From Saturday evening to early Sunday morning, Beijing time, the annual Berkshire Shareholders' Meeting was held in Omaha, a famous US investment city. Tens of thousands of investors will gather in the hometown of “stock god” Buffett, the small town of Omaha in Nebraska, to listen to Buffett's wisdom on the market views, investment strategies, and even life philosophy.

Following the death of Buffett's friend Munger at the end of last year, only Chairman Buffett and his two deputies — Greg Abell, who is responsible for the company's non-insurance business, and Ajit Jahn, who is responsible for the company's non-insurance business, took the stage to answer questions at this year's shareholders' meeting.

As a brief summary of today's shareholders' meeting, Buffett gave blunt answers to the investment market's concerns about topics such as excessive cash levels and the reduction of Apple holdings, and gave opinions on the possibility of investing in overseas markets such as Japan, Canada, and India. Also, although it has been repeatedly emphasized that they don't understand technology, stock leaders still express their opinions on emerging fields such as electric vehicles, solar energy, and AI.

It is worth mentioning that even though Munger is no longer around, Buffett mentioned his old friend many times throughout the game, and even habitually turned his head to Abel and asked “What do you think of Munger.” Remarkably, Buffett also frequently made fun of his age when talking about the heir issue, and also wished he “come back next year” at the end of the conference.

The following is a graphic review of the entire process:

21:45 Beijing time on Saturday [Shareholders' Meeting Live Video: Missing Charlie Munger]

This year, a short video before the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting paid tribute to Charlie Munger, vice chairman of Berkshire and an old friend of Buffett.

In November of last year, Charlie Munger died just 33 days before his 100th birthday, at the age of 99.

[Shareholders' meeting was full, shareholders stood up and applauded to pay tribute to Munger]

After the video in tribute to Munger was broadcast, 30,000 shareholders on the scene stood up and applauded.

22:15 [Shareholders' Meeting Officially Begins]

Buffett took the stage to mark the official start of the shareholders' meeting. As always, his favorite Sisi candy was placed in front of him.

22:20 [Buffett: Charlie Munger's book is the only one sold at this year's shareholders' meeting]

Buffett said that to commemorate Munger's death, Charlie Munger's “Poor Charlie Collection” will be the only book sold at this year's shareholders' meeting. However, at shareholders' meetings in previous years, there were usually about 25 books on sale.

22:28 [Buffett: Berkshire's Q1 insurance business has performed well, but this will not happen again for the rest of the year]

Berkshire's operating profit of $11.22 billion in the first quarter came mainly from the insurance business—the company's insurance business made a profit of $5.2 billion in the first quarter.

While discussing the company's first-quarter results, Buffett said that Ajit Jahn, who is responsible for Berkshire's insurance business, “wants me to point out to everyone that you can't multiply first-quarter insurance benefits by 4. That's not the case in insurance.”

Buffett said that the company's insurance risks are distributed among different regions and types of disasters, and the current major storm on the east coast of the United States may be the biggest risk facing the company. The Atlantic hurricane season lasts from June to November.

22:30 [Buffett: Berkshire's cash reserves will reach 200 billion US dollars]

Buffett talks about Berkshire's huge cash reserves: At the end of the Q1 quarter, our total cash and treasury bills were $182 billion. I think by the end of this quarter, our cash and treasury notes will reach $200 billion. This is a reasonable assumption. We would love to spend this money, but we won't spend it unless we think what we're doing is low risk and will bring us a lot of money.

22:37 [Buffett talks about reducing Apple holdings: Apple will still be our long-term investment]

Buffett said, “We will still hold shares in the three companies Apple, Coca Cola, and American Express for a long time, and this move has had many successes in the past.

22:45 [Buffett answers the first question: Will they continue to invest in China?]

The first question in the shareholders' meeting Q&A session was asked by a shareholder from Hong Kong, China: “Mr Buffett, Berkshire has invested in BYD before. Will you continue to invest in other companies in China in the future?”

Buffett answered: “Our main investment target will be in the US, which we firmly believe. Look, the Coca Cola or Express we have invested in are companies that are expanding their business globally. However, companies with global operations like American Express or Coca Cola are hard to find in the world. This is a global consensus. And I think the investment in BYD is quite similar to the investment we made in Japan 5 years ago: we quickly invested in 5 trading companies in Japan, and you will rarely see us make such investments overseas in the US, even though we are participating in the world economy through these companies. I understand America's rules, weaknesses, and strengths... I don't feel that way anywhere else in the world.”

22:50 [Buffett subconsciously calls the people around him Charlie Munger]

After answering questions, Buffett habitually called Abel “Charlie” when he wanted Abel close to him to answer questions.

23:10 [Buffett talks about artificial intelligence: I think the invention of artificial intelligence is similar to nuclear weapons]

When a questioner sitting in District 4 asked Buffett's views on artificial intelligence, Buffett first made a funny response: I regret asking my friends in District 4 to ask questions; I knew for a long time that I had asked the shareholders of District 2.

He then answered: I don't know anything about artificial intelligence, but that doesn't mean this technology isn't important. When we invented nuclear weapons before, we had already “let the elves jump out of the box”, and the elves couldn't return to the box. This is terrible. And I think artificial intelligence is in a similar situation. Right now I'm just hoping this genie can do something good.

23:13 [Buffett on DeepFake: AI May Be Used in Investment Fraud]

Buffett said, “I had an experience that made me feel a bit nervous. This was recently. I saw an image on the screen: it was me, my voice. My daughter didn't even notice any difference, but the message it conveyed was definitely not my own. If I'm interested in investment fraud, it's going to be one of the fastest growing industries ever because it's being enabled in a new way. Of course, AI also has the potential to bring good things.

23:28 [Buffett on climate change risks: no risk, no insurance]

Buffett said the company responds on an annual basis (climate risk), and we will consider these factors when underwriting; we don't need to tell you what will happen in five or ten years. We get a lot of letters from people I'm sure are smart, but they don't actually know the insurance business. In my opinion, their views on climate change aren't wrong, but without risk, there would be no insurance business. We do assessments, and we do it once a year. There are exceptions, and your decisions need to have an impact for a long time to come, and we'll try to avoid these situations.

23:30 [Jahn: Compared with peers in the insurance industry, Geico is still catching up in terms of data analysis]

Agit Jahn, the vice chairman responsible for the insurance business at Berkshire Hathaway, said when talking about Geico, a well-known insurance company under Berkshire, that Geico lags behind peers in data analysis.

Jahn said, “As Warren has pointed out in the past, one drawback Geico faces is that it doesn't do a good enough job of matching interest rates with risk, and segmenting and pricing products based on risk characteristics. Geico has always been bad at managing risk. Unfortunately, technology is a bottleneck.”

But at the same time, he added, “But then again, we're making progress. Yes, I acknowledge that we're still lagging behind, we're taking steps to close the gap, and of course, by the end of 2025, we should catch up with our best peers in data analysis.”

23:35 [Buffett talks about Ajit Jahn's succession]

When asked “how difficult it is to find a successor to Ajit Jain,” Buffett said the company couldn't find another Ajit Jain, but we have an operating system he created. At least some of it is almost impossible for competitors to imitate. (Note: Ajit Jahn is the vice chairman in charge of the insurance business at Berkshire. She is 72 years old.)

Ajit Jahn also responded that no one is irreplaceable. The audience offstage today is Tim Cook. He has proven this and set an example for many people. Berkshire's board is very concerned about succession issues, and every year they sit in front of them to answer questions and share my thoughts with them, such as what would happen to the operational side if I got hit by a truck. I'll present them with a short list of candidates I think might replace me. In addition to that, I'm going to go a step further and identify a specific person, and if something happens to me, I'll give the keys to this person.

23:45 [Buffett answers the question: If you could spend a day with Munger, what would you like to do?]

Buffett: Interesting question. Charlie loves to learn. As I mentioned in the previous video, he is interested in many things, and his interests are broader than mine. He and I have done a lot of things together in the past: we played tennis and golf, and we spent more time together than when we were alone.

Charlie shared with me some great ideas, and many of his ideas are still making money for Berkshire. Except when he joined the military, Charlie never considered eating healthy or not, but he was still 99.9 years old.

If Charlie could spend a day with me, I don't think it would be any different from any day we've spent together in the past.

