path to this goal today, find the goal you want, and find people who share your interests. There may be some difficulties along this path. But as long as you have enough confidence and determination, you will reach the other side of success.

What do you think Buffett hasn't retired yet; the management of its subsidiaries is looking for Abel and Jahn to report jobs

Becky Quick: This question comes from Hamburg, Germany. How did Berkshire's CEO change after Agit and Greg Abell became chairmen? Some of our company CEOs still contact Buffett without having to go through these two vice presidents.

Warren Buffett: This answer may surprise you a bit, but I'd like to say that these executive directors can still contact me; of course I'd love to talk to Greg and Agit first. I think it's understandable that it has this kind of problem. But I want to say that now compared to 30 or 40 years ago, I can't do my executive work as efficiently as before, and I can't meet all the board managers, but I have Greg Abell and Assistant Ajit around me, so why are they looking for me? You can also find them.

The past operation was still very efficient and effective during the past period. It's hard for me to imagine having a more efficient working model for each other. Greg realized more clearly than I did for many years, the advice he gave them was invaluable, and he was always full of energy at work. Moreover, Ajit's wisdom is something no one can possess. He has enabled more people to enter the insurance industry and know how to do things. Previously, Agit helped us establish an insurance empire, and when Greg became the vice chairman, he also established a non-insurance empire. If there are many managers under his command, these people are also more willing to contribute to their own business. He is really effective at conveying news and information to us.

Of course, there are people, for example, who have 20 children, who are very rich, and have always been ambitious. Well, I'd like to say that we're a very wealthy company, and we've always been very strict about people within the company. Because of Charlie and I, we're doing a great job, and sometimes we don't know how to establish such a very efficient communication channel internally.

So I'd like to say that the number of calls I get from these managers every day is basically zero right now, and Greg is helping us deal with all of these inquiries and calls. I don't know how he did it, but I think we actually found the right person. On Agit's side, he probably doesn't really walk around much on his own, but everyone in the insurance industry is very used to cooperating with him for so many years. The change in their position will not change the nature of their work; he has always been in charge of our insurance business. If you ask him questions about insurance, there must be a lot more advice than the one I gave.

Ajit Jahn: For me, this leadership transition was really smooth. But some of this is due to Warren Buffett's actions. Many managers used to call Warren directly when the transition plan was announced. When the transition plan was announced, Warren was very skilled. He wouldn't directly answer these people's questions, but at the same time made them feel very happy and made them feel very honored that they contacted him. When these people get this kind of signal, they also respond. As far as today is concerned, there is no problem with everyone's transition.

Greg Abell: We have excellent managers here, whether in the insurance or non-insurance business, which makes our job very easy. This transition wasn't difficult; it was easy because they were very interested in Berkshire and our culture and they wanted to help the company achieve further success. This is true for managers in these insurance and non-insurance industries.

WARREN BUFFETT: Greg mentioned earlier that they do have more direction in some places, and I'll give them that too. I just sit there and read the Wall Street Journal. I feel like they work for more than 24 hours every day. I can't believe Greg can cover so many fields; he's really too knowledgeable than the average person. Of course, we have quite similar opinions when evaluating the attractiveness of investment decisions and targets. However, his workload is actually a lot heavier. I really can't handle so much work right now; I probably work two hours a day. I haven't read it as fast as I used to. But now, a transition like this is really effective. I think Berkshire can run very smoothly even without me. I can record my voice on a recorder. When people call, I can still play my voice out for others to listen to. But actually, these aren't things you can learn at your business school, but you can see this kind of phenomenon in Berkshire.

Will Berkshire find opportunities in the Indian market

Q: Thank you for hosting us here today. Your teachings have not only made us better investors, but more importantly, better people. I'm from New Jersey, and I started an index fund that focuses on India. My question is related to India. India's equity investment and economic growth have performed well in the past 5 to 20 years. It is now the 5th largest economy in the world, and will soon become the 3rd largest economy in the world in the next few years. My question is, is Berkshire very active in finding opportunities in India's equity market? What motivates you to make big investments in India?

WARREN BUFFETT: That's a great question. It is true that we are watching India. I believe India has plenty of opportunities. But my question is, do we have any advantage in the Indian perspective? Is it possible that this kind of investment of ours is something India wants us to actually participate in? I would say that if we feel energetic and can manage something, then Berkshire can also pursue it. But as far as our current fame is concerned, we all know about some of Berkshire's most famous situations in the world. For example, in terms of Japanese experience, this company was very surprising. Maybe there are opportunities in the middle that haven't been explored or noticed; of course, it's not up to me to explore these opportunities.

Maybe in the future, I feel that there may be more opportunities. Of course, there may already be opportunities now, but the question now is whether Berkshire has some situations where it really has an advantage, can pursue these opportunities, or actually implement these opportunities. In other words, what we can do in terms of asset management is worth doing.

Many people are participating in this environment. They are buying, making their own transactions, and sometimes have their own philosophies, but we also have some of our own theories. I think some people will get rich because of this. No matter what happens, maybe today's profit is determined by how much you invest or buy today. I want to take a look at how our next generation of management makes choices in this process?

Of course, Berkshire won't be waiting too long right now. Of course, I'm not really considering in too much detail how to actually conduct the review on the actual form. My idea is that for a few people in the company, it's up to them to decide what jobs they should do all over the world. But you're absolutely right. If you say you're energetic today, and there are ways to be a good buyer or participant, everyone is very willing to do business with you.

The investment in Japan is very good, and I think India might also have such an opportunity. But are Japan and India exactly the same? I don't know it myself, and I have no way to tell you the differences between them. Because culturally speaking, they are quite different, and I have no way of distinguishing between one country and another. So these are some of our Berkshire results so far; we have to look at the facts.

Berkshire's culture is about making sure to attract the best managers

Becky Quick: Berkshire is now continuing to grow accordingly. Also, today's “architect” Charlie Munger, you are a “general contractor” yourself, but we are grateful to both of you for your work. We are also constantly learning about all the work and culture Berkshire is doing today, hoping to guarantee the stability and solidity of the “building” we are investing in now. There are already a lot of jobs for architects and contractors today. Do you think Berkshire's contractors today must be renewed, or if new contractors are added again, what kind of impact do you think these changes will have, and what kind of situation will happen if new architects are added?

Warren Buffett: This is a great question. Charlie doesn't work for us anymore, but obviously I keep talking to Charlie about this. Berkshire is currently in its original state, and we are attracting about the same number of people as before. If our board of directors were to start finding a new chairman, or if some people were to retire at age 65, this is actually something that doesn't happen very often. If age is really a basis for retirement, then of course we will have to reconsider. If we now feel that today's work is difficult, and it's not the same as previous intellectual experiences, I just mentioned that we have to grow, so they have to make any decisions, and they have to make decisions frequently. This is what our managers must do.

So this is a very difficult job, in the existing system. We've mentioned now that if you're a manager and want good results, we don't have a perfect, perfect system for you to join our board of directors.

Today, all directors have learned this too. I wonder if the next 20 years will actually change the current board members. Of course, we will first seek suitable candidates in our own organization. Someone is very qualified and can maintain some of our current special advantages. We also hope that in the next 20 years, we will be able to do this as well. However, the possibility of these matters is still relatively low, so our current position is that there is no need to change directors in this way. If something happened to Greg today, someone said you shouldn't have two people on the same flight or whatever. I think these things are suggestions that people often say, that is, don't ride in the same car; cars are likely to get into a car accident, etc. I think Greg's current job responsibilities must tell all of our current directors what he did and what was going to happen today. This is not a very simple job. How do you say that? There's no way I can make his decisions for him, but all of our current directors must decide if Greg made the right decision today, or if he made the right decision today, do they want him to keep making better decisions in the future? I hope we are all very lucky, and we also hope that all managers will be able to do the same good work for us six or seven years from now, in the current circumstances of the company, or in this century.

My answer now is that maybe we need some good luck, maybe we want to break with tradition sometimes, but we have to find energetic and really inspiring managers. All of these compositional levels now are different and somewhat diverse, that is, I have talked to Charlie many times at the beginning; all of these choices are the best. We now have the best group of Berkshire managers, which means our “marriage” is very good. Of course, any changes, or our directors may make other decisions, this is also based on the circumstances at the time. Excuse me, I'm going to put you in the spotlight again when I come down. I'm not talking about you, or about how you are, you have to be the one to speak.

