Warren Buffett, at Berkshire Meeting, Condemns Republican Health Care Bill -
By MICHAEL J. de la MERCEDMAY 6, 2017
Every year, tens of thousands of investors descend on Omaha to attend the annual meeting of Berkshire
Hathaway, the conglomerate controlled by Warren E. Buffett, and hear directly from the billionaire.
He argued that the American Health Care Act, which passed the House this past week, amounted to “a huge tax cut for guys
like me.” He also said rising health care costs, rather than high taxes, were the biggest drag on American businesses.
And this year, those who made the trek heard Mr. Buffett on Saturday criticize the Trump administration’s health care overhaul as a giveaway to wealthy individuals like himself,
and heard him rebuke the previous management of Wells Fargo, of which Berkshire is one of the biggest shareholders.
The billionaire has long said that he plans to work for as long as possible,
and while he has identified successors for his roles as Berkshire’s chairman and top stock picker, he has not said who would actually run the company.
Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting has long been known as the “Woodstock of capitalism” for the fervor of the investors — some owning
only a single share — who travel to Omaha just for the chance to listen to Mr. Buffett and his longtime business partner, Charles Munger.
Mr. Buffett also explained that, in his view, Berkshire’s investment in Apple — despite his noted aversion to investing in technology
companies — was more a bet on a highly successful peddler of consumer electronics than a wager on technology per se.