Text size [+][-] Friday November 20 2009GLOBAL EDITION
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By Richard Beales
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Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, held its annual shareholders’ meeting in Omaha, Nebraska on May 2. An estimated 35,000 shareholders attended. Buffett, 78, has so far selected four possible candidates who might replace him as Berkshire’s investment boss, but has not named them. At the annual meeting, he said: “In terms of 2008 by itself, you would not say that they covered themselves with glory … But I didn’t cover myself in glory either in 2008”. Over its 40-plus years, Berkshire has increased its emphasis on in-house businesses as opposed to investments. In his 2007 letter to shareholders, Buffett noted that the growth in per-share investments had slowed to an annualized 14.3% in 1993-2007, against 42.8% in 1965-1979. Per-share pre-tax earnings of non-insurance subsidiaries, meanwhile, grew 23.5% a year in 1993-2007, against 11.1% in 1965-1979. The insurance “float” – the premiums held by Berkshire against future payouts – amounted to $58.5bn in 2008, compared with $18.5m in 1967 when the company first entered the insurance business.
richard.beales@breakingviews.com