Greg Abell: Thank you for speaking today; I must add one more. Any judgement is determined by culture. Berkshire's culture has been talked about many times, about our current shareholders and all of our partners, and our managers running our business, and the most important mechanisms we have. These will never change, so that we can attract the right managers, even at different levels. As we've said before, this is a very Berkshire company culture that already exists, and it's very special, and it's not going to change.

What is the best decision to make in business and asset allocation

Q: What do you think your team has learned today and achieved some more results in business, asset allocation, and when the time comes? Especially after the pandemic, could you give us some of your views? How are Greg and Agit complying with the business? Can you make some comments?

WARREN BUFFETT: Thanks for the question. When you're doing something, that is, how exactly can you start allocating your assets. For example, I just mentioned insurance policies and insurance policies. You represent a group of shareholders, and our mission is clear to us. Of course, some people might agree with me, but I'll say this. If I say I don't agree with their mission, if you're retiring today at age 65, then it sounds like you've been completely eliminated and impossible for you to become our CEO at Berkshire.

What I'm saying is that some people don't need some ideas or certain qualifications today, and we won't adopt them. I think our current position has been completely rectified, which is very satisfying. The current situation is also good, but can you say that is completely certain? It's also a huge difference. Over the next 20 years, we will be providing some corresponding projects, as well as our ideas. Of course, our board of directors, Greg and I, and we will also make other decisions that may be different, and this will definitely happen. So with that said, there are probably a few people who know what I think.

However, the directors I'm talking about today, as well as whether the directors will continue to take over, and the real right position as CEO. I think Greg and Tom Mofei are both likely (voice), but who is the best? They are all the best managers. Did someone say it was Tomofei? Since joining us, Tom Mo-Fei has also contributed thousands of efforts, all of which can be seen.

He also said something here; what is the overall meaning? What Tom Mofei was good at at the time was the textile business, and we think there must be a better business than this. The reason I first invested in the textile business was because I liked Kenshi (voice). He is a great manager and a great person. If the textile business grows faster, we'll make more profit. Later, in the TV industry, I also supported it quite a bit. He had very few early operations and competed with General Electric in New York. Since then, he's built a fantastic company because he's the best manager. But other than that, this business is also very good. I think it's also possible for us to find someone like Tom Mofei and hand over a lot of quality businesses to him. You probably won't find that accurate, but in many companies, you probably won't be able to find that accuracy. You'll have a large team of management consultants, but I don't think this is a consultant issue.

Hiring Tom Mofei was a very important decision. His monthly and weekly sales volume was very high, and he set his goals higher than others every time, surpassing all other media giants. This is a very good lesson we can learn in our lives; we need to look at these things from a different perspective.

I also learned a lot from him, not only did he tell me what, and even watched how they operated and operated. It's like watching some great golfers play a game, and it can also help me improve my skills. Sorry, this might not be the best answer you were looking for. But as far as we are concerned, it has worked until now. The same goes for Greg. We also need to see what people in the future of the company think. After I leave Berkshire, I may need to make the right decision every 20 years, and if I make a mistake in this decision, I also need to change it in time. This is why we have a board of directors.

We now also have the right people on our board of directors. They know their responsibilities and take these responsibilities seriously, but they don't take themselves too seriously. I think this is a great attitude. They don't want to just look like they're busy and don't use Berkshire as a stepping stone to jump to other companies' boards. They really trust and believe in what we do. But it's because of them that makes Berkshire a company that everyone is ideal and willing to work for. In this way, even after our successor slept for 20 years, because of a good decision 20 years ago, Berkshire will still run steadily, and it will still be a very good tool that the whole world can use.

We've grown from a company with a market capitalization of 200 million to now $270 billion. Although we don't have much to do, it's enough to do a few important little things better than others. Moreover, from time to time, we also need to be willing to act at the right time, and also ensure that the US government needs to consider us an asset of the country in the event of a crisis. For example, when there was a bank crisis in 2008 and 2009, we also want to confirm that this can determine our future. I don't think any second company other than Berkshire has a better position in this situation.

Berkshire now has more than 180 billion dollars in cash, how will it be invested

Becky Quirk: You now have over $182 billion in cash, what are you waiting for? Why don't you go somewhere else that should be there?

Warren Buffett: I think that's a very good answer to this question. I don't think a few people on the stage have good ideas about how to make good use of this money; we won't use this money in the current 54 BP situation. This interest rate is so high. Of course, don't talk about this with the Federal Reserve. We only swing one hit at the right time. But now many people are wandering baseball bats no matter what time they are. Because I probably felt that all my previous swings were empty, then I just kept playing and always hit the right target. But I think we may not think this return now would be over 10 billion dollars, and maybe more than 10 million would be more appropriate. Now, if you keep up with your old goals, you probably won't be able to find that many opportunities. For example, in Japan, if a company buys 30 billion or 40 billion dollars, the return is likely to be better. If I see a company like this now, maybe I'll do it.

I'm probably on a “hunger strike” right now; there aren't enough investment targets right now, and there aren't enough attractive and attractive targets to allocate assets. But let's see if anything changes after that, we'll wait and see.

Real estate brokerage is a very basic industry in the economy and will not disappear

QUESTION: Mr. Buffett, every year's shareholders' meetings are excellent. I'm a real estate agent, and my family all work for Berkshire housing services, and I'm very honored to be a part of Berkshire. I think housing services are now facing a lawsuit in the US and lost 250 million US dollars last week, which is more than any housing company's loss. I think as a real estate company, Berkshire Housing Services has been in a row for 15 years. I am honored to be able to attend this shareholders' meeting, and I am honored to be here today. What do you think of the amount of such a recent settlement? I also wanted to ask Greg and Agit, would you consider Berkshire's own agent when buying your next house?

Warren Buffett: I don't buy a house as often as you might think. Of course, I think it's very unlikely that I'll invest in a property later. Thank you so much for joining us today and asking such an interesting question. I think the previous settlement. Greg conveyed this information to me before. Can Greg talk about it? I trust you 100%.

Greg Abell: Thank you and your family for being our agents and working for this Berkshire housing company. I just asked a few questions. First, there is no doubt that the industry will undergo some changes, because this settlement will result in some transformation. The giants in many industries have settled a total of 400 million dollars. Many people were seriously damaged in this settlement. It also served our housing and laid a foundation for the entire industry to move forward. There will be a series of changes next, and because of this settlement, this change has also been proposed.

I think I agree with what you just said that real estate agents will still be an important part of these transactions, but there aren't many opportunities in our lives to make such a big investment; this is true for us and other businesses. We need to know how this commission structure will change, and how to negotiate is more important. This is the core of the settlement, not as if the buyer will automatically pay a commission to the buyer's agent. This commission will have to be negotiated, which will affect the way we do business in the future. But I think real estate agents will still be a very important part of real estate, for our company and the industry as a whole.

Also, I would like to share with our shareholders more broadly. Now that responsibility has come to us, this is indeed a very important prerequisite. The same is true for Berkshire and Energy. We may pursue this goal in a different way, but this settlement will obligate our housing service company. We will also begin the transformation.

Warren Buffett: I sold two houses in '93, only traded two houses, bought one, and now I have two others. I've never downgraded this commission rate. The last time I sold my house seemed to be 7 million, so we did have some commission negotiations at the time. I think this system is still effective. When I graduated from school, there was an early sales policy for homeowners. Now it's still interesting to see how the old system works. I also know that real estate agents work for a very long time and only make that much money. Sometimes the deal may not be discussed until the end, and I think we need to give them a better system. But it really depends on Greg and the Berkshire Housing Services guys to take some action.

I love our company and they also have a very large number of real estate agents working for us. I am also very pleased with our previous expansion in the real estate industry, as well as the expansion of the housing transaction industry. We have really helped several such companies, including Berkshire Energy, to slowly expand their business scope. This is a very basic business. 93% of people need help to buy a home they are satisfied with.

I've also been watching how to provide services to them my whole life, but the court made such a decision, and I told Greg that we have this obligation. I was actually a bit surprised by this final decision. But we often have some surprising decisions about the insurance industry. So different things will be different in terms of accuracy. When “911” happened, we never expected this kind of thing to happen to us, so after it happened later, we discovered that there were more things that would happen in the middle. For example, the stock exchange closed due to the “911” incident at that time. Many people also lost their income as a result of this incident.

This kind of thing is possible in all of our industries, and we have to adapt at random and then find a reasonable solution based on the situation at the time. I was also very surprised at the time, that is, why the stock exchange was closed at the time, so we had to be very sensitive to making any decisions, even though we were surprised.

