Both Ajit and his wife， Tinku， have many Omaha friends， though it’s been more than three decades since they moved to New York (in order to be where much of the action in reinsurance takes place). Missing from the stage this year will be Charlie. He and I were both born in Omaha about two miles from where you will sit at our May get-together. In his first ten years， Charlie lived about a half-mile from where Berkshire has long maintained its office. Both Charlie and I spent our early years in Omaha public schools and were indelibly shaped by our Omaha childhood. We didn’t meet， however， until much later. (A footnote that may surprise you: Charlie lived under 15 of America’s 45 presidents. People refer to President Biden as #46, but that numbering counts Grover Cleveland as both #22 and #24 because his terms were not consecutive. America is a very young country.) Moving to the corporate level， Berkshire itself relocated in 1970 from its 81 years of residence in New England to settle in Omaha， leaving its troubles behind and blossoming in its new home. As a final punctuation point to the “Omaha Effect，” Bertie – yes that Bertie – spent her early formative years in a middle-class neighborhood in Omaha and， many decades later， emerged as one of the country’s great investors. You may be thinking that she put all of her money in Berkshire and then simply sat on it. But that’s not true. After starting a family in 1956, Bertie was active financially for 20 years: holding bonds， putting 1⁄3 of her funds in a publicly-held mutual fund and trading stocks with some frequency. Her potential remained unnoticed. Then， in 1980, when 46, and independent of any urgings from her brother， Bertie decided to make her move. Retaining only the mutual fund and Berkshire， she made no new trades during the next 43 years. During that period， she became very rich， even after making large philanthropic gifts (think nine figures). Millions of American investors could have followed her reasoning which involved only the common sense she had somehow absorbed as a child in Omaha. And， taking no chances， Bertie returns to Omaha every May to be re-energized. So what is going on? Is it Omaha’s water? Is it Omaha’s air? Is it some strange planetary phenomenon akin to that which has produced Jamaica’s sprinters， Kenya’s marathon runners， or Russia’s chess experts? Must we wait until AI someday yields the answer to this puzzle? Keep an open mind. Come to Omaha in May， inhale the air， drink the water and say “hi” to Bertie and her good-looking daughters. Who knows? There is no downside， and， in any event， you will have a good time and meet a huge crowd of friendly people. To top things off， we will have available the new 4th edition of Poor Charlie’s Almanack. Pick up a copy. Charlie’s wisdom will improve your life as it has mine. February 24, 2024 Warren E. Buffett Chairman of the Boardlg...
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