Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Report Download - page 24

Neither Charlie nor I will get so much as a clue about the questions headed our way. Some will be tough,
for sure, 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 for 18 from the audience. (Last year we had 62 in total.) The questioners from the
audience will be chosen by means of 11 drawings that will take place at 8:15 a.m. on the morning of the annual
meeting. Each of the 11 microphones installed in the arena and main overflow room will host, so to speak, a
drawing.
While I’m on the subject of our owners’ gaining knowledge, let me remind you that Charlie and I believe
all shareholders should simultaneously have access to new information that Berkshire releases and should also have
adequate time to analyze it. That’s why we try to issue financial data late on Fridays or early on Saturdays and why
our annual meeting is always held on a Saturday. We do not talk one-on-one to large institutional investors or
analysts, treating them instead as we do all other shareholders.
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We get terrific help at meeting time from literally thousands of Omaha residents and businesses who
want you to enjoy yourselves. This year, because we expect record attendance, we have worried about a shortage of
hotel rooms. To deal with that possible problem, Airbnb is making a special effort to obtain listings for the period
around meeting time and is likely to have a wide array of accommodations to offer. Airbnb’s services may be
especially helpful to shareholders who expect to spend only a single night in Omaha and are aware that last year a
few hotels required guests to pay for a minimum of three nights. That gets expensive. Those people on a tight
budget should check the Airbnb website.
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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 the mindset of our
managers also to be as shareholder-oriented as can be found in the universe of large publicly-owned companies.
Most of our managers 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 24 men and women who work with me at our corporate office. This
group efficiently deals with a multitude of SEC and other regulatory requirements, files a 24,100-page Federal
income tax return and oversees the filing of 3,400 state tax 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 the 40
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 and french fries (smothered in
Heinz ketchup, of course) for lunch. No CEO has it better; I truly do feel like tap dancing to work every day.
Last year, for the annual report, we dropped our 48-year-old “no pictures” policy – who says I’m not
flexible? – and ran a photo of our remarkable home-office crew that was taken at our Christmas lunch. I didn’t warn
the gang of the public exposure they were to receive, so they didn’t have on their Sunday best. This year was a
different story: On the facing page you will see what our group looks like when they think someone will be noticing.
However they dress, their performance is mind-boggling.
Come meet them on May 2nd and enjoy our Woodstock for Capitalists.
February 27, 2015
Warren E. Buffett
Chairman of the Board
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