(Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans this season to let shareholders attend the business's annual meeting the very first time in three years, amid signs the omicron wave may have peaked in the United States.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate said “we are planning for an in-person meeting” on April 30, while also webcasting the big event for any seventh straight year.
The plan was announced even while many large corporate gatherings remain online or are delayed because the highly infectious omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads all over the world.
But new coronavirus cases are dropping within the Usa, and the top U.S. infectious disease specialist Anthony Fauci told MSNBC on Monday he believed “in the following couple weeks we will have, as a country, that it's all turning around.”
Berkshire’s annual shareholder weekend, whose centerpiece is the meeting, normally draws about 40,000 shareholders to Omaha for shopping, dining, a 5-kilometer run and other events. Mr. Buffett calls it “Woodstock for Capitalists.”
The meeting normally features Mr. Buffett, 91, and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 98, answering hrs of shareholder questions.
Berkshire's 2022 meeting featured Mr. Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Greg Abel answering questions in Omaha, while the 2022 meeting moved to La so Mr. Munger, who lives in the region, could join Mr. Buffett on stage. Shareholders stayed home from both.
Berkshire said it will release more information on the meeting with its annual shareholder report on Feb. 26.
