(Reuters) – Warren Buffett took the stage at Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE:) annual meeting on Saturday, where he praised his longtime business partner Charlie Munger, outlined the expanded roles of the executives set to eventually succeed him and discussed Berkshire's opportunities.
Greg Appel, 61, who named Buffett's successor as CEO in 2021, sat on stage with Buffett.
Here are some notes during the meeting on various topics from Buffett and Abel:
Buffet on succession
“I'm not really doing much and I'm not working at the same level of efficiency that I would have had thirty or forty years ago… When you have someone like Greg (Abel) and Ajit (Jain), why compromise for me? It's worked out very well. “
“The number of calls I get from managers is pretty close to zero, and Greg handles them. I don't quite know how he does it, but we've got the right person, I can tell you that.
“We will own Apple (NASDAQ:) and American Express (NYSE:) and Coca-Cola (NYSE:) when Greg takes over this place.”
Buffet on capital allocation
(On future capital allocation) “If I were on this board and made this decision, I would probably, knowing Greg, leave the capital allocation to Greg. He understands the business very well, and if you understand the business you understand common stock.
Buffet in life:
“You don't know where life's paths are going, you can't blame yourself, you try to do the things that interest you. I enjoy managing money for people who trust me. I like feeling confident. I'm not looking to change too much, I believe in trying to find what you're good at and what you're good at.” You enjoy it, and I think the only thing you can aspire to is to be kind, and then the world is better off. I'm not sure the world would be better off if you were richer.”
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Abel on the succession
“As we go through any transition, it is important to know that the capital allocation principles that Berkshire lives by today will continue to exist,” Appel said.
“We will always look at stocks as if we were investing in a business, 1% or 100%.”
Buffet on Charlie Munger
Munger was “the architect of the Berkshires of today. The architect is one who dreams, designs, and finally supervises the construction of great structures. Carpenters and beavers are needed, that is me, but the architect is the genius of Berkshire.”
“Charlie, in all the years we've worked together, not only has he never lied to me once, he's never even framed things like he's told half a lie or a quarter lie to kind of stack the deck in the direction he wants. He goes.”
Buffett talks about opportunities at Berkshire
“We made that commitment in Japan… five years ago, and it was… very compelling… but you won't find us making a lot of investments outside the United States.”
“I understand the rules, weaknesses, and strengths of the United States…I don't have the same feeling about economies around the world, and I don't get to know other cultures very well.”
“We will be American-minded. If we do something really big, it will very likely be done in the United States.”
“Berkshire's goal…is to increase operating profits and reduce shares outstanding. It's easy to describe, not necessarily easy to do, but that's what we're trying to do.”
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Cash buffet
“We have a lot of short-term fixed investments that are very responsive to changes in interest rates, so that number has gone up significantly and I can't predict it will go up this year.”
“Our cash and T-bills were $182 billion at the end of the quarter, and I think it's a fair assumption that they (could) rise to $200 billion at the end of the quarter.”
“I don't mind at all in the current circumstances building a cash position. When I look at the alternatives, what's available in the stock markets and the composition of what's happening in the world, I find it very attractive.
Buffett on US taxes and debt
“Almost everyone I know pays a lot more attention to not paying taxes than I think they should, and we don't mind paying taxes at Berkshire.”
“In fiscal policy, something has to happen, and I think raising taxes is a possibility. If the government wants to take a bigger share of your income or mine or Berkshire's income, they can do that. They may decide one day they don't want that.” “The fiscal deficit has to be that big because that has some important consequences, so they may not want to cut spending, so they may decide they'll take a larger percentage of what we have and we'll pay it back.”
“My best prediction is that US debt will be acceptable for a very long time because there are not a lot of alternatives.”
Buffet on apples
“We own American Express, which is a great company, we own Coca-Cola, which is a great company, and we own Apple, which is an even better company.”
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“Unless something really extraordinary happens, we will own Apple, American Express and Coca Cola.”
“At the end of the year, I would say it's very likely that Apple will be our largest common stock.”
Buffet on Coca Cola
“There's hardly a company that does business around the world like Coca-Cola. I mean, it's the soft drink of choice in 170 or 180 out of 200 countries. Maybe these are rough estimates from a few years ago, but that degree of acceptance around the world is no Almost unparalleled.
Buffet on Paramount share
“It was 100% my decision, we sold everything and lost a lot of money.”
Buffett talks about artificial intelligence
“I think it has tremendous potential for good and tremendous potential for harm.”