Greg Abell: Maybe today's brokerage model has changed, or the current housing service job needs to be changed accordingly, and the situation of intermediaries also needs to be adjusted. For example, when I was in the UK, I discovered that the way they bought houses was completely different from the US. As Warren said, our time and capital are tantamount to putting our time and money on the risk scale to ensure that we actually sell and can transfer accounts during the transaction. These are all the most important things when we buy and sell a house. But sometimes, you'll find that it's not how much you spent to get back how much money. I think the traditional intermediary mechanism will actually continue to grow, and this will also help you provide more services during transactions. I think this intermediary mechanism will definitely continue to survive.

Warren Buffett: That's right. I feel like I bought a real estate agency back then, and I also feel that this industry has an appropriate price and is a viable company. Moreover, I sold my house for 7 million at the time, and I didn't bargain 6% commission with the intermediary, because I thought the money belonged to him.

What impact does Tesla's autonomous driving technology have on the auto insurance business

Becky Quirk: Now that Elon Marx talks about intelligent driving in cars, I want to know how this affects Berkshire's insurance? According to our current data impact, the risk of a real smart car for humans to drive has been cut in half. Assuming that Elon Marx's autonomous vehicle mechanism comes into effect, how do you think the current insurance industry will be affected by the assessment of human driving risk, and what kind of results will it have on future earnings?

Warren Buffett: I think you've already mentioned an example today. Unless there's a crazy possibility, autonomous driving will reduce the occurrence of car accidents or reduce costs. But it's still quite difficult now; of course, some people are already starting to use autonomous driving. Our future numbers and data will also show how it really is. People have been discussing this a lot in the past few years, so in the insurance industry, do you remember when Uber started, many companies also said it was possible? But the geography and proof that it's possible. So for some things, maybe the price was wrong at the beginning, and then it was right.

When you talk about the insurance industry, it seems like it's very easy to operate, but that's not true. I think someone gave you money and asked you to insure him. It seemed like you didn't have to do anything; it sounds very simple. But you have to really know what you're doing. Because of so many car accidents, if it could be reduced by 50%, that sounds great. But are we looking for real possibilities in society right now? This is the opportunity we've been looking for. You can see now that while driving, maybe hundreds or thousands of miles in the middle, some people still die as a result of driving or get into a car accident. After World War II, these proportions have now also been reduced from 15% to 7%. But in the US, we're still talking about a relatively important one. Of course, what I'm starting to talk about is a historical record. Maybe it has dropped from 7% to 2%; all of these are possible. The middle of this is not a figure that can be completely estimated. Also, during the epidemic, because many people stopped driving, of course, the number of car accidents will also drop.

Ajit Jahn: My opinion or opinion I want to put forward today is that what Tesla is doing sounds like these technological changes will affect the rate of car accidents. But as you saw today, if this number and some of the other criteria that have occurred are taken into account accordingly, not all of the total averages will drop. Tesla has already started telling people that they want to sell their own insurance, either directly or indirectly. However, I think there is still no way to see the success of this kind of car today, because I think if this kind of car insurance were to be completely transformed, the cost would still be very high.

Warren Buffett: It's almost time for lunch now. I want to tell everyone that I am very grateful to all of you for being able to sit here and listen patiently to the conference. We will return to the scene at 1 o'clock later. After that, I'll also spend a little more time watching a short video for everyone, and then I'll explain something. I think I promise everyone that we will definitely be back on time. We rest on time at 12 o'clock, and I want everyone to return to their original seats quietly. If you want to delay, it's probably only a few minutes, okay? Or you think the person sitting next to you is particularly annoying, so you have to sit somewhere else at 1 o'clock. It may take a few minutes. I think all of these things can be satisfied. If it's been a long time to sit next to someone you don't like, I totally understand it. We had a lunch break at 12 o'clock, and at 1 o'clock it was our turn to the question area below.

Zero-emission cars have been accepted by the market, how has Berkshire changed in terms of investment

Question: I asked this question last year, and I will ask it again this year. Some must be explained, the same question, but I'm asking this question in a different way and in the opposite direction. We're seeing current trends, so zero-emission vehicles are probably starting to be fully accepted. What are your thoughts on this so-called zero-emission vehicle, whether in the vehicle manufacturer or the corresponding technology? Do you think this is an opportunity? Also, is Berkshire interested in Energy and BYD or any other company?

Warren Buffett: I think a lot of people accept this kind of approach, probably because we're moving targets all the time. However, I don't think Berkshire thinks it will introduce more special professionals and pay more attention to the vehicles or production you are talking about now. Because, I'm not sure if I would choose a topic like this as an indicator for the company. I don't think there will be a real winner right away, and I can't predict what will happen right now. Obviously, what we've seen is that this is a mobile target. Currently, everyone is discussing it, and our community still has a lot of questions. Perhaps the government hasn't done their part to solve the problem; it's not doing a good job. However, environmental changes and climate changes are currently also very bad.

In fact, we have already seen some of the situations that cause problems in the US, that is, our society also feels it. They want to change the way we live, but can you do that? Therefore, everyone still feels that it is impossible to solve the current difficulties. Of course, these are questions that everyone should be wary of, and they are huge topics. How exactly can we break down the results that have appeared and analyze more levels?

I've had this problem since I was born in 1930. At that time, there were about 2 billion people, but now there are 8 billion, that is, from 1930 to the present. Speaking of the 50 smartest people in the world, he also wants to solve these problems. The final population problem, when there were 8 billion people in the past 93 years, we have yet to solve these problems.

We actually have some great advantages in the US because we are already deploying at any time and are already developing more projects. People are saying it, and we want to be able to change the way people live their lives. But at that level, we'll see exactly what kind of ways we can actually make changes. Sometimes these problems are extremely difficult, and there is no way to solve them. Of course, we have mentioned that many hundreds of countries have to solve corresponding problems.

We'll have lunch next and talk later.

Warren Buffett: The short film we released earlier talked about the core meaning of Berkshire. There are many listed companies, or very wealthy listed companies, all over the US. We've definitely heard examples like this. For example, a family made a lot of money and eventually donated the money to charity. The same was true at Walmart. Bill Gates did the same thing, donating most of Microsoft's assets. In Berkshire, our numbers are also very large. We have helped our shareholders earn a lot of money. Our shareholders are not only in Omaha, they are also all over the world. Many Berkshire shareholders have also spent more than 100 million US dollars in local philanthropy. Many people are doing this kind of dedication in obscurity.

Many other companies in the US do the same; it's definitely not just Berkshire doing it, so I'd like to mention this in particular. I don't know the exact details of these families, but many large families have done this, including big families like Walmart, and we will continue to do this. I also don't think it's possible for you to find such a company. There are no close ties between shareholders, and they don't know each other, yet they did the same thing. For example, Ruth from Berkshire cashed out and donated this securities bank stock a few weeks ago, which may have been held for 50 years. They gave this money back to society, and we've seen this happen in many states, especially in Nebraska. When we donate most of our money, the philanthropic industry likes to call it the ability to absorb and absorb. So big companies have this absorption capacity.

Many companies want to do this kind of good thing anonymously, and I can't tell their specific stories, but there is one thing that really excites me. For example, Ruth bought so many shares of Berkshire A shares, and after cashing it out, she gave the money to medical school and spent the money on students. So not only that, but he also bought more than 500 million shares of others to do this kind of thing in different states. Anyway, we have so many people like this, and there will be more in the future. Some people have parents or grandparents who have joined this business very early. They have two or three families, and more than one house. They all have this universal value. Instead of squandering the wealth they have accumulated, they have used it where they should, and have funded many kinds of undertakings all over the country.

At the time of this year's annual report, I also revealed what my sister said, “You should wear a T-shirt; it says you can't ask for money from me.” But just kidding, Charlie Munger thinks they're very happy to work with this group of people. They're not people like hedge funds or index funds; they're probably too greedy for money, and working for a company like ours will give them confidence in humans again. Their big family struggled for decades, and finally donated this money, so that more than 100 people received free education and became the backbone of talent. And you don't need to be burdened with this debt; there are plenty of meaningful ways to use your wealth.

So all the shareholders here, you are a unique group of people in all listed companies. You don't squander this wealth yourself, but use your wealth in meaningful ways to help others. How much did it actually cost you to accumulate this wealth. Ruth gave us a head start and acted as a model. She was about my age. Seeing that she bought a cashable check a few decades ago showed her attitude. This kind of output is not for me, but it is a continuous stream of excellent talents to this society. The medical students he funded could eventually become doctors, saving the dead and helping the wounded.

