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How Omaha Feels Different Without Warren Buffett at Berkshire Weekend
Attendance falls at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual event, with fewer international visitors and softer demand across Omaha businesses.
David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland, is a longtime attendee of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Neb.—an event so popular it has earned the nickname “Woodstock of Capitalism.” In past years, Kass saw lines forming around the block as early as 6 a.m., along with overflow rooms and packed exhibition halls.
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This year’s gathering, held last weekend and the first led by Berkshire’s new CEO Greg Abel, felt noticeably different. “Attendance was way down,” Kass told Observer.
Official figures haven’t been released, but early estimates suggest attendance was roughly 30 percent lower than the usual crowd of about 40,000. The drop has raised concerns for local businesses that typically benefit from the event’s economic boost.
For more than 60 years, Buffett followers have traveled to Omaha each first weekend of May. What began as an opportunity to hear Buffett’s investing insights has........