The next time something goes terribly wrong at a Berkshire Hathaway company, there’s a strong possibility no one will hear about it. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger won’t be held directly responsible either. That’s the beauty of Buffett’s version of a conglomerate corporate structure, decentralized to such an obscene level such that its minimalism is brandished as a feature not a bug.
The Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting draws a huge crowd because it features several hours of the wit and wisdom of Berkshire Hathaway CEO and Chairman Warren Buffett and his friend and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger. To say that Buffett, Munger, and Berkshire Hathaway have a cult-like following would be a a significant understatement. I attended the meeting and here’s my report.
On the way to writing this story, I realized some disturbing things about Berkshire Hathaway and how Buffet runs it. So anxious are some to annoint gurus, sages, and oracles, that they overlook some of the worst corporate governance practices I have ever seen. And Buffett’s Berkshire doesn’t like to be told how to do its accounting, either. I’m writing about that next for Forbes.
