Why do investors from all over the world flock to Buffett's Omaha meeting?

With the Omaha Shareholders Meeting on May 2, 2026, drawing ever closer, my friend Leo (a close friend who translates Warren Buffett's letter to shareholders with Lao Wang) is both researching travel plans and answering fans' questions: "Why is Berkshire Hathaway's shareholders meeting so special? It lasts all day, with shopping and airplane viewing—it's like a carnival!"

That's certainly a good question. Today's shareholders meeting format isn't just something casually arranged. It actually reflects Buffett's unique ideas about corporate governance, shareholder relations, and capital culture.

Let's travel back in time and see how this gentleman, step by step, transformed a dry, legally necessary procedure into "the Woodstock of the capitalists."

First Step

Escaping Mondays: When "Shareholders' Choice" Wins Over the Chairman

Now, shareholder meetings are fixed on Saturdays, which seems natural. But initially, this was even against Buffett's personal wishes.

In 2002, the new Qwest Center in Omaha was completed, with ample parking, and Buffett, for the first time, gave shareholders the choice of meeting date. He stated explicitly: "I want to hold it on Mondays." The reason was practical: weekdays were more convenient for him and his team.

However, shareholder democracy gave a completely different answer.

According to the 2003 letter, "We won on Saturday by a 2:1 vote." Buffett, true to his word, added humorously, "At Berkshire, shareholder democracy will take some time to return." This had a significant impact. Holding meetings on Saturdays was essentially for the convenience of shareholders, not management. It allowed commuters to attend and greatly alleviated traffic and parking headaches (a point Buffett mentioned many times later). This established the tone: the shareholders' meeting was first and foremost a holiday for shareholders, and only secondarily a formality for the company.

Step Two

Disrupt the Agenda, Relegate the "Boring Parts"

An even more drastic change came in 2004. Buffett performed a major overhaul on the traditional shareholder meeting process.

Previously, formal shareholder proposals and voting took center stage. But Buffett discovered that a few proposers "raised topics that were of little interest to most of the audience, wasting a lot of time—they must have enjoyed speaking to a roughly 19,500-strong audience." (2004 Letter to Shareholders)

His solution was simple, brutal, and practical: reverse the order of the agenda.

Since 2004, the process has changed: the doors open at 7:00 AM, a movie starts at 8:30 AM, and a Q&A session that lasts for several hours, beginning at 9:30 AM and continuing until 3:00 PM. Only then does the formal meeting take place briefly. Buffett explained, "This way, shareholders who want to attend the full meeting can stay, and those who aren't interested can leave early, or better yet, go shopping." The essence of this change is two words: **respect**. Respecting the value of shareholders' time. The most informative Q&A sessions are placed during prime time, while legally required formalities are postponed. It assumes that shareholders are there to learn and exchange ideas, not to fulfill tedious obligations. Meanwhile, the phrase "or better yet, go shopping" unabashedly treated shareholders as customers and business partners, pioneering a new approach that blended "exhibitions" and "conferences." The third step: Embracing technology and using live streaming to resolve the double awkwardness. In 2015, Buffett accomplished another major feat: broadcasting the annual shareholders' meeting globally for the first time. His reasoning in the letter was so candid it was almost laughable: "There's really no other way: it might reduce the number of people coming. Last year, over 40,000 people came, the pressure is immense." Facing reality: "The second reason is even more important. Charlie is 92, and I'm 85… Shareholders shouldn't have to travel all the way to Omaha just to see how we look and sound. (Please be kind with your comments, after all, even at our best, we weren't exactly pleasing to the eye.)" This candor is invaluable. It not only solved the problem of insufficient seating but also, in a humorous and direct way, responded to everyone's whispers about "whether the old men are still up to par." The online livestream didn't diminish the value of the in-person event; instead, it served as a global invitation, expanding Berkshire Hathaway's community culture and making the experience of physically attending Omaha even cooler.

Step Four

Activating the Showroom, Bringing the Shopping Center into the Convention Center

From initially urging attendees to "bring your money" at the Nebraska Furniture Market to later creating a nearly 200,000-square-foot showroom in the convention center, shopping has always been an indispensable part of the shareholders' meeting. This isn't just simple sales; Buffett understands human nature perfectly, achieving three goals at once: Creating a hands-on experience: Letting shareholders see and touch Berkshire Hathaway's products (from See's Candies to Clayton mobile homes) transforms the abstract "investment portfolio" into a concrete, engaging consumer experience. Shareholders instantly become customers, boosting their sense of connection. Promoting subsidiaries: This is the perfect stage for subsidiaries to showcase their strength to their most important and friendly customers. CEOs can chat directly with shareholders. Providing an interesting place to go: As mentioned earlier, it provides a fantastic place for shareholders who aren't interested in formal processes. The whole event is therefore very flexible, ensuring everyone can have fun. The shareholders' meeting thus became a closed-loop ecosystem: morning Q&A sessions absorbed ideas, afternoon shopping released energy, and shareholders seamlessly switched between the roles of "boss," "student," and "shopaholic." The meeting was like a closed loop: shareholders absorbed ideas through Q&A in the morning and released energy through shopping in the afternoon, seamlessly switching between roles as "boss," "student," and "shopaholic." Step Five: Optimizing Q&A, from "Seating Frenzy" to "Fair Lottery" With more and more people attending, figuring out how to ask questions became a challenge. There were even instances of "a 100-meter sprint" as the meeting opened at 7 am, with everyone frantically scrambling for microphone positions. In 2008, Buffett had to be honest: "From a security perspective, this won't work, and we don't think that those who are quick enough should have the right to ask questions." So, he introduced a lottery system. Starting in 2009, at 8:15 AM on the day of the meeting, a lottery was held in front of each microphone to determine who would ask a question. At the same time, the sources of questions became more diverse, with some coming from shareholders selected in the audience and others from submissions screened by journalists, ensuring that the questions were both informative and varied. This change reflects Buffett's commitment to "fairness" and "quality." It avoided a scramble for attention, gave every attending shareholder an equal opportunity, and made the Q&A session more substantial and engaging. Looking at these changes together, Buffett's design logic couldn't be clearer: Shareholders are the main players: prioritize comfort and efficiency. Extreme pragmatism: avoid formalism and dare to overturn old rules for truly valuable things. Speak your mind: don't shy away from problems (such as age or large numbers), use humor and practical actions to alleviate concerns. Build an ecosystem: upgrade meetings into super parties that integrate ideas, business, and culture. What he orchestrated wasn't just a meeting, but a large, tangible party for a highly trusting, interactive, and engaging shareholder family. Here, shareholders didn't feel aloof respect, but rather a warm sense of belonging.