Berkshire Hathaway 2015 Annual Report Download - page 31

We will have huge crowds at Borsheims throughout the weekend. For your convenience, therefore,
shareholder prices will be available from Monday, April 25th through Saturday, May 7th. During that period, please
identify yourself as a shareholder either by presenting your meeting credential or a brokerage statement showing
you own our stock.
On Sunday, in the mall outside of Borsheims, Norman Beck, a remarkable magician from Dallas, will
bewilder onlookers. On the upper level, we will have Bob Hamman and Sharon Osberg, two of the world’s top
bridge experts, available to play bridge with our shareholders on Sunday afternoon. I will join them and hope to
have Ajit and Charlie there also.
My friend, Ariel Hsing, will be in the mall as well on Sunday, taking on challengers at table tennis. I met
Ariel when she was nine and even then I was unable to score a point against her. Now, she’s a junior at Princeton,
having already represented the United States in the 2012 Olympics. If you don’t mind embarrassing yourself, test
your skills against her, beginning at 1 p.m. Bill Gates and I will lead off and try to soften her up.
Gorat’s will again be open exclusively for Berkshire shareholders on Sunday, May 1st, serving from 1 p.m.
until 10 p.m. To make a reservation at Gorat’s, call 402-551-3733 on April 1st (but not before). As for my other
favorite restaurant, Piccolo’s, I’m sad to report it closed.
We will again have the same three financial journalists lead the question-and-answer period at the meeting,
asking Charlie and me questions that shareholders have submitted to them by e-mail. The journalists and their e-
mail addresses are: Carol Loomis, the preeminent business journalist of her time, who may be e-mailed at
[email protected]; Becky Quick, of CNBC, at [email protected]; and Andrew Ross Sorkin, of
The New York Times, at [email protected].
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 e-mail you send them. (In your e-mail, let the journalist know if you would like your name mentioned if your
question is asked.)
An accompanying set of questions will be asked by three analysts who follow Berkshire. This year the
insurance specialist will be Cliff Gallant of Nomura Securities. Questions that deal with our non-insurance
operations will come from Jonathan Brandt of Ruane, Cunniff & Goldfarb and Gregg Warren of Morningstar. Our
hope is that the analysts and journalists will ask questions that add to our owners’ understanding and knowledge of
their investment.
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. Multi-part questions aren’t allowed; we want to give as many questioners as
possible a shot at us.
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 64 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.
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