By Anupreeta Das And Kristen Scholer
The festivities around Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s annual meeting
kicked off early Saturday morning with shareholders being greeted
by a parade of steers and a Wells Fargo & Co. stagecoach as
they waited in line for the doors to open.
Right in front of the CenturyLink Center in downtown Omaha,
which is expected to host more than 40,000 attendees for the
meeting, more than a dozen NetJets Inc. pilots belonging to a union
held placards and marched. The Berkshire-owned private-jet company
has been in the midst of contract negotiations with its unions.
Storm clouds threatened, but the rain held in check.
Shareholders were in high spirits. Berkshire is celebrating 50
years of Warren Buffett at the helm of the diversified holding
company. On Friday, Berkshire posted a nearly 10% increase in net
profit.
Once the doors opened, shareholders rushed in to grab seats.
Some made their way to the exhibition hall where more than 40
companies wholly or partly owned by Berkshire, including
cowboy-boot maker Justin Brands and See's Candies, were preparing
to hawk their wares. The hall was open to shoppers on Friday,
too.
At the Benjamin Moore booth, they had furry bears on offer while
at the Borsheims jewelry counter, shareholders could buy Berkshire
stock-certificate pendants in gold and silver.
"[The environment] almost feels like a cult or religion," said
shareholder Kenneth Yap, who traveled all the way from Malaysia to
attend the weekend-long event. "People are almost fanatical about
their adoration [for Mr. Buffett]." Mr. Yap bought B shares just a
few months ago specifically because he wanted to attend this year's
meeting.
Although it was just after 7 a.m., shareholders already were
munching on Dilly bars from Berkshire-owned Dairy Queen. As he
walked into the hall, Warren Buffett too grabbed a bar and made his
way to the newspaper-tossing contest, where former supermodel Kathy
Ireland, in a blue dress and heels, was practicing her throw.
"You're taking this very seriously," Mr. Buffett said to Ms.
Ireland, who was folding a 40-page edition of the Omaha
World-Herald, another Berkshire company, into a compact roll. "It's
easier when it's heavier," Mr. Buffett added, referring to the
paper's weight.
For shareholders who wanted to try their hand at throwing a
newspaper across a 35-foot aisle with the goal of landing it on a
Clayton Homes porch, there were pre-folded papers of 36, 38 and 40
pages.
"Nobody throws a paper like Mr. Buffett," Ms. Ireland said.
However, the 84-year-old billionaire was off his A game.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates chose a pre-folded paper with 36
pages and tried his hand. The paper sailed in the air and landed
outside the porch. He tried again, and it reached the steps, but
not the porch.
"It's easier without the steps," Mr. Gates, a Berkshire
director, complained. "They do some homes without the steps." The
Microsoft founder, dressed casually in a pale yellow sweater, said
he too had been a paperboy in his youth, delivering the Seattle
morning paper.
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