23:52 [Buffett suggests he is evaluating a Canadian investment]

In response to questions from Canadian investors, Buffett revealed that Berkshire is evaluating a possible investment opportunity “north of the (US) border.” Buffett said, “We are very comfortable investing in Canada; in fact, we are currently looking at an investment. (Note: Berkshire has been making a secret investment in the financial sector for the past three quarters, which was one of the highlights of this year's conference.)

23:58 [Abell responds “Why should we invest in fossil energy?”]

When asked “why does Berkshire continue to invest in fossil energy in a place where the sun is so good in Las Vegas,” Berkshire Vice Chairman Abell said, “When you consider the ongoing transformation within the energy sector, we are shifting from carbon resources to renewable resources, but this transformation will not happen overnight; this transformation will take many years. And when we use renewable resources like solar or wind, they're intermittent. We did try to use it in combination with batteries, but we haven't been able to completely transition from carbon resources yet.”

Buffett added that my friend Bill Gates is trying to shorten battery work time, but this isn't something that can be done overnight. I can understand why people want to do it overnight, but this will require a lot of money, and it will require lots of good ideas and smart people like Bill. There are lots of people working on this issue, and we have enough money to implement it, but some things do take a certain amount of time. Buffett, for example, said that you can't get nine women pregnant to have a child within a month; there are some laws of nature that you must follow.

At 00:05 Beijing time on Sunday [Buffett answered the question: What is the sentence you want to share with us the most?]

Buffett: What I want to say is that you should be very lucky to live in the US because you can find opportunities here that you can't find in many other countries around the world.

I think the opportunities in America are limitless... You can't imagine how much progress we've made in the past 200 years: first, the industrial revolution, and then progress in science, education, etc. I think many people on the scene should be very lucky to have been born in the US. I think you should also find activities you love to participate in, and find people who share your interests. This is how Charlie and I found each other.

00:18 [Buffett answers the question: is it possible to invest in India]

Buffett: Yes, we are watching India, and I believe India has plenty of opportunities. But my question is, do we have an edge in our view of India? Does India actually want us to participate in our investment?

Maybe there are opportunities in India that we haven't noticed yet. I think we might find some opportunities in the future, but now our question is, can Berkshire pursue these opportunities?

Our investment in Japan is good, and India may also have such an opportunity. However, there may be some differences as to whether Japan and India are the same, especially in terms of cultural differences. And I haven't been able to give a good answer to this right now.

Buffett said that when it comes to investing in India, we'll see how the next management plays this game in Berkshire. Fortunately, you won't have to wait too long. Buffett emphasized “I feel good,” but he also knows a thing or two about his advanced age.

00:30 [Buffett talks about huge cash reserves: there aren't enough attractive investment targets right now]

A shareholder asked: Berkshire already has more than 180 billion US dollars in cash reserves in its accounts, what are you waiting for? Why not use them as an investment?

Buffett: I don't think all of us on stage right now have a good idea of how to use this money. A lot of people wave their baseball bats at all times, and we only swing one hit at the right time. When it comes to return on investment now, we won't always think about exceeding 10 billion dollars. The return of 10 million is probably very good now, because it's hard to find such a good investment opportunity now. There aren't enough attractive investment targets for us to invest now, but there may be changes in the future, so let's wait and see.

00:55 [Buffett talks about the impact of autonomous driving technology on insurance]

Buffett: Autonomous driving may reduce car accidents or reduce transportation costs, but this is still in a difficult initial phase. People have been discussing this issue for the past few years. When Uber first started, people were also discussing whether this business model was viable? But now it's proven that it's possible. If autonomous driving technology can reduce car accident rates by 50%, that's great.

00:56 [Buffett answers the question: What do you think of zero-emission vehicles? Is Berkshire still interested in new energy vehicles such as BYD?]

Buffett: I don't think we're going to let more talent pay too much attention to zero-emission cars because we don't think this track can determine the final winner right now.

Perhaps the government is also not doing enough in this area (environmental protection), and the climate change situation is also bad. We do need to change our way of life now, but there are still differences of opinion on whether this issue can be solved. Since I was born in the 1930s, environmental protection has always been an issue. The global population has risen from 3 billion to 8 billion over the past few decades, but we still haven't solved this problem.

1:13 [intermission]

Buffett announced a break at the shareholders' meeting. The second half will begin at 2:00 Beijing time.

