Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2024 – The Good Investing Guide

In this video, you can find a 30-minute summary of our guide for the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2024:

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The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting 2024 was held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, from 7 AM to 4 PM at the CHI Health Center Omaha. Many shareholders traveled to Omaha a few days earlier to participate in various activities and events around the Berkshire 2024 AGM.

This chapter shows how tickets worked in 2024. For the current process, read the guide for the 2027 meeting.

Tickets are required to join all shareholder events during the week of the meeting. Your ticket gives you discounts at the exhibition hall and in the facilities of Nebraska Furniture Mart, Borsheims, or The Bookworm (more below).

• Tickets are handed out as a 3.22 x 4.92-inch (8.2 x 12.5 cm) sized badge.
• Every year, the design of the badge changes to fit the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting design.
• In Omaha, you can pick up a lanyard to comfortably wear the ticket badge around your neck.

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting tickets are also called credentials or shareholder badges. To keep it simple, we are calling them tickets. These were the three ways to get your Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting 2024 tickets.

We strongly recommend pre-ordering tickets. In 2024, there were two options:

The proxy form

Shareholders can request their tickets via the proxy form. These were the steps:

• Please complete the proxy form and send it to Berkshire Hathaway via the postal service. Berkshire Hathaway will send you the tickets to your home address.
• If you get a physical copy of the annual report, you can order the AGM tickets via the perforated card on Berkshire Hathaway’s printed annual report.

Getting your tickets via the proxy form is free. This way, you can order up to four tickets. Similar to eBay, you have to factor in a shipping buffer. Plan with at least ten days shipping time to Omaha and the similar time frame to get the tickets delivered.

eBay

eBay users can order the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting 2024 credentials for a fee of $5 (ebay.com) or $6 (not ebay.com) per ticket via the official account brka_b. Please only buy tickets from this account. It is the only reputable source.

• US shareholders will only have to wait a few days until they get their tickets. Usually, for them, shipping is free.
• International shareholders also have to factor in shipping fees and shipping times. The price per ticket and shipping fees are the cheapest via ebay.com. Here, shipping fees are below $15. Furthermore, timing the shipping window right can be crucial. It can take up to one month to get the tickets. But from our experience, “real” shipping times are usually quicker. So, please plan in some buffer that your tickets arrive on time before you fly to the United States. We would recommend planning at least a ten-day shipping buffer to be on the safe side.

Ordering tickets via eBay is the most convenient option. However, this is not the cheapest way to access the CHI Health Center, as you must pay for every ticket and additional shipping fees.

Tickets were available after the release of the official proxy filings in mid-March 2024. These were the release dates:

• In 2024, proxy materials were available from March 16, 2024. Tickets on eBay were available from March 27, 2024.
• In 2023, proxy materials were available from March 17, 2023. Tickets on eBay were available from March 27, 2023.

There is also an option to pick up tickets in Omaha:

Will-call

As a shareholder, you can pick up your badges on-site in the will-call area in the lobby of the CHI Health Center. Picking up your ticket there is possible:

• Friday from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM (our recommended day to get tickets) and
• Saturday from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

In the will-call area, you must show your photo identification and proof that you are a shareholder.

• The photo identification can, for instance, be your passport or your driver’s license.
• The shareholder proof can be a certificate of your broker, a printed securities account statement, a screenshot, or just your broker app that shows you own a Berkshire Hathaway share.

Tip: You might have to wait a few hours in the rain to get your tickets at the will-call. Therefore, we recommend pre-ordering your tickets ahead of your trip to Omaha.

Here, we share key facts for the day of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting.

During the AGM, Warren Buffett, Ajit Jain, and Greg Abel could be addressed with shareholder questions. There were two options to ask a question:

1. In advance, you could send your questions to Becky Quick via . Becky picked the best questions to ask them to Warren Buffett, Ajit Jain, or Greg Abel.
2. At the meeting, you could try your luck with the question lottery. At 8:15 AM, shareholders at each of the 11 microphone locations at the Berkshire Shareholders Meeting 2024 were drawn to ask a question. Selected shareholders could ask any question once Warren Buffett called their microphone.

