Berkshire Hathaway 2015 Annual Report Download - page 30

Be sure to visit the Bookworm. It will carry about 35 books and DVDs, among them a couple of new titles.
Andy Kilpatrick will introduce (and be glad to sign) the latest edition of his all-encompassing coverage of
Berkshire. It’s 1,304 pages and weighs 9.8 pounds. (My blurb for the book: “Ridiculously skimpy.”) Check out
Peter Bevelin’s new book as well. Peter has long been a keen observer of Berkshire.
We will also have a new, 20-page-longer edition of Berkshire’s 50-year commemorative book that at last
year’s meeting sold 12,000 copies. Since then, Carrie and I have uncovered additional material that we find
fascinating, such as some very personal letters sent by Grover Cleveland to Edward Butler, his friend and the then-
publisher of The Buffalo News. Nothing from the original edition has been changed or eliminated, and the price
remains $20. Charlie and I will jointly sign 100 copies that will be randomly placed among the 5,000 available for
sale at the meeting.
My friend, Phil Beuth, has written Limping on Water, an autobiography that chronicles his life at Capital
Cities Communications and tells you a lot about its leaders, Tom Murphy and Dan Burke. These two were the best
managerial duo – both in what they accomplished and how they did it – that Charlie and I ever witnessed. Much of
what you become in life depends on whom you choose to admire and copy. Start with Tom Murphy, and you’ll
never need a second exemplar.
Finally, Jeremy Miller has written Warren Buffett’s Ground Rules, a book that will debut at the annual
meeting. Mr. Miller has done a superb job of researching and dissecting the operation of Buffett Partnership Ltd.
and of explaining how Berkshire’s culture has evolved from its BPL origin. If you are fascinated by investment
theory and practice, you will enjoy this book.
An attachment to the proxy material that is enclosed with this report explains how you can obtain the
credential you will need for admission to both the meeting and other events. Airlines have sometimes jacked up
prices for the Berkshire weekend. If you are coming from far away, compare the cost of flying to Kansas City vs.
Omaha. The drive between the two cities is about 2
1
⁄ 2 hours, and it may be that Kansas City can save you
significant money, particularly if you had planned to rent a car in Omaha. The savings for a couple could run to
$1,000 or more. Spend that money with us.
At Nebraska Furniture Mart, located on a 77-acre site on 72nd Street between Dodge and Pacific, we will
again be having “Berkshire Weekend” discount pricing. Last year in the week encompassing the meeting, the store
did a record $44,239,493 of business. If you repeat that figure to a retailer, he is not going to believe you. (An
average week for NFM’s Omaha store – the highest-volume home furnishings store in the United States except for
our new Dallas store – is about $9 million.)
To obtain the Berkshire discount at NFM, you must make your purchases between Tuesday, April 26th and
Monday, May 2nd inclusive, and also present your meeting credential. The period’s special pricing will even apply to
the products of several prestigious manufacturers that normally have ironclad rules against discounting but which, in
the spirit of our shareholder weekend, have made an exception for you. We appreciate their cooperation. During
“Berkshire Weekend” NFM will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. on
Saturday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. From 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, NFM is hosting a picnic to which
you are all invited.
At Borsheims, we will again have two shareholder-only events. The first will be a cocktail reception from 6
p.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday, April 29th. The second, the main gala, will be held on Sunday, May 1st, from 9 a.m. to 4
p.m. On Saturday, we will remain open until 6 p.m. During last year’s Friday-Sunday stretch, the store wrote a sales
ticket every 15 seconds that it was open.
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