NEW YORK (Reuters) - Warren Buffett released his annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday, written with his usual mix of business facts, common-sense advice and showmanship. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Buffett's time heading the sprawling conglomerate.
On a potential successor:
"Both the board and I believe we now have the right person to succeed me as CEO - a successor ready to assume the job the day after I die or step down. In certain important respects, this person will do a better job than I am doing."
On investing:
Also Read
"Periodically, financial markets will become divorced from reality - you can count on that. ... [N]ever forget that 2+2 will always equal 4. And when someone tells you how old-fashioned that math is --- zip up your wallet, take a vacation and come back in a few years to buy stocks at cheap prices."
On oversight:
"We do, of course, have an active audit function; no sense being a dammed fool."
On lodging for the May 2 annual meeting in Omaha:
"Airbnb is making a special effort to obtain listings for the period around meeting time and is likely to have a wide array of accommodations to offer. Airbnb's services may be especially helpful to shareholders who expect to spend only a single night in Omaha and are aware that last year a few hotels required guests to pay for a minimum of three nights. That gets expensive. Those people on a tight budget should check the Airbnb website."
On the meeting as spectacle:
"Get up early on Saturday morning. At 6:20 a.m., Norman and Jake, two Texas longhorns each weighing about a ton, will proceed down 10th Street to the CenturyLink. Aboard them will be a couple of our Justin Boot executives, who do double duty as cowboys. Following the steers will be four horses pulling a Wells Fargo stagecoach. Berkshire already markets planes, trains and automobiles. Adding steers and stagecoaches to our portfolio should seal our reputation as America's all-purpose transportation company."
On the GEICO gecko:
"The gecko, I should add, has one particularly endearing quality - he works without pay. Unlike a human spokesperson, he never gets a swelled head from his fame nor does he have an agent to constantly remind us how valuable he is. I love the little guy."
On improving BNSF railroad service:
"Though weather, which was particularly severe last year, will always cause railroads a variety of operating problems, our responsibility is to do whatever it takes to restore our service to industry-leading levels. That can't be done overnight: The extensive work required to increase system capacity sometimes disrupts operations while it is underway. Recently, however, our outsized expenditures are beginning to show results. During the last three months, BNSF's performance metrics have materially improved from last year's figures."
On the future of Berkshire:
"All told, Berkshire is ideally positioned for life after Charlie (Munger) and I leave the scene. We have the right people in place - the right directors, managers and prospective successors to those managers. Our culture, furthermore, is embedded throughout their ranks. Our system is also regenerative. To a large degree, both good and bad cultures self-select to perpetuate themselves. For very good reasons, business owners and operating managers with values similar to ours will continue to be attracted to Berkshire as a one-of-a-kind and permanent home."
(Reporting by Luciana Lopez, Jonathan Stempel and Jennifer Ablan)