What to Expect at Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Meeting

When Berkshire Hathaway BRK.B shareholders gather this weekend in Omaha for the company’s annual meeting—sometimes known as the Woodstock for Capitalists —they’ll be anticipating CEO Warren Buffett’s views on the markets, trade policy, and the economic outlook, along with any hints about what he might do with Berkshire’s massive hoard of cash. There’s also the question of what will happen to the company when its iconic CEO finally steps aside. There’s more on the agenda, however. Shareholders will be asked to vote on seven proposals, several of which concern politically charged topics.

These include proposals on clean energy financing, diversity practices, and artificial intelligence. Berkshire recommends shareholders vote no on each. Here’s a roundup of proposals in Berkshire’s 2025 proxy statement:

• The National Legal and Policy Center requests that Berkshire annually disclose Berkshire Hathaway Energy’s incurred costs from its “voluntary” environmental activities that “exceed federal/state regulatory requirements.” Berkshire says it already provides detailed environmental and financial performance reports to investors and the public.
• Shareholder Jing Zhao asks Berkshire to disclose the pay ratio for the highest named executive officer. The Dodd-Frank law requires that companies disclose the ratio of the median employee’s annual total compensation to that of the CEO. Some companies also disclose the ratios of the CEO’s compensation to other named executive officers. Berkshire says: “The Board does not believe the disclosure of another executive officer’s pay ratio would improve Berkshire’s executive officer compensation program.”
• The American Conservative Values ETF ACVF asks Berkshire to conduct an evaluation of how its civil rights practices affect employees, claiming that Berkshire promotes “divisive training concepts like critical race theory (CRT) that replace rich cultural and ideological diversity with a monolithic focus on group identity,” and that the company has a “‘resource library’ that promotes things like ‘unconscious bias’ and learning about ‘social injustice.’” Berkshire says it doesn’t have such a library and doesn’t think the evaluation is a valuable use of time or resources.
• The National Center for Public Policy Research asks Berkshire to conduct an audit “analyzing Berkshire’s legal and reputational risks stemming from its subsidiaries’ race-based initiatives,” such as race-based employee resource groups at Geico and Shaw Industries, while Fruit of the Loom aims to increase “ethnically diverse talent.” Berkshire notes that each business is individually responsible for developing its programs consistent with laws and regulations.
• Meredith Benton of Whistle Stop Capital, on behalf of shareholder Myra K. Young, asks Berkshire to create a board committee to oversee the company’s diversity and inclusion strategy. Berkshire says the company’s audit committee already performs this function.
• The As You Sow Foundation asks Berkshire to disclose annually its clean energy financing ratio, defined as its total financing of low-carbon energy as a proportion of its investment in fossil fuel energy. Berkshire says the metric is primarily targeted at bank financing and hasn’t been widely used, and that the firm is not a bank.
• Tulipshare Capital asks Berkshire to create a new committee of independent directors to address risks associated with AI use across its operations and investments. Berkshire notes that its subsidiaries are already obligated to assess and manage risk, and that it does an annual risk assessment that would look at AI.

Going into the annual meeting, these are the funds with the largest allocations to Berkshire stock. Weitz Partners III Opportunity WPOIX is run by veteran value investor Wallace Weitz, who also sits on Berkshire’s board.

Two Proposals Seek New Board Committees, Three Are Anti-ESG

A number of proposals are from so-called anti-ESG proponents. Such proposals have so far won only a fraction of the vote at Berkshire and other companies.

Another two proposals ask for new board committees, which some investors regard as overly prescriptive. For example, money manager BlackRock BLK has said it was “not likely to support those (shareholder proposals) that in our assessment, implicitly are intended to micromanage companies. This includes those that are unduly prescriptive and constraining on the decision-making of the board or management, call for changes to a company’s strategy or business model or address matters that are not material to how a company delivers long-term shareholder value.”

Clean Energy Financing Ratio May Drum Up Support

The proposal for the clean energy financing ratio may draw support. Successful similar proposals have been filed at banks by New York City Comptroller Brad Lander. Last year, JPMorgan Chase JPM, Citigroup C, and the Royal Bank of Canada RY agreed to disclose their energy supply financing ratios after negotiations with Lander.

“Berkshire isn’t a bank; they’re in the insurance business. But as a provider of financing and insurance, this is valuable information for shareholders,” explains Jackie Cook, who oversees the ESG Voting Policy Advisory Group for Morningstar Sustainalytics.

This year’s clean energy financing ratio proposal was made by As You Sow. A separate proposal last year from As You Sow won 21% of the overall vote and 39.8% of independent shareholders, adjusted for insider ownership. The 2024 proposal asked Berkshire to report on how it intended to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with its underwriting, insuring, and investing activities.

It’s commonly expected that support of 20% or so merits a company response. A survey by proxy solicitor Georgeson found that “if a shareholder proposal not supported by management receives 20% or more support but does not pass, investors will expect to see a formal response from the company to shareholders.” Indeed, the UK Corporate Governance Code expects a company to take certain actions if 20% or more of votes are cast against the board recommendation.

Separately, in 2024, another proposal by Meredith Benton of Whistle Stop, on behalf of Myra Young, to report on the effectiveness of Berkshire’s DEI efforts, won 20.5% of the overall vote and 38.7% of the independent vote.

Also in 2024, a proposal by Illinois treasurer Michael Frerichs for Berkshire to report greenhouse gas emissions data by scope won 17.7% of the overall vote and 33.7% of the independent vote.