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The Oracle of Omaha
By Sala Kannan
18-06-2005
- Berkshire's shareholder's meeting, often called Woodstock for
capitalists, was absolutely not what I expected. And I witnessed another
side to Warren Buffett - his witty sense of humor was refreshingly
entertaining.
I waited outside the doors of Omaha's Qwest Center, at 6.30 am, with
200 other Buffett fans. Every year, over 20,000 people from all around
the world make this pilgrimage. Devoted shareholders and Buffett
groupies flock to Omaha eagerly waiting to soak up everything the
oracle has to say.
And why wouldn't they? The $10,000 he invested in Berkshire
Hathaway in 1965 would now be worth around $51 million.
Not only is the Berkshire shareholder's meeting the most anticipated
event of the year, it is a chance to see two of the funniest men in the
field of investment - the wise cracking, lampooning Warren Buffett and
his older, hilariously laconic Vice Chairman, Charlie Munger.
The meeting started with a corporate video - a mélange of cartoons,
songs and spoofs. All this was masterfully woven into the most
impressive sales campaign I've ever seen. Warren Buffett appeared on
the screen to talk about the rudiments of a good corporate video. He
said something along the lines of, "A good company video should be
straight-forward and not full of brand name nonsense."
Then he reached over and cracked open a can of Coke. (Buffett's
addiction to Coke is very justifiable. In 1988, he started buying the
undervalued stock and eventually invested $1.02 billion into the stock.
Within just three years, Buffett's Coca-Cola stock was worth more than
the entire value of Berkshire Hathaway itself).
After various other shameless plugs and mentions of every product
Buffett's companies make, the video progressed to a talking head on
CNBC interviewing Buffett. It was about his decision to buy the
underwear company, Fruit of the Loom.
"Mr. Buffet, why did you decide to buy an under-appreciated, under-
covered, and under-bought underwear company?" asked the
interviewer.
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