Reuters/Shannon Stapleton
Warren Buffett
- Warren Buffett, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, released his annual letter to shareholders on Saturday.
- Buffett discussed items like his plans to repurchase the company's stock and how a new accounting rule impacts Berkshire Hathaway's bottom line.
- The 88-year old investor made no explicit statements about plans for succession at the company.
Each year, Berkshire Hathaway investors and the broader investment community look to chairman and CEO Warren Buffett's annual letter for company updates and his thoughts on the broader investment landscape.
This year's letter was notable for what it did - and did not - include.
In the 13-page letter, Buffett lamented the new Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) policy that slammed Berkshire's bottom line in 2018, particularly during the volatile fourth-quarter.
The policy, as he warned investors about in last year's letter, says the total change in unrealized investment gains and losses in stock investments must be included in all net income figures the company reports.
He also discussed share buybacks, something that's recently drawn political condemnation, at length.
However, the 88-year old Buffett, who leads the company alongside his 95-year old vice chairman, Charlie Munger, did not explicitly make any statements about plans for succession.
Here's a summary of the biggest themes from Buffett's letter: