Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Report Download - page 40

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 40 of the 2014 Berkshire Hathaway annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 148

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60
  • 61
  • 62
  • 63
  • 64
  • 65
  • 66
  • 67
  • 68
  • 69
  • 70
  • 71
  • 72
  • 73
  • 74
  • 75
  • 76
  • 77
  • 78
  • 79
  • 80
  • 81
  • 82
  • 83
  • 84
  • 85
  • 86
  • 87
  • 88
  • 89
  • 90
  • 91
  • 92
  • 93
  • 94
  • 95
  • 96
  • 97
  • 98
  • 99
  • 100
  • 101
  • 102
  • 103
  • 104
  • 105
  • 106
  • 107
  • 108
  • 109
  • 110
  • 111
  • 112
  • 113
  • 114
  • 115
  • 116
  • 117
  • 118
  • 119
  • 120
  • 121
  • 122
  • 123
  • 124
  • 125
  • 126
  • 127
  • 128
  • 129
  • 130
  • 131
  • 132
  • 133
  • 134
  • 135
  • 136
  • 137
  • 138
  • 139
  • 140
  • 141
  • 142
  • 143
  • 144
  • 145
  • 146
  • 147
  • 148

‹I would be remiss if I didn’t salute another key constituency that makes Berkshire special: our shareholders.
Berkshire truly has an owner base unlike that of any other giant corporation. That fact was demonstrated in
spades at last year’s annual meeting, where the shareholders were offered a proxy resolution:
RESOLVED: Whereas the corporation has more money than it needs and since the owners unlike
Warren are not multi billionaires, the board shall consider paying a meaningful annual dividend on
the shares.
The sponsoring shareholder of that resolution never showed up at the meeting, so his motion was not
officially proposed. Nevertheless, the proxy votes had been tallied, and they were enlightening.
Not surprisingly, the A shares – owned by relatively few shareholders, each with a large economic interest
– voted “no” on the dividend question by a margin of 89 to 1.
The remarkable vote was that of our B shareholders. They number in the hundreds of thousands – perhaps
even totaling one million – and they voted 660,759,855 “no” and 13,927,026 “yes,” a ratio of about 47 to 1.
Our directors recommended a “no” vote but the company did not otherwise attempt to influence
shareholders. Nevertheless, 98% of the shares voting said, in effect, “Don’t send us a dividend but instead
reinvest all of the earnings.” To have our fellow owners – large and small – be so in sync with our
managerial philosophy is both remarkable and rewarding.
I am a lucky fellow to have you as partners.
Warren E. Buffett
38