Berkshire Hathaway Makes No Apologies
If you were one of the 30,000+ shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway who made the trek this past weekend to Omaha, your dividends probably financed the trip many times over. The annual Woodstock for Capitalists brings together like-minded folks from all over the world seeking enlightenment from two investors well into their 90s—Warren Buffett at age 92 and Charlie Munger at 99.
Reese Energy Consulting today is following some highpoints of that meeting related to the company’s continued big bets on oil and gas. Among its empire, Berkshire owns 8.82% of Chevron, making it the third-largest shareholder of the world’s now sixth largest oil company and a leading Permian producer. The conglomerate also owns 23.6% of Occidental Petroleum, a Permian rival to Chevron. Berkshire in its annual meeting was quick to nix any speculation that it looked to buy control of Occidental with Buffett quipping, “We wouldn’t know what to do with it”. But he does know that fossil fuels aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon.
Perhaps one of the biggest takeaways of the day was Berkshire’s emphatic rejection of ESG, neutralizing six climate change and diversity proposals. Attending shareholders (fans), tickled pink by 1Q profits of $35.5 billion, later enjoyed local shopping and a tour of Omaha.