2025 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting Q&A Live: Buffett Talks Trade and Japan

The annual event of the investment community—the Berkshire Hathaway Shareholders Meeting kicked off on May 2nd. At 9 PM Beijing time on the same day, the Q&A session began. "Oracle of Omaha" Warren Buffett confirmed his full participation, accompanied by his CEO successor—Greg Abel, head of Berkshire's non-insurance business, and Ajit Jain, head of the insurance business, to answer shareholders' questions.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of Buffett's acquisition of Berkshire, and it may also signal the beginning of the end of the "Buffett era" at Berkshire. In the 2024 Shareholder Letter released in February, Buffett candidly stated that "it won't be long" before Abel takes over. The total duration of this year's Q&A session was reduced by about an hour compared to last year, shortened to four and a half hours, possibly as a compromise due to Buffett's advanced age.

This year's shareholders' meeting is regarded as the most important one in history, possibly the last time Buffett fully participates in the meeting, and investors need to prepare for a Berkshire without Buffett at the helm.

Compared to previous years, investors will cherish what may be the last opportunity for Buffett to share his investment philosophy and experience at Berkshire for an extended period. They may pay more attention to the management's "succession" plan, Abel's future role and strategic direction within the company, and the development blueprint for Berkshire as outlined by Buffett.

At the same time, amid the trade war instigated by the Trump administration, investors are more concerned about how Buffett views the impact of tariffs on Berkshire's numerous businesses and the economic outlook for the United States.

The Q1 financial report released earlier this Saturday showed that Berkshire's cash reserves reached $347.7 billion in the quarter, setting a new historical high. In an environment of high uncertainty due to tariffs, investors are eager to understand how Berkshire will utilize its massive cash reserves, such as for new acquisitions or buybacks, whether there will be adjustments to its holdings in major investments in U.S. stocks, especially tariff-sensitive stocks like Apple, and if any potential sales occur, what the reasons would be, as well as the company's strategies in overseas markets like Japan and China.

Similar to last year's live Q&A coverage of the shareholders' meeting, this year, Wallstreetcn will also provide real-time updates on the exciting Q&A content from the Berkshire shareholders' meeting, arranged in reverse chronological order, with the latest updates at the top. Below are the key points from the 2025 Berkshire Shareholders Meeting.

21:26 Second question at the shareholders' meeting: Japan

Buffett stated that the investment in Japan fully aligns with Berkshire's investment philosophy and that he will not sell Japanese stocks in the next ten years.

21:21 First question at the shareholders' meeting: Trade

Buffett clearly talked about trade issues. He stated that trade should not be used as a weapon. The United States has transformed from having nothing to becoming an extremely important country. The more trade, the better. We (the United States) should seek to trade with other countries around the world.

In response to a question about trade barriers, Buffett said, "You can make some very good arguments that balanced trade is beneficial for the world. There is no doubt that trade can become an act of war."

Buffett's speech received applause from the audience.

21:00 Opening Remarks for the 2025 Shareholders' Meeting Q&A Session

The shareholders' meeting has begun. Buffett stated at the opening of the meeting that this is his sixtieth shareholders' meeting. The applause was thunderous.

Buffett introduced that this year, 19,700 people attended the shareholders' meeting in person, setting a record for the highest number of attendees. At the meeting, sales of See’s Candies reached $317,000. Sales of Brooks running shoes amounted to $310,000, and products from Jazwares sold for $250,000.

Buffett introduced that this meeting features a limited edition book commemorating the 60th anniversary of Berkshire's acquisition. This is the only book sold by the official bookstore, Bookworm, this year. Berkshire printed approximately 8,000 copies of the book, an increase of about 3,000 copies from the initial plan, with around 4,000 copies sold at the meeting.