Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting kicks off today and, as luck would have it, one of the 27,000 (tiny) fractional owners of the company is a DealBreaker reader. Curtis Walker will be liveblogging the jamboree, which, in year’s past, has included Warren Buffett losing to an 11 year old at ping pong, and teaching a tantric sex class. So don’t be assholes—he’s one of you!
After a terrifying night of storms and 19 tornadoes at my mom's remote survivalist compound (Hi Mom), we hit the road after my daily Twitter fix. Fortunately, aside from wind, the weather was cooperative. We couldn't pass up a chance to stop at Costco* to get some Cokes and burn a few dollars off my AmEx. So far, it's a good day for "going Berkshire," though the motorhome isn't by Carefree of Colorado and it's not insured by Geico... yet; Geico recently entered the ATV and RV insurance business.
Omaha has greeted us with a wide open parking lot (as expected) and a gloomy, overcast sky. After a bit of freshening up, we'll be scooting over to the reception at Borsheims, which is pretty much a mob scene with endless lines at the free grub and drink stations. We try to save a few bucks by getting in line over at the Hilton and sharing a cab with some other rich people. If it weren't so cruddy outside, we could fire up the grille and have the smallest tailgating party ever.
-- Curtis Walker
Earlier: BKH Meeting: En Route
*BRK doesn't own any stock in Costco, but they only accept AmEx credit cards.
Guy Whose Entire Persona Is Built Around Loving Cherry Coke Can't Even Pick Cherry Coke Out Of A Lineup
Buffett said in the letter that he was looking for someone who was emotionally stable, could avoid serious risks, think independently and read human behavior. He also tried to reassure shareholders that he was in excellent health: "It's amazing what Cherry Coke and hamburgers will do for a fellow."-- New York Times, March 9, 2007 "The Economic Club of Washington rolled out a special head table — and laid in a special soft drink supply — at the Marriott Wardman Park in the District last Tuesday for the club’s 25th anniversary, where it hosted billionaire investor Warren Buffett...Economic Club Executive Director Mary Brady said she was advised by Buffett’s assistant, Debbie Bosanek, to keep things moving and find a supply of Cherry Coke (Buffett loves it...The Marriott Wardman Park, which is a Pepsi venue, made a special exception."-- Washington Post, June 10, 2012 For six months, as the credit crisis deepened, billionaire investor Warren Buffett turned away a string of Wall Street firms that came hat in hand looking for help. On Tuesday, Mr. Buffett says, he was sitting with his feet on his desk in Omaha, drinking a Cherry Coke and munching on mixed nuts, when he got an unusually candid call from a Goldman Sachs investment banker. Tell us what kind of investment you'd consider making in Goldman, the banker urged him, and the firm would try to hammer out a deal.-- Wall Street Journal, September 25, 2008 David Rolfe, chief investment officer of Wedgewood Partners, which owns Berkshire stock, said the cancer was a non-news event. “I’m more worried about him getting hit by the Cherry Coke truck,” Rolfe said, a reference to Buffett’s professed love of the Coca-Cola product.-- Deal Journal, April 18, 2012 Whenever I lost track of Buffett, [Cherry] Coke often appeared to guide me--a carbonated version of the proverbial trail of crumbs. In London, our party went from airport to hotel in separate cars. When I arrived at the Berkeley Hotel, I did not have to wonder for long whether Buffett had preceded me. A bellhop approached with a shopping bag. ''Is this yours?'' he asked. Inside were two six-packs of Cherry Coke. Two days later, I was in the crowded lobby of the Schlosshotel Kronberg near Frankfurt, following a white-gloved waiter bearing aloft a single bottle of Coca-Cola on a silver tray.-- BusinessWeek, June 5, 1999 The above is but a mere sampling, a drop in the bucket, of articles printed over the years intended to show us how much Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett loves Cherry Coke. That it is his exclusive soft drink of choice. That he spurns all others in its favor. That he bathes in it. That he pisses it. That he bleeds not blood, but Cherry Coke. That the mere suggestion of drinking something that is not Cherry Coke makes him sick. That the notion he wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Cherry Coke- his lifeblood- and, say, Diet Dr. Pepper or Pepsi Wild Cherry, would be laughable. And then this happened: The takeaway here is that we've all been pawns an an extremely sick game. Warren Buffett Fails the Cherry Coke Taste Test [BloombergTV]