A short video will be broadcast live at the shareholders' meeting. In the short video, the chairman of the board of directors of Einstein College of Medicine announced that tuition fees for students will be exempted from August this year. The decision was made thanks to a donation of up to 1 billion US dollars, which came from David Gottman, an early investor in Berkshire Hathaway and who had a friendship with Buffett for 60 years.

Buffett said, “That's why Charlie and I love managing Berkshire.

2:08 [The second half of the Berkshire Shareholders' Meeting begins]

In the second half of the question and answer session, Buffett placed an additional can of Coca Cola in front of him in addition to Happy Sweets.

2:20 [Who will take over Berkshire's investment decisions? Buffett responds]

When asked about the distribution of responsibilities between Abell and his two investment deputies Todd and Ted after he took over Berkshire, Buffett said that this decision will be left to Berkshire's board of directors to make, and after he is gone, he may try to “come back and see if they have a different approach.”

However, Buffett stressed that if he were on the board of directors at that time, he might leave responsibility for capital allocation to Abel based on his understanding of Abel because he knew the business very well. Buffett said that if you know a company, you'll understand stocks; if you really know how a business works, you're an investment manager. Buffett said that the responsibility he bears now should be entirely borne by the next CEO, that is, Abel.

2:45 [Buffett: We've missed a lot of investment opportunities but rarely regret it]

Buffett said that he and Munger must have missed many investment opportunities over the years, but only regretted a few.

“We've missed a lot of things, what we really regret is missing out on something very important, and we never worry about things we don't know,” Buffett said. “Why should we be able to predict the future of every business, just like we can predict the production of wheat?”

2:50 [When and why to sell stocks? Buffett responds]

Regarding the decision factors for judging the decision to sell stocks, Buffett said that there are many reasons to reduce positions. One of them is that you need cash. This situation is rare for Berkshire, but when he started investing at age 20, this happened every time he made a decision.

3:00 [Buffett: I take full responsibility for Paramount's investment failure]

Buffett said that Berkshire made 100% of his decisions to invest in Paramount and had nothing to do with the two investment managers. The company has sold all of its holdings and lost a significant amount of money.

3:23 [What's the secret to keeping a sharp mind? Buffett: Luck]

When asked by a shareholder from Hainan, China, “What is the secret to maintaining a sharp mind, extraordinary judgment, and good physical condition,” Buffett said this can only be described as good luck. If you go back in time to his high school days and ask how many people in his class will live to be 90 and a few boys will live to age 93, he won't bet on himself.

Buffett said that luck is very important. Some people will say, “I did it all by myself.” And I think this kind of person is really clueless.

However, Buffett also emphasized that we should make full use of life's opportunities.

3:50 [Buffett on the risks of artificial intelligence: it's still too early to draw conclusions]

When asked about the possible threat posed by artificial intelligence, Buffett said, “You asked this question very well, but my biggest problem is that I don't fully understand artificial intelligence. I think any labor-intensive industry could be threatened by AI.

Buffett said: Many people now think that there is a lot of deep content worth discussing about artificial intelligence. I just said that it is an elf that has come out of a bottle. AI can create a lot of leisure time, but how the world uses this much leisure time can be a problem. If this technology is used where it is beneficial to society, it will bring huge benefits, but I don't know how to ensure this.

Abel: I think artificial intelligence can play a role in improving efficiency and saving time, but in some labor-intensive industries, the effects of artificial intelligence in making processes safer may still be worth watching.

Buffett: Yes, it's probably too early to discuss the impact of artificial intelligence. Of course, AI technology is incredible, but not everyone's predictions may be correct. We still don't know whether artificial intelligence will actually be “the next nuclear bomb we develop.”

3:55 [Buffett responds to “How to see a surge in US Treasury bonds”]

When asked, “Compared to 2008-2009, the size of the US Treasury bond market has doubled 6 times. When will the market not be able to absorb so many US Treasury bonds?” At the time, Buffett said that he didn't know about this problem, but the best guess is that US bonds will still be accepted by the market for a long time to come, because there are currently no good alternatives.

04:05 Buffett held up the egg hidden on the table — a sign that said “Shut up” as his own advice, and put a question mark on the entire shareholders' meeting. Buffett said to all shareholders that he hoped you would be able to hold a shareholders' meeting next year, and also wished him “come” himself.

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