To get a great answer to your question, Berkshire Hathaway asks for the following:

• Please do not ask more than one question or attempt to “bundle” several questions together.
• Please do not ask what we are buying or selling. Even if the information is public, we do not discuss how we arrive at our decisions. We also will not discuss politics. Any other subjects are fair game.

In our eyes, your chance that Becky Quick picks your question rises if you keep it short and focus on one clear aspect.

The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting 2024 was held on Saturday, May 4, 2024, at the CHI Health Center Omaha. It had the following schedule (in local CT time):

• 7:00 AM – The Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2024 doors, including the Exhibition Hall, opened.
• 8:45 AM – The Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2024 movie started.
• 9:15 AM – Shareholders asked Warren Buffett, Ajit Jain, and Greg Abel questions.
• Noon – The shareholder meeting had a lunch break of one hour.
• 1:00 PM – The Q&A resumed. After the Q&A, the official AGM took place.
• 5:00 PM – Berkshire Hathaway planned to end the meeting around this time.

Shareholders could follow the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting 2024 online on this CNBC live stream.

The live stream covers 100% of the Q&A. But the first hour of the Berkshire Hathaway Meeting 2024 can only be experienced in person. You will miss the great atmosphere in the morning and the Berkshire AGM 2024 movie if you only watch the live stream.

The CHI Health Center has a bag policy. Details on it can be found on the center’s website. Additionally, here are some of our observations from the morning of the Berkshire Shareholders Meeting:

• There is a baggage check at an airport-like security level for entrants with larger bags. Usually, you are only allowed to bring smaller bags into the Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2024.
• There are also dedicated lines for people with bags, as shown in this video. So, bringing a larger bag or backpack could slow your entry into the AGM as the “bag line” can get crowded.
• You aren’t allowed to bring food into the CHI Health Center. The security will force you to throw it away during your baggage check.

There is plenty of parking space available outside the CHI Health Center. Surface parking is $10. Garage parking (when available) is $15. You can find the recommended parking spots here.

Here are the alternatives to driving to the CHI Health Center. You can learn more details on how to use these alternatives in the lower chapters of this guide:

• We recommend using public buses that go downtown. They only cost $1.25 per person and ride. ORBT, route 11, route 13, route 18, and route 30 arrived downtown before the start of the AGM.
• A ride with Heartland Bike Share (parking stations are in front of the CHI Health Center). Shareholders could get a $2 discount on the monthly pass with the code BRK2024.
• Berkshire Hathaway also offers shuttle buses on the AGM day. Their routes are described in the visitor’s guide.
• Taxis, Uber, and Lyft were also available on Saturday morning. Due to the high demand, prices could be elevated.

Many legends are being told about the “race for the best seats” on the morning of the Berkshire Hathaway AGM. Some shareholders are even “camping” at the CHI from 4 AM to get in line for the “best” seats. To help you find the strategy that fits you, we are sharing our recommendations for different seating strategies here:

Navigating the CHI Health Center

It helps to learn about the CHI Health Center to identify your “best seats”. The Berkshire Hathaway AGM venue has a capacity for close to 19,000 people in its arena.

Aside from the 19,000 arena seats, extra seating for thousands of shareholders is available via additional overfill rooms, like the Peter Kiewit Grand Ballroom. There, you can watch the live stream of the meeting. The plus of these “overfill” rooms is the more comfortable seats. Sitting for hours and listening to the Berkshire AGM 2024 is more leisurely in these rooms.

To explore the CHI Health Center further, we recommend using these resources:

• You can understand the different levels of the arena with this arena map.
• To get a feel for the venue as a first-time visitor, it is super helpful to take this virtual tour.
• AGM Seating is comparable to this scheme. If you want to make any seating plans, please use this scheme to plan them.

Ground floor seating

It is best to arrive early to sit on or close to the ground floor. Early birds can park from 3:30 AM at the CHI Health Center parking lots. Though, we would recommend arriving between 4 and 5 AM.