Her husband Sandy's contribution to Berkshire is also unparalleled, and Sandy is an excellent partner for us. He also did not squander his family's assets and funded Einstein Medical School. This situation has happened in so many companies, and I would like to thank these shareholders.

Berkshire's future capital allocation decisions

Becky Quirk: In some situations as CEO, Abell needed to change many aspects. Mr. Buffett's operations in terms of management and witness functions, and now there are some different situations going on. In terms of ordinary stocks and other differences, what kind of choices are you making?

Warren Buffett: I think I'm going to answer this question this way. If I wasn't there when making decisions, they probably made decisions behind my back. Of course, this kind of work is different for everyone. I don't know how they differentiate between jobs, but all levels will be covered. I feel very relieved, but the truth is that today our board of directors already has some different brainstorming powers, they are also making any assignments, and they may have different tools for different situations.

I'll say this. I'm likely to guide Greg when making decisions. I'll hand over the entire work to Greg in terms of fund allocation and allocation. He knows how our business works, and he also has a clear understanding of our business. At the same time, he knows exactly what to do about common stocks. So we've now hired these investment managers. Of course, these managers may be different from others when it comes to their own funds, but money is the most important benefit of managing assets. Their responsibilities are all very clear, and I feel that they are doing exactly what they should have done to fulfill their responsibilities. Sometimes I think differently about this point of view, but I think responsibility should be the CEO's responsibility. It may be helpful for the CEO to make decisions, but sometimes this decision will also be different about some of the responsibilities he can share. When they decide how to operate these funds, it's all based on them, so my idea is that when we start deploying more expandable funds, if we want to achieve greater Berkshire benefits, we need to try to get these 200 or more people to manage multi-billion dollar projects. If they don't, we can't let them continue to do this.

Strategic considerations are very important, and Greg Abell is capable of doing it. Everyone knows it was 2008, and there was no way to resist what happened in 2009. Everyone knows that. So if you have a large amount of capital to work faster, or it will be deployed again in the next 5 years, but I can tell you that every 10 years, many things are very complicated, interconnected, and many things are definitely not always this ideal, so you need to explore more to find different possibilities. You must begin to carefully consider these matters when you begin deployment, or when allocating stocks, or when you want to buy any company's business. It's not that some people didn't have money in 2008; others seem to have been paralyzed because of that time. Moreover, many people did not grasp some of these advantages, or some were unwilling to participate in what was supposed to be done at the time. The government also saw some problems at that time, and also assumed some corresponding responsibilities.

I think in this situation, Greg is doing some of his work in a more interesting way. Better things will happen, and he also has a more logical position. You don't know what will happen next week, what direction it will take next year or ten years from now, or what kind of results it will have in a century. These are all unpredictable, and we are all uncertain. So things will get more complicated, and the bond between them will get worse.

So if you think more carefully, or understand the world's financial situation, you'll be less vulnerable. Greg, wouldn't you find that difficult?

Greg Abell: You've answered this question perfectly, and it's straight forward. We wanted to grasp the most important configuration principles when making the transition, and be able to survive and handle it very well in Berkshire today. We have insured and non-insurance assets, all of which are very much needed and appropriate, and the results so far have been very successful. Moreover, the expected return on investment now also exceeds what is currently available, and there are some of the remaining advanced ones. Also, when it comes to new businesses, we often hear what you've mentioned before, and we also agree to start finding more businesses and investing in different businesses. Whether it's 1% or 100% carrying out this business, we need to completely begin to understand this business, and be able to see what are some of the trends in the economy. Can some of our current asset portfolios actually double their growth now or in the future? And some of the work we're doing now is definitely hoping to save more cash under the safest investment philosophy.

Our biggest goal is to protect our shareholders and protect and maintain the current Berkshire position at this level. This is really the most reasonable situation. So from what you're talking about today, it seems like I've become the only person you can trust, so this is great.

Warren Buffett: We're in a better position now than before. Of course, we're not saying that all of our current positions have remained stagnant. In the special environment of the US, and we're always making money in the ever-changing US business. But some years will be good, and some years will be fine, so I hope to be able to make some better predictions; this is the winner. If you look back, there are probably the top 20 companies in the world. Over the course of ten years, you'll see that sometimes it doesn't seem that easy when they can actually perform better in business. So if you think it's the best way to think about the company, don't let people convince you not to do it anymore; these are some of our thoughts right now.

Greg Abell: As you just said, we will always protect Berkshire's shareholders' rights.

How to make investment decisions in technology stocks

Q: I'm from Germany, and I'm visiting Omaha for the first time to attend the shareholders' meeting. Thank you for letting me visit. My question today is for Mr. Buffett and Mr. Greg Abell. In 2019, you talked about IT configuration at that time, as well as the technology, technology, and data industries. Please explain with us in detail this year whether your position on IT shares and business is more competitive today?

Warren Buffett: I think when it comes to allocating all businesses, we already have the corresponding experience and experience. But do we agree with the future, or are we going to limit such investments? Greg got involved more than me. Do you want to know what the current position of these managers is, are we going to buy or do other deployments? Sometimes the suggestions we want to make don't necessarily go back to being put forward every time.

Greg Abell: When I was in 2019, technology stocks were a unique opportunity for us, and we also saw the value of that time, so we also planned the company's business layout. I also told Warren about this situation. He also found it interesting and able to invest. Afterwards, we also saw some more good value, and we fully understood some of the business possibilities during the configuration, but with TTI, TTI is not exactly the same as our data, to be specific. When all of these customers, as well as their service supply and purchase, we must consider other configurations. One more important thing is that there is a better model in the middle. If we talk about the TTI situation, for example, we previously discovered that when there was a TTI business, it was a unique business, and its revenue is likely to be at least 10 billion dollars in this business, but on average, when they want to sell it, they probably only sell 9 cents, so when it comes to 95 billion dollars, it's all included in their so-called stock positions. Therefore, only the right people can follow this path, so in the midst of this, they must have unique abilities to seize such opportunities. We saw Tech's data, and Warren thought it was a bright moment at the time, so we made a bet, but sometimes it wasn't really the highest bet.

Warren Buffett: At that time, we saw how we were in the past five years, so some businesses in the past four or five years weren't fantastic; businesses that could be achieved by dreaming. Moreover, this is a satisfying business. You've now seen that every company in the middle probably has a code of about 100 SKUs, but I told you that there are many different colors that can eat the same candy. You serve different groups of people, different goals, and many products also have an impact at different levels.

For example, if you want to reduce the system, or get a better system, or don't let the end users be tied down; these require a lot of assets to operate. There's no magic way to manage this. Of course, I just mentioned TTI, which is an interesting and very impressive way to do business. But you need to know that when you see a wonderful person starting a certain business, at a certain level, you have to choose the best person to do this kind of business.

We think TTI has also made some smaller acquisitions, and I won't be able to see their numbers until I read the report every quarter. We want to build our own business in every field of operation. We also have sufficient assets to allocate, and of course we are willing to make small acquisitions, provided that it matches the characteristics of these investments we have now, rather than investing for the sake of investment.

There may be a shortage of people like this right now to help us find our ideal target. We may be willing to invest in the field you asked in your question, but even if we invest, it won't cause much damage. If we can't invest in this industry, we will go to another industry to find something worth investing in. We can also buy more TTI for shareholders, but I think it might be more helpful to buy back shares.

Becky Quick: Warren mentioned earlier that you bought some Apple shares to help you get more cash. Many people are probably wondering, where do you think the next opportunity is? How to value Apple? At the 1999 annual meeting, you mentioned that you have almost all of the top 500 stocks in the US. If you invested in the top 500 companies, you said at the time that this might not be a good stock. Now the top 500 companies in the US are more profitable to invest in than in 1999. Do you think today's market is any similar to the 1999 market?

Warren Buffett: I think there's been a huge change from 1999 to now. There have been periods like this in my life, and I really feel like I've missed out on some good investment opportunities; I should have increased my positions on them. But I'm also thankful that I've made some right decisions. We haven't seen any investment partner so reasonable, and we've made a few acquisitions over the years. Greg and I might talk about making a 300 million dollar acquisition. If it's appropriate enough, we'll do it; if our manager also feels that there are suitable targets, we will also review them, because maybe our manager's calculation formula is not very different from ours, so we'll think about it too. No matter what we decide to do, some managers don't have the same way of allocating assets, or ideas, or thinking. They don't need to be the best at allocating assets; they just need to know the customer and understand the industry, and they can be good managers, but many of them are good asset allocators, and some aren't.

