💸 5 Things I Learned at the Berkshire AGM
Today is Dividend Day.
In this series, I usually teach you 5 things about dividend investing in less than 5 minutes.
But not today…
Today I’ll teach you 5 things I learned at the Berkshires AGM in Omaha.
1️⃣ Buffett Plans to Step Down as CEO
We’ll start with the biggest thing that everyone learned at the AGM.
Buffett is recommending to the board of directors that Greg Abel replace him as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Now, this wasn’t in a press release or whispered in a backroom.
Warren said the only people who knew this prior to the meeting were his children.
Greg and the board of directors found out at the same time everyone in the arena did.
He received a massive standing ovation.
I think everyone in the arena felt the emotion and importance of the moment…
I know I did.
It felt like history. Because it was.
Here’s the end of his announcement and the reaction of the people in the arena:
2️⃣ Read Everything
Charlie Munger was reading everything. From electricity to biology.
Knowledge compounds just like money.
Spend $20 on a book, and you can steal the best ideas from the best investors in the world.
That $20 book can hold a $2 million idea.
Read one a week. Do it for a decade.
You’ll be unrecognizable.
Here’s 6 lessons from one of my favorite personal finance books.
3️⃣ Buffett’s View on Tariffs
More open trade is good for everyone.
Buffett said ‘trade can be an act of war’.
The U.S. should be looking to trade with the rest of the world by doing what we do best and allowing them to do what they do best.
Ghana should raise cocoa, and Columbia should raise coffee.
Buffett feels the U.S. has already won - it’s the most successful country in the history of the world.
If the rest of the world does better, the U.S. will do better too.
4️⃣ Think Long Term
Buffett said that the day he was born the Dow Jones traded at 240 points. Now it’s over 40,000.
Warren Buffett is 94 years old and still thinks long term. You should too.
5️⃣ Surround Yourself With the Right People
Warren talked about the importance of people a lot.
You’ll always end up going the same direction as the people around you, he said.
So… Choose them carefully.
That advice doesn’t just apply to your friends, it applies to your manger too.
According to Warren, it’s far more important to work for someone with integrity - someone who makes you better - than to just chase the job that pays the most.
I was lucky - I sat in that room with some incredible people.
As someone who hates getting up early, that ‘race for the best seats’ sounded terrible to me.
But Pieter?
He got up early. Waited in line. Took care of it.
All I had to do was show up a little later, and join him in a great seat.
Hanging around the right people will help you become better… and it might get you a few extra hours of sleep.
That’s it for today!
Used sources
Interactive Brokers: Portfolio data and executing all transactions
Finchat: Financial data