Waiting in line that early can be fun. We have heard of many friendships that were formed during the morning wait. It can make sense to bring a foldable camping chair and a blanket to make the wait comfortable in the morning’s cold. An umbrella or raincoat could also help in case it is raining.

Tip: The best seats are not always on the ground floor. The areas 122-123 and 103-104 can have a better view of the stage.

Just have a seat

You can arrive at 06:30 to 6:45 AM before the doors open if you are okay with not sitting on or close to the ground floor. You can speed up your entry if you leave your larger backpack at home and look for a less crowded entrance.

Sit together with a group

It helps to go for the upper ranks of the arena to sit with a group. There, you should be able to have enough seats for a group as most shareholders first head for the lower levels to get the best view.

Our experience

Our “strategy” is to arrive at around 6:30 to 6:45 AM. At this arrival time, we always made it to get good seats. For us, there is generally no significant difference between the different seating areas in the arena. You can see the stage from every seat in the arena. The large screens and the excellent audio also help you to follow their words.

To share a realistic inside look into the “race” for the best seats, we recorded our “run” in 2019. Here you can enjoy the video:

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Sadly, it is not allowed to bring food into the CHI. During the bag control in the morning, security forces you to throw it away. So, you have to collect or buy food at the CHI Health Center.

• In the morning, you can get free breakfast (packaged bakery products, nut bars, soda, orange juice, coffee) at stands in the convention center. This is an excellent option for a refreshing breakfast.
• During the day, you have to pay for food and drinks. A wide selection of offerings is available at the AGM hall stands. The CHI itself is a cashless facility. So, please bring your credit card to pay at the stands.
• However, you will need some cash to pay in the exhibition hall. So, please also have some dollar bills if you, for instance, consider buying from Dairy Queen in the Exhibition Hall.

Finding a fulfilling food stand might be difficult if you are a foodie or travel on a tight budget.

• It could help to use the skywalk to get food at the Hilton or walk to other restaurants close to the AGM.
• Some food vending machines are in separate rooms near the entrances. They might also offer an option to get snacks for a fair price.

The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting exhibition gives you great insights into Berkshire Hathaway’s company universe. Exhibitors in the hall are Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries. In this overview, you can discover the exhibitors sorted by sector:

• Clothing: Berkshire Hathaway Shoes, Brooks Running, Fechheimer, Fruit of the Loom
• Consumer goods: Duracell, Jazwares
• Energy: Berkshire Hathaway Energy
• Food & retail: Borsheims, Dairy Queen, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Oriental Trading, Pampered Chef, See’s Candies
• Insurance: Geico
• Materials and construction: Benjamin Moore, Clayton Homes, Forest River, Johns Manville, Shaw Industries
• Travel & Transport: BNSF Railway, FlightSafe International, Marmon Holdings, NetJets, Pilot Company

You can purchase their products at the booths of many exhibitors. Therefore, the exhibition hall is called the “Berkshire Bazaar of Bargains.” The exhibition hall is open on Friday and Saturday:

• On Friday, you can access the exhibition from noon till 5 PM. For instance, you can combine your exhibition visit with your pick-up of tickets at the will-call. If you want to get to know Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries, we strongly recommend visiting the Exhibition on Friday. It will be easier to chat with management on this day. Furthermore, shopping might be more fun as the exhibition is less crowded, and all purchasable goods will be available.
• On Saturday the exhibition hall is open from 7 AM to 4 PM. You can visit the exhibition at any time during the Berkshire Meeting 2024. Based on our experience, the exhibition will be more crowded later during the day.

In our gallery and in this video from 2019, you can get a visual impression of the exhibition hall:

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Besides the Berkshire AGM 2024, there were plenty of investing events in Omaha. Here is our curated event list with price tags (free to $$$).

Our conference offered participants events and a network of investors:

• Participants joined networking opportunities and get-togethers from Wednesday to Sunday.
• They got access to a curated package of investment ideas.
• We supported their travel with additional offers.
• We helped them save money with offers and recommendations.
• Fund managers and allocators could find qualified and helpful leads.