This isn't a good time, why are you saying that? Because there's a better time than now. Charlie and I have actually missed a lot of opportunities. What we really regret is that we may have missed out on some very big investment opportunities, but if we understood these opportunities, we wouldn't feel sorry at all when we missed out on investment opportunities we didn't understand the industry.

So I don't want to say whether it's similar to 1999 now; I'm not good at this myself; I think it's true that there have been too many drastic changes from 1999 to now. I remember 2008 or 2009 probably wasn't much different from 2015 or 1987. I don't think you can find someone to invest in every day.

Greg Abell: I don't think there's anything I can add here. I need to learn Mr. Munger's golden sentences; I have nothing to add.

Warren Buffett: It's great to have so many people clapping when you say such a short sentence all of a sudden.

Why did Berkshire increase its holdings of Occidental Petroleum

Q: I'm a shareholder from Hamburg, Germany. I've been coming to Omaha every year since 2007. I'm grateful for what I learned here, regardless of whether it's about investment or life, and for creating an environment that has given me a very rich and healthy life. Thank you.

My question is, Mr. Buffett, is your favorite shareholding period of American Express or Coca Cola for decades, or what? Recently, it seems that Berkshire has also increased its positions on Occidental Petroleum. Can you give us some examples? What is your thought process when making these decisions?

Warren Buffett: There are a lot of factors in making these decisions. On the one hand, we need cash. Of course, this isn't necessarily the only reason. I started making all kinds of decisions when I was 20. I should have started buying stocks in 1942. This decision-making process is quite interesting. Charlie and I make decisions very fast sometimes, and we think about what factors actually made us make decisions so fast, and we think these factors are all very obvious. Some people may wonder why I put so much money into Apple. One thing Charlie and I have learned a lot is that consumer behavior is important. For example, we can't open a furniture store, but we've learned that when we buy a furniture chain in Omaha, we may realize this is a mistake, but having made this mistake will make us smarter and better think about what the asset allocation process should be like. So we slowly learned about consumer behavior, and the next step is to invest in XiShi Confectionery. We are also acquisitions made by learning about consumer behavior. We ourselves don't know how to do candy business, and there are many things we don't understand. But we learned a lot about consumer behavior along the way.

It is because of this background that we are constantly learning about consumer behavior, which is reflected in Apple products. I've observed before in the furniture market that Apple products make this much money, or people go to stores like Best Buy. If these people just shop and don't buy it, you can't do it; you can see that they are interested in your brand, and a lot of information is entered into it. I think in terms of psychology, this is called popular preference. Through this process, you slowly build up your level of knowledge, and it also allows you to think more clearly, so you can make decisions faster on the example of Apple. Of course, there are some potentially mysterious places in the middle that I can't talk about. But just because of this and that kind of observation made me more clear, when I experienced this phenomenon, I knew what it was.

So I saw in Apple's example at the time, and I think the value of Apple at that time was lower than its actual value. For example, if you buy a second iPhone compared to a second car, there's no way to compare the price. You may be able to buy a second iPhone, but you can't buy a second car. The price may be 20 times different. People may not think about their own behavior, but I will think about consumer behavior.

I didn't know how the iPhone worked at the time, but I knew what it meant to people and how they wanted to use it. This is my insight into consumer behavior. It's a great product, and the greatest product ever made, and its value is far underestimated. I think Cook is also in a partnership like Steve Jobs. He was able to do a great job during his time at the helm of this company. Cook is really a great partner.

This is also the case with Geico. When I bought them in 1950, I didn't know I could see clearly, but Lorimer Davidson spent four hours explaining the auto insurance industry to me on Saturday at the time. I know people don't like to buy car insurance, but if they want to drive, they can't do without car insurance, so all of these gaps in my mind were filled one by one for four hours that Saturday, and every now and then we have such an epiphany. So all of these people you meet are probably very promising talents. Sometimes you can make such decisions all of a sudden, and this kind of investment is worth it.

We've also talked about these ideas, or moments that are really appreciated, especially when you suddenly think which business you can invest in again. Charlie and I both thought the same way. If you had a lot of experience with a certain business today, after you read something, it might be like a clever move, and suddenly you feel very good. But some things can't happen every other day, and you can do a lot of preparation.

Investments in Paramount lost a lot

Q: I just heard this spokesperson talk about Occidental Petroleum. At that time, when you decided to buy Occidental Petroleum, it seemed like you made the decision over the weekend. The current position of Occidental Petroleum and its assets are operating very well, and there are some extraordinary performances. In addition, his very ideal and capable CEO has maintained their assets in a satisfactory state.

Warren Buffett: You're right, Occidental Petroleum, which you just mentioned, is the most important point. Some of the things I learned were sometimes learned through learning and doing. I learned about Occidental Petroleum, and after hearing about this, I began to continue to research this company and continue to understand their services.

I've done a lot of research on the oil and gas business, but sometimes I don't fully understand their tricks; sometimes I think of certain business opinions in my heart, and they always keep them in my mind. But then I actually met Vicki, CEO of Occidental Petroleum. One day was a Sunday afternoon. After we had a discussion on Friday and Saturday, we made a decision on Sunday. A few days have passed, and many things have happened one by one. Many countries have no way of predicting some of today's results, and they don't know why we did it, but the time that formed this purchase idea happened over a period of time. One day, such a decision was suddenly made. I heard some investors call me, but when Vicki presented their company to me, I think they had very different ideas that made me feel very different and very concerned, so now I am very satisfied with this investment. I don't know how much they cost, but I think the results of this betting possibility are all very good; this is a result of a good decision.

We now have more full terms, and more shares of Occidental Petroleum. These things may take us quite a while to hold positions. There are some things at Berkshire that we just want to buy and keep for a long time. Some things we hold positions for a long time, but there are some things that aren't necessarily the case. A lot of people were speculative when we first bought it, and now I'm talking about Paramount's film company. I was 100% responsible for this investment at the time. So I want to say it again, I am 100% a decision maker.

We saw everything, but we also lost a lot of money. I didn't expect this business at the time. A lot of things are happening in this industry, and apart from Paramount, let's look at some longer-term situations.

I want to think about it in depth, but sometimes I can't do it. The questions you just talked about may be considered again during our normal time, when I'm relaxed. At that time, I wanted to join today's entertainment industry, or when it comes to the movie and sports industry, I wasn't smart enough at that time, but now my wisdom has already been mentioned. However, this was a decision I made in the first place several years ago, and after I invested again in the middle, I was also required to acquire different knowledge. I want to be clear to everyone that I acknowledge that I lost quite a bit of money at Paramount, but I am solely responsible for this.

Becky Quirk: You've been looking forward to the questions I want to ask. We saw that the board of directors also mentioned that BNSF is still falling. Compared to the other five railway companies, BNSF has invested more in freight and spent more assets on construction. But BNSF is still falling, so I'd like to ask you to explain what happened to the phenomenon of falling on the railroad today? Also, in terms of profit margins, can you carefully analyze with us and compare them with the other five railway companies?

Warren Buffett: I know what you're saying now. I want to specifically explain that if you buy BNSF, it's still in operation. Greg made the decision with me in the first place, but now I'll leave this question to Greg to explain.

Greg Abell: Warren just explained it, and also made some comments, showing that what we actually said at the time was very correct. If you look at this quarter's results and last year's results, of course, there are some opinions in the middle that are very disappointing to our shareholders. However, compared to other comparable railway companies, we are still unsatisfactory, so it's very easy for you to see and understand that your performance today is compared to other competitors in the same industry, and you can make judgments based on the same basis. We've seen some situations like this, and I'll go back and explain to you. If you go back to 2021, when Burlington, our team, and Machel were operating efficiently, the situation at that time was completely different. But in 2022, we discovered supply chain problems in the west, and some of the current results were lacking. So we call that year a year of zero.

Entering 2023, all of the business costs and some of the structure of the business have changed accordingly. Therefore, we have seen these possibilities, and we expect that these requirements will continue to change accordingly. The team is also working very hard after the zeroing and cost structure transformation. We have redistributed the different construction costs, and we have also restarted looking for resources for the cost of the architecture. We have done a lot of things there, so we have also recognized that these organizations must reconsider the corresponding requirements. These railway companies need to make different considerations. When we find opportunities later, we have to seize them, but are they effective? Will its operating costs be affected after that? I think the middle is also related to our current consumer products, or whether the industry is particularly in need of supply and marketing this year. Overall, there are opportunities. Or how about next year after the long term? These are all things we must consider over the long term, and we must continue to exercise our muscles.

