Warren Buffet lays out succession plan, speaks about US bank failures and investment in Apple

Warren Buffett, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, criticised the handling of recent bank failures and warned of potential financial "turmoil" during the company's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.  He also laid out his succession plan and discussed his investment in the tech giant Apple.

Buffett cited how politicians, regulators, and the media mishandled the failures of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and First Republic Bank, and how the "very poor" messaging has unnecessarily frightened depositors. "Fear is contagious," the billionaire investor said, adding that "you can't run an economy" when people worry if their money is safe in banks.

Buffett also acknowledged regulators were right to guarantee depositors of Silicon Valley Bank, saying that not doing so "would have been catastrophic." However, he said that bank shareholders and executives should bear the risks of mismanagement. He said, "A lighted match can be turned into a conflagration or can be blown out. You have to have punishment for people who do the wrong thing."

Charlie Munger, Vice Chairman of Berkshire, criticised bank executives and said they are more concerned with getting rich than with helping customers.

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Buffett also said he could not imagine politicians or regulators being willing to "disrupt the world's financial system," including if Washington failed to break its impasse on raising the debt ceiling, or how much the government could borrow.

During the meeting, Buffett defended the size of Berkshire's $151 billion Apple investment, saying it was a better business than others the company owns. Berkshire recently held a 5.6 per cent stake in Apple, and Buffett said it could buy more.

Saturday's meeting, known as "Woodstock for Capitalists," drew tens of thousands of people to Omaha, Nebraska, the company's hometown. Attendance surged in 2022, and the downtown arena hosting the meeting was filled to capacity.

The meeting featured Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger answering five hours of shareholder questions. Vice Chairmen Greg Abel and Ajit Jain also joined in the morning. Buffett reiterated that Abel would succeed him as CEO while adding he had no plan if Abel could not.

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