Warren Buffett said he could make a 50% return on $1 million and predicted higher taxes. Here are 14 Q&A nuggets.

• Warren Buffett's Q&A at Berkshire's annual meeting was full of interesting nuggets and anecdotes.

• He brought up a potential Canadian bet, saying he could make a 50% annual return on $1 million.

• Buffett predicted higher taxes and revealed a $500 million donation of Berkshire stock.

Warren Buffett left out a slew of interesting facts and tidbits during Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.

Headliners for the event included Buffett making sure He sold 13% of his huge stake in Apple, Acknowledgment of responsibility For a losing bet on Paramount, and Raise the alarm On AI-assisted fraud.

But Berkshire's CEO also warned of higher taxes, sparked interest in a potential Canadian investment, and revealed a $500 million gift of Berkshire stock.

Moreover, Buffett declared that he could earn a 50% annual return on $1 million, predicted that Berkshire's cash pile would swell to more than $200 billion this quarter, and recalled the time a Russian chess player visited Omaha.

Here are 14 interesting nuggets from the Berkshire meeting:

1. Scratch it

Buffett noted that Berkshire achieved operating profits of $37 billion last yearWhich means that on a normal day he would receive a new $100 million to publish. The investor was emphasizing the difficulty of investing intelligently for such a large and continuous cash flow.

2. Cash hoard

Berkshire hit a mountain of cash and treasury Record $189 billion In the last quarter, it will likely swell to more than $200 billion this quarter, Buffett said.

“I don't mind at all, under the current circumstances, building a cash position. When I look at the alternative available in the stock markets, and I look at the combination of what's happening in the world, I find it quite astonishing.”

3. Taxation times

Buffett said the government will likely increase taxes in the coming years in an attempt to balance its budget.

“I would say with current fiscal policies something has to happen. I think raising taxes is very likely. The government may decide that one day it does not want the fiscal deficit to get that high, and it may not want to reduce it.” “They spend a lot, and they may decide they will take a bigger percentage of what we earn.”

4. Charlie's and Costco

Buffett lamented that he should have listened to his late business partner, Charlie Munger, and been “more aggressive” in his investment in Costco.

Berkshire Its share increased At retail from $32 million in 1999 to $1.3 billion in June 2020, it exited the following quarter. Costco stock rose more than 500% during that period.

The story continues

“Charlie hit the table with me twice and said, 'Buy, buy, buy.' BYD was one of them And Costco was the otherBuffett said.

5. Canada conspiracy

Buffett revealed that he is exploring the possibility of investing in Canada.

“We don't feel uncomfortable in any way or form putting our money in Canada. In fact, we're actually looking at one thing right now.”

6. The new system

Buffett appears to have changed his mind about who will manage Berkshire's stock portfolio after his departure. In place of investment managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, he proposed that his successor as CEO, Greg Appel, take over oversight of the company.

“I think the responsibility should fall entirely on Greg,” Buffett said. “He understands business very well, and if you understand business, you understand common stock.”

7. Collapse

Buffett admitted that he and Munger were lenient with underperforming managers, but announced that would change once Appel took over.

“If you have 20 kids and you're very rich, you're going to have some kids who are going to be successful anyway, and you're going to have some who aren't. We're a very rich company and we didn't do that. He had a history of being very hard on people who left, and he would Greg did something about it.

8. Hit the banks

Buffett targeted Wall Street while emphasizing that Berkshire's strong finances allow it to lend and invest money during dark periods when no one else would.

“In those times, we want to make sure that the U.S. government believes that we are an asset to the situation and not a liability or a supplicant, as happened with the banks in 2008 and 2009. They have all been tarred with the same brush. But we want to make sure that the brush that defines our future is not Contaminated with tar.”

9. Payment of fees

Buffett may be a bargain hunter Little respect for brokersBut he happily paid Standard broker fees In the last sale of his house.

“I sold a house for $7 million. I didn't negotiate a 6% discount, and I feel like I got my money's worth and more. I'm naturally cheap, so I don't care. I got my money's worth.”

10. A mysterious gift

Ruth Gottesman, widow of the late Berkshire CEO Sandy Gottesman, recently Donated $1 billion worth of Berkshire stock To the Albert Einstein College of Medicine to cover students' tuition fees in perpetuity.

Buffett revealed that at the same time that Berkshire was buying back those shares from the college for cash, it was also buying back $500 million worth of stock from another charitable donor in a different state.

He shared this fact to illustrate that Berkshire shareholders are unparalleled in their generosity.

11. Pocket change

Buffett claimed that if he had just $1 million to invest instead of nearly $200 billion, he could achieve an annual return of 50%. “I'll try to know everything about every little thing, and I'll find something.”

12. Dollar Hero

Buffett dismissed concerns aboutDe-dollarization“Or diminish Dollar dominance Worldwide: “There is virtually no alternative to the dollar as a reserve currency.”

13. Debts and deficits

The investor raised the alarm about the US government running a large budget deficit and accumulating unprecedented amounts of debt.

“I'm not sitting around simmering myself in the soup about it in the least,” Buffett said of the government spending more than it brings in each year. “But I can't help but think about it.”

“It's not going to be a question of how much,” he said of the national debt, “it's going to be a question of whether inflation will in any way break free in a way that actually threatens the entire global economic situation.”

14. Chess ownership

Buffett noted that Russian chess icon Garry Kasparov once visited his home city and met the players Legendary founder From the Nebraska furniture market owned by Berkshire.

“I know great bridge players, I know great chess players. In fact, Kasparov came to Omaha, and he met Mrs. B.”

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