Financial crisis brings sobriety ( and questions) to Warren Buffett's capitalist jamboree - - by Greame Wearden
Warren Buffett's army of loyal investors will make their usual pilgrimage to Omaha this weekend for the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, where the mood promises to be unusually sombre. In previous years, the Nebraska shindig has enjoyed a reputation as a capitalist "love-in". Devoted Buffett fans would arrive in their tens of thousands, queue to buy commemorative T-shirts, and devour the pithy wit of the Sage of Omaha. But this year the temperature of the event will be decidedly chillier. Shares in Berkshire Hathaway are down 40% on their all-time peak, and the net worth of the company shrank by 9.6% during 2008.
The company will make changes to the meeting's format; half the questions will come from three journalists, in an attempt to prevent too many offbeat inquiries about Buffett's health, favorite foods or religious beliefs. This will mean that Buffett and vice-chairman Charlie Munger will face tougher probing about Berkshire's exposure to derivatives contracts, and the tricky issue of succession planning.
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