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NEBRASKA: Two words are on the lips of tens of thousands of people who have come down to this small town in the center of the United States: "Warren Buffet".
The third richest man in the world will appear Saturday, May 4 at the annual meeting of shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway empire.
Buffett, 88, is expected to arrive one hour before the start of the event at the CHI Health Center at 8:00 am (1:00 pm GMT) to visit stalls selling souvenir chocolates, t-shirts, books and bags.
The Oracle of Omaha and its 95-year-old business partner, Charlie Munger, will answer more than five hours of shareholder questions posed by three reporters.
As last year, two questions will surely arise: who will succeed him? And when does he plan to retire?
Buffett will also meet privately with investors and business owners, many of whom are traveling to the central state of Nebraska.
The meeting will be broadcast live exclusively on Yahoo! Finance. Cameras are forbidden inside the room – that means no selfies with the business mogul.
Last year, about 40,000 people traveled to Omaha, a green city of about 410,000 people, to hear him speak. The lines begin to form at 4am to enter the theater and at 8am all seats are gone.
"INTEGRITY"
Unlike other annual meetings, the goal here is not to publish business results, but to hear Buffett identify companies in which he could invest or on which he could withdraw his money.
Does he believe in the strength of the sharing economy, symbolized by companies like Uber and Airbnb?
What does he think about artificial intelligence and autonomous cars?
David Kbad, a professor of finance at the University of Maryland, has made this trip each year over the last ten years, sometimes with MBA students, some of whom have had the opportunity to meet private Buffett.
"It's pretty much a hobby," said Kbad, a Berkshire shareholder since 1985 and author of a blog on Buffett.
This year, he invited 200 of his students to follow the debates with him, broadcast live in one of the university auditoriums.
The Berkshire Hathaway meeting was nicknamed "Woodstock for Capitalists", with "festival-goers" from the Who's Who of the American business world.
In addition to personalities such as billionaire Bill Gates – Buffett's friend and bridge partner – business executives and investors come to seek approval from the popular nabob at a time when appear elitist can be a curse.
"He gives a good example to leaders, especially business leaders, to youth, he gives his money to help others … and I think there is something missing now in this world, "said Indian Millionaire Paul Singh, 68, became an angel investor after the sale of his company Primus Telecommunications.
Singh's son Jay Phoenix, 32, a psychiatrist turned millionaire after selling his startup, said Buffett was a long-term vision.
"Because you get rich and you hit those numbers, it does not mean that your lifestyle needs to change as much," he said. "It's … about how you treat others and the integrity you have."
Buffett, valued at nearly 90 billion US dollars, still lives in a modest house about 10 minutes from downtown Omaha, which he bought in 1958.
Apart from the surveillance cameras, no other security is visible, but if a visitor takes pictures, an agent will come out and ask "nicely" what they are for.
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