THE CULT OF THE ORACLE OF OMAHA

Bid to remove Warren Buffett as chair of Berkshire Hathaway rejected

Bill Allison and Max Reyes, Bloomberg News

A long-shot bid by a conservative group to remove Warren Buffett as chair of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. failed by a wide margin at the company’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha on Saturday.

The National Legal and Policy Center said in its proposal that Buffett’s ties to Bill Gates and his political views could hurt investors as it urged the separation of Buffett’s roles.

Berkshire has said that Buffett will remain the board chair as long as he is chief executive officer, but once he steps down, a non-management member of the board would serve as chair.

Buffett said at the meeting at the CHI Health Center that donations he’s given to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation were his money and not from Berkshire Hathaway.

Speaking in support of the proposal, which was one of six up for a vote, Peter Flaherty, chair of the National Legal and Policy Center, mentioned Gates’s association with Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced financier and sex trafficker. It then appeared Flaherty’s microphone was cut off. Omaha police later charged him with trespassing.

Berkshire Hathaway and CHI Health Center didn’t respond to requests for comment, and the police department declined to comment. Flaherty was released on US$250 bail.