At the same time, our current competitor also has the truck industry, and its cost structure also allows us to compete with them in this way when doing transportation.

At the level of these tasks, it is still necessary to solve structural problems. We have also seen that when other railway companies begin to implement accurate scales and their schedules, we must also start to catch up or follow their direction. In addition, I would like to make a specific statement. We need to really understand how to understand and manage such problems today, how to actually use them now to solve some of the challenges, and how to allocate and use our resources. There is a lot of work that we need to work hard on. My team is 100% invested in the right architecture and continues to understand some requirements and business, but there is still a lot to be done. The team actually joined, and it is definitely a huge commitment, and I hope to have better processes and results here.

Warren Buffett: You're right. There are many things in Berkshire that require continuous effort and extra effort. What I want to talk about now is that we're not really bothered about certain things, or that we need to get your pigtails in particular or how. But there are some things that the company wants to do well, and we all have to start asking a lot of questions. If you do something particularly well and have to dig a tunnel, it can be difficult in the West Bank River District. But I can tell you that Berkshire's attitude will never change. In Omaha, it's basically a railroad center city, so in the 60s, I decided on this kind of outcome. I also know this is possible, so if you want to cross all the possibilities of the American continent, this possibility already existed in 1962.

But you know that it was necessary to build 20,000 feet of highways and railroads. From this end to Missouri, it was also very difficult at that time. From the city of Lincoln to Omaha, we saw a lot of railroads in the middle.

Anyone interested in our financial affairs can investigate the history of railway development. UP (Union Pacific Railway Company) is our main competitor, but it used to be about 20 to 25 years behind. Around 2000, we began to learn about railway stocks. There is also a company called Union Pacific. This is from the West Side, and there are other companies. However, UP, a railway company, provided three different stocks for free. In 2009, we only had a 22% share, about 35 million in the middle. This was a significant amount of capital for us at that time. We were able to put this business into this industry at that time, and we felt that there were advantages and savings included in taxes in the middle. That was the right decision to 100% own this company.

If the same capital were invested in other railway companies, it would also cost 35 million, but in the Xiaotiao era, for example, when I just mentioned the third quarter of 2009, it might be even worse. Actually, the BNSF I bought was a good decision. I bought this company in 2008 or 2009, and today we invested a lot of money, but for us, we were very satisfied with that time. Moreover, it is also the best choice when it comes to tax savings. The way we own about 100% of this and can get 5%-10% is even better.

As I mentioned in my annual report, railways are very necessary for the whole country. It's not about how advanced their technology is, but that's where the necessity is. Therefore, the government once classified them as state-owned. Later, many rounds of negotiations were held, and even stopped railways across the country. If you think about the impact of railway shutdowns across the country, and it's almost impossible to build railways now. If California wants to build a high-speed rail, everyone is worried about how much impact it will have on the environment. How much impact does every mile of rail have on the environment, or birds. If America were to do this all over the country, how loud would that sound? It may take decades, and the government may not be able to do it even if it were incorporated into the country. It may not be the best business, but railways are definitely a necessity. Its replacement value is really too high, so we own the rights to this part of the railway in a very economical and very efficient way in terms of taxation.

How to invest now with $1 million

Q: Mr. Buffett, at the end of 2018, you mentioned that if you place a bet of 1 million US dollars and say that your annual income can reach 50%, you think America's national transportation can help you achieve it. What do you think you need to do to get 50% profit? Would you like to read Moody's brochures or help you in some other way? Or will you continue to use fair prices to find the right investment targets? Or are you combining the two sides and using opportunity cost as the key to the final decision.

WARREN BUFFETT: Thank you for coming thousands of miles from New Zealand. My answer would be to go through the 20,000 page Moody's manual, which describes the transportation industry. This is almost a few thousand pages long, and I found a lot of interesting content in it. Of course, I was only 21 years old when I read this book. Now it's hard to imagine that people in their 20s would know about these two railway companies. There were hundreds or thousands of railway companies at the time, and of course they all gave railways nicknames.

When I first met Charlie at the time, he was very impressed by some details of this company. At the time, there were some things they did that we didn't even know what they were doing. Charlie thought at the time that he was the only one who knew what this company meant.

To answer your question, I don't know what knowledge manual is now the same as the Moody's manual? However, I think we all need to learn this knowledge little by little. If 1 million people may have an annual return of 50%, that would be great. You can't just do these things for money; you have to do research and analysis. Because sometimes others find new opportunities in other industries, just because they are willing to explore, they want to find this kind of suitable investment target.

Sometimes the human brain really has endless potential. They all want to expand their knowledge in different fields. For example, a good chess master has also learned this experience and knowledge through countless games. I am very happy to deal with smart people. They are all outstanding talents in their field, and there are also people who have done very stupid things in different fields, so the human brain is really very complicated. But your full potential can only be tapped when we understand what your brain is good for. If I had a small amount of money and wanted it to return 50% per year, and if you had no way to find the right investment in your own field, this return might not be that good. Just like if you like to play chess, this is also the case for an annual shareholders' meeting. Everyone comes here to learn knowledge. I'm also very happy to have you here this time, and welcome back next year.

Becky Quirk: As Mungerty said, if this person owned property rights, they would manage it better. Many of these pension asset management companies don't have the same strength as Berkshire, and the decisions they make are not in line with shareholders' rights, so when you have no way to vote against them, what kind of measures will be taken against them next?

Warren Buffett: I think this question has been answered for the time being. Who knows what kind of situations will occur in the future? We have good people at the helm in Berkshire, but we have to think carefully about this issue and think about what the legal reality is. First, you need to look at it as a national asset, so you can find more solutions. If you look at it as a return or something else, this is a question we have always thought about, and it also needs to be placed on all directors. They must think for themselves, and they may have to think about this issue outside of their traditional way of thinking. You don't want to be skeptical about life all the time. When others come to you, you probably have so many resources on your side, and you also want to figure out how to use them. So regardless of whether they work in an investment bank, this is true in other industries.

This kind of life insurance agents, or investment bankers, are all looking for valuable work in different places. Imagine if everyone on the scene listened to the so-called investment advice of others and said a 1% return every year, then I'll tell you how to invest your money. Starting in the 50s, this company told you how to invest. We started doing it in 1965. They told you to buy Berkshire shares. Now, if they actually listen to that advice, they can get 8 billion dollars from the dividends every year, so this will definitely change. Paying them some commissions all at once is the most cost-effective way.

I think human nature is so complicated. If you think about it, think about what Charlie said to you before, you'll probably be ahead of many people in the beginning. There is another interesting thing about Charlie. Charlie knows very well how much psychology affects human behavior. He realized this a long time ago, and he also gave some talks about it. I remember that people's mentality affects 25 or more different behaviors of people.

Moreover, he did an excellent job of explaining. We must not only understand the psychology behind the actions of others, but also know why they mislead others with these methods? So he's really an interesting person; he really has a thorough understanding of human psychology.

For example, what kind of mentality do you need to be a good insurance broker and an investor. If you can understand where other people are weak, you can really become very rich. So it's important for you to recognize this; you need to understand that you're better than who you are right now. Learn to use and use your own mentality. Charlie also mentioned that he himself used this kind of psychology once or twice. Although he wasn't proud of it, he did use this method, and he also tasted it sweet, and he explained it to me. Indeed, once or twice, he used this technique. Although he doesn't plan to continue using it, it's at least one method.

Actually, his behavior back then was lacking, but I can tell you that sometimes I think my behavior will be more correct than others, and my own enthusiasm is still different from other jobs after the incident. We've done something, and maybe we don't want to do it again next time after doing it, so that's some of the behavior and wisdom we used when we started the acquisition, and when we're discussing these books now, you can find a “Poor Richard's Yearbook” in Charlie's book. You have to think deeply and don't make things more complicated.

If you've been given lots of, very good instructions, start using it. I've already introduced this book to you; you can go to the library or bookstore to find it.

Q: I think Professor Graham, your mentor, and your father are all very important to you. All of these people have had a huge impact on you. If you want to choose the hero of your mind today, or if you want to be very smart in choosing your friends, then you should be better off telling your own stories in the future. How do you think we should choose?

