Berkshire Hathaway 2012 Annual Report Download - page 26

From the questions submitted, each journalist will choose the six he or she decides are the most interesting
and important. The journalists have told me your question has the best chance of being selected if you keep it
concise, avoid sending it in at the last moment, make it Berkshire-related and include no more than two questions in
any email you send them. (In your email, let the journalist know if you would like your name mentioned if your
question is selected.)
Last year we had a second panel of three analysts who follow Berkshire. All were insurance specialists,
and shareholders subsequently indicated they wanted a little more variety. Therefore, this year we will have one
insurance analyst, Cliff Gallant of Nomura Securities. Jonathan Brandt of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb will join the
analyst panel to ask questions that deal with our non-insurance operations.
Finally – to spice things up – we would like to add to the panel a credentialed bear on Berkshire, preferably
one who is short the stock. Not yet having a bear identified, we would like to hear from applicants. The only
requirement is that you be an investment professional and negative on Berkshire. The three analysts will bring their
own Berkshire-specific questions and alternate with the journalists and the audience in asking them.
Charlie and I believe that all shareholders should have access to new Berkshire information simultaneously
and should also have adequate time to analyze it, which is why we try to issue financial information after the market
close on a Friday and why our annual meeting is held on Saturdays. We do not talk one-on-one to large institutional
investors or analysts. Our hope is that the journalists and analysts will ask questions that will further educate
shareholders about their investment.
Neither Charlie nor I will get so much as a clue about the questions to be asked. We know the journalists
and analysts will come up with some tough ones, and that’s the way we like it. All told, we expect at least 54
questions, which will allow for six from each analyst and journalist and 18 from the audience. If there is some extra
time, we will take more from the audience. Audience questioners will be determined by drawings that will take
place at 8:15 a.m. at each of the 11 microphones located in the arena and main overflow room.
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For good reason, I regularly extol the accomplishments of our operating managers. They are truly All-
Stars, who run their businesses as if they were the only asset owned by their families. I believe their mindset to be
as shareholder-oriented as can be found in the universe of large publicly-owned companies. Most have no financial
need to work; the joy of hitting business “home runs” means as much to them as their paycheck.
Equally important, however, are the 23 men and women who work with me at our corporate office (all on
one floor, which is the way we intend to keep it!).
This group efficiently deals with a multitude of SEC and other regulatory requirements, files a 21,500-page
Federal income tax return as well as state and foreign returns, responds to countless shareholder and media inquiries,
gets out the annual report, prepares for the country’s largest annual meeting, coordinates the Board’s activities – and
the list goes on and on.
They handle all of these business tasks cheerfully and with unbelievable efficiency, making my life easy
and pleasant. Their efforts go beyond activities strictly related to Berkshire: Last year they dealt with 48 universities
(selected from 200 applicants) who sent students to Omaha for a Q&A day with me. They also handle all kinds of
requests that I receive, arrange my travel, and even get me hamburgers for lunch. No CEO has it better; I truly do
feel like tap dancing to work every day.
This home office crew, along with our operating managers, has my deepest thanks and deserves yours as
well. Come to Omaha – the cradle of capitalism – on May 4th and chime in.
March 1, 2013 Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board
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