• 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM – The CFA Society Nebraska held the Value Investing Dinner ($).
• All day – Our Good Investing Conference @ Berkshire Hathaway hosted several Idea Day events ($).
• All day – The Value Investor Conference took place ($$$).

The GAMCO Gabelli Omaha Conference 2024 (free of charge) traditionally takes place on Friday before the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting. It offered a Berkshire Hathaway panel, a fireside chat, and a Q&A with Mario Gabelli. Learn more on our Gabelli Omaha Conference 2024 page.

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Good Investing invited emerging fund managers and allocators to the Emerging Managers Meeting (application only) from 3 PM to 5:30 PM on Friday.

https://youtu.be/yFDn5kc6rVo

Additional events on Friday

• 7:30 AM to 11:30 AM – Vitaliy Katsenelson invited an investor group for breakfast (free of charge).
• 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM – The GAMCO Gabelli Omaha Conference 2024 * took place (free of charge).
• 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM – Mohnish Pabrai gave a talk at UNO’s College of Business (free of charge).
• 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM – Guy Spier and the team of Aquamarine Capital invited guests to VALUEx BRK (free of charge).
• 2:00 PM to 3:30 PM – Kanbrick’s Tracy Britt Cool hosted a fireside chat (free of charge).
• 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM – Vitaliy Katsenelson invited guests to an investor get-together (free of charge).
• 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM – Creighton University offered a Value Investing Panel (free of charge).
• 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM – Kelly+Partners Group hosted a Meet and Greet * (free of charge).
• 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM – The Heilbrunn Center hosted the “From Graham to Buffett and Beyond” dinner ($$$).
• All day – We hosted several networking events during the Good Investing Conference @ Berkshire Hathaway ($).
• All day – GuruFocus hosted a Value Conference ($$).
• All day – The Value Investor Conference took place ($$$).
• All day – TIP hosted its Berkshire Summit ($$$).

• 8 AM to 5 PM – Hudson Booksellers at Omaha Airport offered the chance to meet many authors and buy their books (free of charge).
• 10 AM to noon – The popular Markel Omaha Brunch 2024 was held in the Marriott (free of charge).
• 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM – Stephen Clapham gave the “10 Accounting Red Flags Seminar” * ($).
• 2:00 PM to 4:30 PM – Zimmerer & Tecle Wealth Management hosted their “1st Annual Berkshire Pickleball Event” * (free of charge).
• Our Good Investing Conference @ Berkshire Hathaway ended with our Bye Bye & W(h)ine Party ($).

Shareholders could enjoy Omaha in many ways. For instance, they could shop at discounts at several exclusive shopping events during the AGM week. Here is the calendar of Berkshire Hathaway events for shareholders. Below it, we describe them in more detail:

• 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM – You could pick up your credentials at the Will Call in the CHI Health Center (more on that above).
• Noon to 5:00 PM – You could shop at the Shareholder Shopping Days in the Exhibition Hall in the CHI Health Center.
• Noon to 5:00/6:00 PM – You could pick up your package for the Brooks 5K run at the CHI Health Center or at Peak Performance.
• 6:00 to 8:00 PM – You could join the Borsheims Shareholder-only Shopping Night.

• 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM – The CHI Health Center became the center of attention. There, you could listen to the Annual Meeting Q&A, shop in the exhibition hall or pick up your Brooks 5k run package.
• 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM – You could join the NFM Berkshire Picnic at 700 South, 72nd Street.

• 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM – You could join the Berkshire Hathaway “Invest in Yourself” 5K run.
• 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM – You could join the Borsheims Shareholder Only Shopping.

Shareholders could visit the “Shareholder Shopping Days” in the exhibition hall of the Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2024 starting at noon on Friday and going to Saturday at 4 PM. There, you could buy investing books, shop unique Berkshire Hathaway memorabilia, and get your box of See’s Candies.

You can get a good impression of the exhibition hall via our gallery and this video:

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Ship your purchases

Berkshire Hathaway offers a shipping service in the Exhibition Hall for (US-based) shareholders who want to ship their goods. You can find more about it in the visitor’s guide.