Warren Buffett: Thank you for the question. There are probably many people in the middle who have heroes in their hearts. Of course, the heroes in their mind are likely to have many targets. Charlie had a hero in his mind at the beginning, and I myself had an admirer. My younger sister also had this kind of heroism. Everyone will be amazed. Maybe there will be heroes we adore the same, even when we're older, but for example, we'll disagree more and more with some of this hero's original ideas. These are all possible, or values are being reconsidered, but this is tantamount to saying that some of our original ideas made me learn more from experience. Some of the rules are at the level where many rules have already begun to be deployed. Sometimes they are very good, but other times they are special.

Sometimes I continue to love this situation, but sometimes it changes, so it's obvious that there are also some differences between me and Charlie.

Let me give you an example. There was one thing in the middle of my life that I didn't really want to continue doing. At that time it was in Pennsylvania, and the two of us ran into the state police when we were fleeing. At that time, we ran away from home, and then the state police found us and arrested us. At that time, we were ready to lie to them, saying that our parents had given us permission and that we didn't run away from home. This is a lie we told at the time. Anyway, we went back to Washington and a few days later to our own home, but we went a long way, and when we got to the house, his mother went to the hospital. He said at the time that I wanted to redeem my savings vouchers. I had some savings vouchers back then. Back in Washington at that time, my mother said you didn't run away from home; why did you come back right away? My dad said that if you want to run away from home, this is still not ideal; you can probably do better. Then I thought I should listen carefully to what my father said, and also be more obedient to my mother.

So my final theory is that sometimes you don't need some kind of hero, but sometimes your achievements don't necessarily correlate with the heroes you adore. It would be great if you chose the right person to worship, or if you actually made money, or had a good life. I often talk to my sister Bertie, and I can tell you that Bertie has also run away from home, but she hasn't gone far from me. Why did you run away from home at that time? I just ran to my grandparents' house and secretly stayed for a few days. That's all, and my grandfather's house is only two miles away from ours. Of course I don't want to ruin her reputation, but she was still more limited than me at that time because she didn't get that far.

Investment differences over pilot, a truck-chain gas station company

Q: You and Charlie were able to find some people you would like to do business with, but we talked about Pilots, and we also noticed some differences in the middle about investing. At that time, I thought they actually wanted to sell it. They knew about some of the circumstances at the time, and finally mediated in court. Of course, I know this is confidential, so no one knows about this matter. Can you make some comments?

Warren Buffett: There were some records at that time, and we had doubts. Pilot was good for us. My friend Simo also told me once that there were some things that made you feel very wary when talking about certain businesses and emotions, so today we are in the current situation. We won't talk about this.

Let me talk about who runs the company Pilot. I've known this person for a long time, and he also grew up in Omaha. His name is Greet. He grew up in a single parent family, and his mother raised him. At that time, I went to the same public high school as me, and my wife was with me. This school was Northern High School, and in the end we graduated together again in Omaha. He was then recruited by the New York Giants, but he later got injured during spring training camp, so he ended his baseball career with the Giants at that time. So, I was still running a very large company at the time, and I definitely had full confidence in myself. We thought this was very good at the time, and this business was created by Jim Haslon at that time. So I don't think it was the only company in the US at the time, but I can tell you that some people really understood this business to run this company, and my mother believed him too. But I don't know if anyone knows about the injuries at training camp when the New York Giants began training in spring, but this is what I want to talk about; he was the last person I chose.

I saw this incident. Later, he also ran his own company, and this company also did a great job. At that time, he had more than 20,000 people, and he still had 25,000 employees, and he was running many companies. I think I'm also very satisfied with the results of his business, so I thought, I had no doubts about buying Pilot at the time. If you want to read this story, you can find it on Google, and he also has his own blog. If you read it, you'll clap your hands and cheer, and you'll think this is a great group of people. We also later saw that he has a fantastic asset structure, and there are over 800 different tourist sites in the middle, and you can choose where to pilot. You can have different customers, and you can choose all the equipment that uses electric, renewable energy, or diesel, all of these are fine.

We also bought all the Pilot chain stores, and these are all we can talk about. He can choose different types of oil. There are many possibilities for these big trucks to refuel at locations. Moreover, sometimes he will definitely have a gas station of about 1.5 acres, which is different from other small gas stations, and they are all places near the intercontinental highway where large trucks can refuel. This is the characteristic of Pilot. Also, let's talk about Pennsylvania, and the University of Tennessee. Moreover, it was surprising at first, and they also supported more rugby teams. Of course, there are also some transition stories in the middle. Now all in all, this is a gas station. Their recycling has been huge and we are very happy. Therefore, Pilot's gas station business can only happen if you dream of it in the US, and many Americans know it, it's not a story that ordinary people can create.

Investors from China asked Buffett how to maximize compound interest investments?

Q: My name is Zhang Yabo (voice), and I'm from a small city in Hainan. I would now like to express my sincere thanks to you. You provided very sincere opinions and unparalleled opinions at our shareholders' meeting today, which is definitely very beneficial, especially for young investors like us. My question is about how you can maximize your compound interest and compound investments today. When you talk about compound investments, if you stay too long, they will disappear, so do you want to give us the best advice now, and how exactly can you explain the middle one more closely?

Warren Buffett: Thank you. You didn't know me, but you knew me very well as soon as I spoke. So I think usually luck also plays a very important part, which is what I really meant. Maybe you're starting to do weighting now, or you're talking about bad luck for a while. If not, some people would always have bad luck, so one of my best tips right now is to avoid risk or escape bad luck. This is my skill. I can only be in this situation today, but if it wasn't because I took high school courses today, or because I was able to do something to live to be 90 today, I can tell you that I wasn't particularly popular with the family at the time.

I think when you're lucky, you must make the most of it; of course, you can't get this luck all the time. If I were to live again, many of my choices would probably be very different. But it's hard for me to miss these choices and opportunities that are working right now, and the interesting thing is that you can see how many mistakes you've made, especially when you're still going on like this. Charlie also knows this. You just have to keep going, but it's true that luck is very important. Some people say I did it all myself. I think he really has no idea. The average life expectancy of people in our country is also very high now, so I feel very lucky to live here. My sister is here too. She's a woman, but I think she's as smart as me, and my dad gave us the same love.

He told me one thing after the 19th amendment. He told my sister that you should get married quickly when you were young, and he told me that the world is limitless, and you can really do anything. But there are a lot of things I couldn't do. The message I sent to women and men back then was very different. Even if you think about 1930 is that reality. After so long, many things have changed, but there have been dramatic changes in my life, or especially in the latter half of my life. My sister and her family still listened to her from time to time when they were in school. You must make sure you get married quickly before you became ugly, and even get married quickly when you were in school, because when you graduated, good men were robbed of the right people. For many women like my sister, it was this kind of society back then.

So it's really unparalleled to see that we've made so much progress, and it's also a look at how long it took us to get to where we are today. It also really makes us constantly reflect on how many heroes in American history have done so many outstanding things, but why are they so happy to say that we are all equal? Although it is written in our Constitution, many women had no way of owning a house at that time, and the living environment was much worse than that of many men, but we are learning step by step what people can do in this process. You should feel better for your future, for your kids, and definitely have better expectations than you did 100 years ago.

In the process of regularly revising wills, the investment proposals have not changed

Becky Quirk: In the past, you specifically mentioned that 90% of the money would go to short-term government bonds or the S&P 500 index, but now the high-tech index accounts for 1/4 of the S&P 500. Will you put some funds in S&P funds now, rather than funds with more technology stocks?

Warren Buffett: I'll probably write some words like this in my will in the next three years. I haven't changed a bit now, just like my wife did then. I don't think my investment philosophy will change in any way. Whether she beat the S&P 500 or not, I think she ended up leaving a lot more money than she could have spent. I don't want anyone else to worry about whether we can beat the S&P 500; she thought she would reach such a financial point at the time. And these custodians don't worry about being prosecuted. Of course, our current economy is very different from that time, and 99% of the money goes to charities. My kids are in their 70s, 60s, and very mature. At the same time, they don't have that much time to spend this fortune.

So here you'll first accomplish some of your goals, and you don't know what will happen after you die, but you have to make sure that you thank many people for everything you've left behind. Of course, those who take care of your family must be part of it. A large part of them will pay taxes, and my kids will manage the rest of these funds. I mentioned that if you live to my age, they'll probably also be in charge of this distribution, and they'll do a great job. If I'm still alive in three years, I still feel like I can't solve everything in my life; I just want to be the best.

