Warren Buffett: "I Would Hope Canada Calls Me Tomorrow"

As my fully-booked Southwest flight approached the Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Nebraska, last Friday, I was struck by the sight of some 30 private jets densely parked on an easterly section of the airport, close to the bank of the Missouri river.

This doesn't happen every day in Omaha. It is Berkshire weekend. Top executives and multi-millionaires came here along with an estimated 40,000 shareholders to listen to Warren Buffett.

I covered the formal Q&A proceedings in detail through a live blog and an article on eight key insights from the Berkshire meeting.

Locals welcome shareholders

An otherwise quiet city of hardworking, hospitable Midwestern folk, Omaha has to cope with a near 10% increase in its population on "Berkshire weekend." And, they love it. Berkshire puts Omaha on the map.
Store personnel, taxi cab drivers, hotel staff, restaurant servers and other locals that I spoke with were delighted to welcome the "Berkies," as they call shareholders affectionately. One cab driver, Jim, told me he's been working round the clock sneaking in a few power naps in his car.

Sure, the visitors provide a boon to their various businesses, but Omahans seem genuinely pleased to welcome the world to their city, if only for one weekend each spring.

A weekend of celebrations

The weekend is full of celebrations creating a carnival atmosphere. Berkshire organized events across Omaha to draw in shareholders: a cocktail reception, a picnic, as well as a shopping day which included Buffett selling jewellery to customers of Borsheim's (a large, independent jeweller owned by Berkshire), Bill Gates playing bridge, a magician and an invitation to join Buffett at two of his favourite steakhouses for Sunday dinner.

The biggest hoopla was most certainly in the Exhibit Hall where Berkshire businesses sold their wares. Shareholders loosened their purse strings on Saturday to buy books about Buffett from Bookworm, boxed chocolate from See's Candies, cowboy boots from Justin's, and, even, luxury motor homes from Forest River. Record sales are expected.

"Why are you here?"

The Friday evening cocktail reception adjacent to Borsheim's was packed to the rafters, where complimentary food and drinks were served to visibly excited shareholders and their families.

I query one young shareholder, Tim Yu, who made the drive from Chicago, Ill., with his younger brother, Johnny, why he's here for the second time. His main reason, he says, is to "increase my knowledge." He's tried to embody some of Buffett's principles in his life and says it's worked out quite well for him.

At the "Berkshire Boulevard Picnic," as we sit in a large white tent set up outside the gigantic Nebraska Furniture Mart, a Berkshire-owned store, I ask Singaporean financial planner, Martin Lee, why he decided to travel half way around the world. Without hesitation, he asserts, "I've always wanted to."

A majority of the shareholders I spoke with were attending for the first time and had been planning to do so for years. One shareholder from Houston, Texas, whom I met in my hotel lobby, bluntly asks "who knows how long Warren's going to be around?" I heard similar sentiments from a former Canadian resident now living in London, England.

National and international press

In the Press Box at the Qwest Center on Saturday, where the official Berkshire meeting was held, I met a wide range of journalists from across the United States and from international destinations including Finland, Hong Kong, Belgium, Australia, South Africa and the Netherlands. The vast majority travelled here "just to cover the Berkshire meeting" and nothing else.

A Sunday afternoon press conference was attended by some 50 national and international media representatives in which Buffett and business partner, Charlie Munger, tirelessly spent nearly two-and-a-half hours answering 35 questions.

Many country representatives asked the duo if they have considered investments in their nations: Korea, China, Germany, Japan, France and others. Buffett's response in general was that "we don't go looking for investments." If they get a call from a company that sounds interesting, they assess it and "within the first couple of lines," they often know whether there is a possibility.

"I would hope Canada calls me tomorrow"

I started off my question by laying the foundation: Buffett had made "several hundred million dollars" buying and selling Canadian currency, which he disclosed during his visit to Toronto in 2008. I inquired whether Buffett had received any calls from Canadian companies interested in joining the Berkshire family, given Canada's similar business culture to the United States, lower corporate taxes and quicker economic recovery compared to other nations.

Buffett confirmed that he did like the Canadian dollar a few years ago. This time-frame is likely in reference to the early 2000s when the Canadian dollar traded at historic lows relative to the U.S. dollar.

Although Buffett didn't directly answer the question of whether a Canadian company had contacted him, he indicated that Berkshire's subsidiary Marmon Group, for example, had acquired Canadian businesses. Marmon member Ecowater Systems, a Canadian residential water treatment company, was on display in the Exhibit Hall.

Munger chimed in to praise Canada's "traditional approach" to banking, which allowed for a milder recession compared to the U.S., to which Buffett nodded vigorously. Buffett finally concluded his answer spiritedly in reference to potential Canadian acquisition or investment opportunities: "I would hope Canada calls me tomorrow. I'll pick up."


Selected Warren Buffett quotes from Sunday's press conference

"I don't hold myself to a standard of perfection. I try my best."– On mistakes Buffett made in handling the Sokol matter

"Size is an anchor." – On Berkshire's future growth prospects

"Charlie [Munger] doesn't even ask how I'm feeling these days."– Rebuttal to Munger's comment on how Berkshire would have performed if Buffett had passed away

"I'd rather get paid nothing and work for Berkshire than get paid a million dollars to work at Penney's."– On the importance of joy at work and also in reference to one of his early jobs selling shirts at American department store J.C. Penney's

"If they came to the Berkshire office with a PowerPoint [presentation], we'd have to borrow some equipment."– On Buffett's management team reporting to him

"We will not look for a CEO by having a try-out on Broadway."– On the persistent question about his succession

"We don't want to be an island of prosperity."– On other countries growing faster than the U.S.

"He won't be President of the United States."– On Donald Trump's potential run for the 2012 U.S. election

"I've felt lucky all my life."