We recommend using your travel luggage to bring your purchases from the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting 2024 to a country outside the US. Sadly, shipping fees from the US are pretty high. Therefore, better plan with extra space in your luggage for the boxes of See’s Candies peanut brittle and your new investing books.

Berkshire Hathaway released a Berkshire Hathaway Annual Book Selection for the AGM. The list was published here.

In cooperation with Berkshire Hathaway, the family-owned bookseller Bookworm Omaha offered a 20% special discount on these and more books. Books were available in the exhibition hall and at the Bookworm store.

• At the book stand in the exhibition hall, you could find the books from the Berkshire Hathaway book selection. In 2024, Berkshire Hathaway only sold Poor Charlie’s Almanack to honor Charlie.

At the Bookworm store in Omaha on 2501 S 90th St #111, Omaha, NE 68124, shareholders with credentials can get 20% off on all book purchases. The discount is available from Thursday to Monday in the Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2024 week. Please consider paying the Bookworm store a separate visit if you like books!

Hudson Booksellers at Omaha Airport offers a great selection of business and investing books. On Sunday, many authors stopped by before they caught their flight. In 2024, these authors were announced for the opening hours from 8 AM to 5 PM:

• Paul Johnson – Pitch the perfect investment
• Jaime Lester – Pause to think
• Sheena Iyengar – Think bigger
• Robert Hagstrom – The Warren Buffett Way
• Gautam Baid – The joys of compounding
• Jacob McDonough – Capital allocation
• Todd Finkle – Warren Buffett
• Julia Cook – I am money
• Vitaliy Katsenelson – Soul in the game
• Nancy Rips – Buffett-isms
• Steve Jordon – The oracle of Omaha
• Jeff Gramm – Dear chairman
• Lawrence Cunningham – The essays of Warren Buffett
• David Clark – The Tao of Charlie Munger
• Gillian Segal – Getting there

Gillian Segal – Getting there

We highly recommend reading these books from the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Book Selections:

Capital Allocation

In “Capital Allocation: The Financials of a New England Textile Mill 1955 – 1985” * author and investor Jacob McDonough portrays the early financial history of Berkshire Hathaway. Learn more about this book in our video:

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The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway

In “The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway” * author and investor Adam Mead offers a deep dive into the financial history of the holding from Omaha. This book provides a helpful deep dive for investors.

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The everything-store Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) offers special shareholder discounts in the weeks of the Berkshire Hathaway meeting.

• The NFM Omaha location is worth visiting. It is located at 700 S 72nd St, Omaha, NE 68114. A great time to visit is after the AGM on Saturday. From 5:30 to 8:00 PM, the NFM holds the “NFM Berkshire Picnic”. Then, limited shuttle buses took visitors to the NFM. You can learn more about this offer in the visitor’s guide.
• The NFM had a booth in the Exhibition Hall. There, you can easily shop for a limited selection of special deals.
• If you are generally interested in the NFM, we recommend learning more about it in our video series.

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The Berkshire subsidiary Borsheims offers attractive discounts and products to shareholders. It is located at 120 Regency Pkwy, Omaha, NE 68114:

• For shareholders, Borsheims offers a whole Berkshire weekend schedule. Please check their website for more.
• At Borsheims, you can also shop the unique Berkshire Hathaway Memorabilia.
• On the day of the AGM, Berkshire Hathaway offered a free bus shuttle from the Berkshire Shareholder Meeting 2024 directly to Borsheims. You can learn more about this offer in the visitor’s guide.

Shareholders and guests can participate in the Berkshire Hathaway “Invest in Yourself” 5 km race on Sunday morning. You can find more information on the run in this FAQ and register via this website.

Find bars, food and the best things to do in our Enjoy Omaha guide.

Buses, rides and parking for the meeting week are in our Omaha guide.

Flights, budget and how long to stay are in our travel guide.

You can learn more about Berkshire Hathaway and the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in my resource collection. Here, you can find free online resources and great Berkshire Hathaway books.