I've probably lived longer than most people. They also have many rich people like me who have controlled their assets in different ways. I think the rest of the money will make a lot of people very comfortable. Sometimes these people act very interesting. We can observe that lawyers will often tell us that when you change your mind about your will, you may keep tearing down some old ones and writing new ones, and you will regret it. Getty is the richest person in the world. He also said this in the 50s and 60s. He wrote five different wills, and his grandson was later kidnapped. You're not happy to live this kind of life.

He often changes his will. He said that I didn't write you in his will because of that, and he also often explains and writes additional notes in his will. Therefore, at the beginning of his will, he always says that this happened about a few years ago. He often says this at the beginning. When I wrote this will, how much was Eastern Airlines worth at the time, and the testator will definitely evaluate him. So it's really funny to read someone else's will at the time. At the time, one person left money to his wife before his death, and it is said that at least one other person will mourn his death, so I'm still quite happy with the current situation. I hope I can figure it out and find a better way. Use the best resources where they should be used to solve the world's problems. I think this money can now be used where the world needs it most. Of course I'm definitely trying to solve these more important issues. I think all of us present, of course, don't know foreigners, but Americans all need to have their own will. You need to know that four former US presidents all died without their own wills. Now that we have 45 presidents, imagine how scary it would be for you to one day become the President of the United States without a will. Lincoln was assassinated and must have been one of the four presidents without a will.

You might say he didn't have a chance to write a will at all, but it's hard to imagine such a great man without a will after death. We must also have many Lincoln scholars who can explain this to me, and I would love to hear from them, but I think people are people; that's human nature. We all have our weaknesses and flaws, so don't be too hard on yourself. But you can't completely relax, because you can change the future.

Which Berkshire business has the greatest risk in front of AI

Q: I'm a San Diego lawyer. I know everyone will disagree with me when they hear about it. You need to know that Munger used to be a lawyer. First, I would like to sincerely thank Mr. Buffett for your honest and honest career, your leadership, and your support and contributions to philanthropy. My question to the two of you here is that now the AI genie has been released from the bottle, and you mentioned this today. On the Berkshire side, which business do you think has the greatest risk in front of AI?

WARREN BUFFETT: That's a great question. I think any labor-intensive industry will be threatened by AI. Of course, you can create more time for fun at this level. The question now is that you want to enjoy or relax today. Some people ask when they can relax as soon as they go to work? Of course, they also want to be able to stop working and take a break, but in reality, there are more problems in the middle.

Everyone thinks artificial intelligence has an in-depth level that can be discussed. I just mentioned that it's an elf and has already come out of the bottle. Speaking of fairy jokes, I actually have a few that I can share with you. When it comes to our business and our business, of course we have very talented managers and managers who work with us. If we use these things at a higher level, we may have better advantages or benefits, in this society. But if you're going to use this today to use an atomic bomb, or do something we don't think is appropriate, you might think there's a problem.

Now I'm going to talk about how AI can be more efficient in terms of all jobs, get more results, and reduce the so-called complete period of complete stagnation. These are some of the profits we can get now. But sometimes you start to allocate all of your labor, hoping to be able to distribute it properly within the business. When you talk about all industries, there are some jobs at our current level. Perhaps every company must talk about which jobs can be replaced with something else to do better, safer, and more efficient, such as dangerous processes, etc. It's still too early to come to a conclusion at this level. There's no mistake. We definitely have incredible ideas right now, but can you just imagine what will happen in the future? It may not be possible to say it until the next 100 years. It is impossible to predict now, and it is too early to make accurate predictions. What is the output of each type of production, or how fast is it? Of course, when I talk about AI, it's absolutely incredible. However, at the level of everyone's predictions, not all of them were correct, and we didn't really think what the final outcome would be during the discussion. Actually, we don't know if what was developed before is a bomb, or what it really is.

I think many countries will also make more choices; can't these things just be discussed on paper? After Google read these letters, in addition, Einstein and President Roosevelt also said that when they built an atomic bomb before, they didn't expect anything to happen. So Mr. Rivers (voice) knows what kind of results it will have once it is studied, for example, what kind of results it will have if an atomic bomb were to occur. So, there was no way for him to act rude at the time, but President Roosevelt and Albert Einstein had already considered this issue, but everyone thought it was very surprising when studying this topic. The Manhattan Project was born at that time. Not everyone knows everything, but we know that Einstein also sent a letter to tell the President about his understanding. But the Manhattan Project has begun; in any case, this is a thing of the past.

Not worried about the absolute amount of US Treasury bonds in supply, but about the prospects for fiscal deficits

Becky Quirk: The questioner is from California, so we now see that on March 25, 2024, today's national bond market, in 2008 and 2009, the situation seems to have been six times different, which has become some of the risks of that time. How do you think the current situation is different from 2008 and 2009? It's about the US debt situation.

Warren Buffett: Of course I don't know what the best guess is; it's just my idea. Some things still have to be accepted, and for a long time we had no choice other than public debt. Especially when it comes to the country's deficit and debt, it's been a long time. If you want to start quantifying again and how it will be affected now, will it pose a threat, or pose a huge threat to the entire world.

Moreover, we are still using the US dollar as a preparation currency, and the answers you actually need to find in the middle all have different explanations. The actual answer was in 1980, when we saw this phenomenon. There were also some threatening situations at that time. I talked to a Poll Boker guy at the time, and he was also worried about the situation at the time. But in reality, he had to actually make some decisions. At that time, some millionaires felt that the financial system at the time had begun to fall apart. They really have no way of predicting what kind of phenomenon will happen, so the gentleman I just mentioned was a person who wanted to solve the crisis at the time of the crisis, but we are not talking about how much quantity now poses a threat to America's current financial system. We're talking about whether cash is tantamount to some garbage, so think about whether the systems we have set up now will actually affect the future of the world?

So Poll Boker started working as a whole team at that time. If you don't know this history, you can read it. Of course, I'm not particularly worried about the volume. I want to worry about financial matters; I have to understand it clearly. What is the general situation? Think about it carefully; don't just sit still, but actually start taking action. Thinking about it again, our real intentions now are actually all good, and we are also interested and hope to focus on some of the things we need to pay attention to now. Because many things will happen unexpectedly, and we can't fully predict what kind of decisions the Federal Reserve is making right now.

Q: If you could go back to zero and do it all over again, would your priorities be different?

WARREN BUFFETT: I think if you make me think again, that's not my top priority. I can rethink a lot of things, if I want to go back to zero, what should I do? Of course I'm not perfect, and I myself believe in situations where I blame myself, or sometimes I'm not realistic enough to examine the actual situation. You've done so many things, how do I know? But after something happens, some of the results you might get are different, and you didn't expect it. So there's no way for you to redo things from the past, so don't blame yourself too much for the things you've done wrong, or live under self-blame for the rest of your life; that's not good. I try to do the most important things first, like I'm the best doctor, or I work in a different industry, I love my job, and I leave my money to someone I trust to manage it. This is how I have such good financial opportunities now.

So I think it's a great feeling that everyone believes in me. Charlie shared the same idea with me, so I was able to manage money for others. They believed in me, and I think it was great. If I want to change, I don't think there's anything I need to change. I've been very satisfied with my life. I feel very lucky, and I've been able to do it for the past 67 years. Even if I leave tomorrow, I feel the same way. So I never take regret medicine or specifically accuse me of something I did in the past.

My belief is to try to find the one thing you do best and that you love to do, which is the main thing. One more thing, you can be smarter today, and the one thing you can walk with a smile at any time is that you can use your money wisely for everyone and be more kind to the world.

Q: Charlie's will was announced in Los Angeles on March 4. The first one is very special. My life has been very rich because of my family's traditions and everyone's responsibilities to me. So I also hope that the old practices will become more popular, and we can inherit this responsibility. If you want to demand some responsibility from Berkshire's old capital, what kind of requirements would you make of them? why?

Warren Buffett: I'd say if they still have financial difficulties and aren't doing a good enough job, then like many rich people, they probably aren't using their money in the right place, so this question is the same whether you're poor or rich. I think if you're lucky enough, you also need to make sure that you can get that kind of luck by helping people around you.

This is also my advice to myself. I've always put this at the front and always reminded myself to “shut up”. We only answered about 30 questions today, but thank you all for coming here thousands of miles to attend the conference. I hope everyone can attend the conference next year. Of course, first of all, I need to make sure I can attend the conference myself next year. Thank you all. Thanks again everyone, thank you.

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