- Net income: $35.5 billion (up from $5.58 billion a year earlier)
- Operating earnings: $8.07 billion (up from $7.04 billion last year)
- Cash and cash equivalents: $130.6 billion (up from $128.6 billion at the end of 2022)
Warren Buffett expressed optimism at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, despite market anxiety. He discussed Berkshire’s investments in oil stocks, praised Apple as the company’s biggest stock investment, and expressed faith in the US.
Buffetts sidekick, Charlie Munger, called for bankers to be more responsible (saying “Bankers should be more like engineers…avoiding trouble instead of trying to get rich,”), and both Buffett and Munger shared their thoughts on artificial intelligence, with Munger expressing skepticism about the hype surrounding it. Mr. Buffett is 92 years old. Charlie Munger, vice chair, is 99 years old (he turns 100 on January 1, 2024)
Buffett said that “What gives you opportunities is other people doing dumb things. In the 58 years we’ve been running Berkshire, I’d say there has been a great increase in the number of people doing dumb things.”
Well there are more people in the world (…but he still is onto something).