Warren Buffett - Berkshire 50th Anniversary Meeting Interview

Buffett's unique shareholder philosophy on display at 50th anniversary meeting with 40,000+ attendees from 53 countries. Never tired because having fun all weekend. Fundamental principle printed first in annual report: partnership attitude despite corporate form. Berkshire evolved from 1960s family partnership. Explicitly prefers small shareholders (over 1M people) to institutions. They're partners who buy to hold for life, not traders.

Concrete example of Warren 'looking after shareholders': Hotels imposed 4-day minimums and gouging prices for meeting weekend. Warren proactively called Airbnb because shareholders traveling from as far as Des Moines, Iowa. Airbnb responded creatively - ran contest with Warren's childhood home as rental prize, paid substantial sum to current owner. Shows hands-on advocacy for small shareholders' interests.

Reflecting on 50 years since Berkshire transformation: never imagined becoming $360B company (3rd most valuable globally). Simple formula: kept putting one foot in front of other for decades. Two key advantages: (1) long time horizon, (2) autonomy to do it his own way. Pragmatic view: 'work 50 years, ought to accomplish something.' Result: 80+ diverse companies from railroads to ice cream.

Buffett's acquisition criteria distilled to three ingredients: (1) Understand economic future 5-10-20 years out, (2) Great existing management (critical since only 25 HQ employees, no bench to parachute in), (3) Reasonable price. When all three align and capital available, decision is simple - write the check. 'Kismet' - that's it. No complex processes, just these fundamentals.

Asked if young people can replicate his success: yes, some 8-10 year olds today will accomplish it (many more will try). Early Buffett strategy: 'cigar butts' - cheap, mediocre companies ('soggy on street') with 'one free puff left.' Not penny stocks but unloved, cheap stocks. Charlie Munger's pivotal insight: flip the model. Buy wonderful companies at fair prices, not fair companies at wonderful prices. This transition defined modern Berkshire.