Warren Buffett's company rejects proposals, but it faces lawsuit over how it handled one last year
Shareholder proposals are usually uneventful at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting, but Warren Buffett and the company are now facing a lawsuit over the way one presenter was treated last year
OMAHA, Neb. — Shareholder proposals are usually uneventful at Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting. But Warren Buffett and the company are now facing a lawsuit over the way one presenter was treated last year.
Peter Flaherty with the National Legal and Policy Center came back with another proposal this year on a different subject even after he was cut off in the middle of his presentation last year and arrested for trespassing. The charges were later dropped, but Flaherty decided to sue because of the way he was treated to stand up for any shareholder who wants to bring a proposal. He said he had never had trouble at dozens of meetings he has presented at since 2005, including Berkshire’s 2022 meeting.
“I’ve never been interrupted while making a shareholder presentation. I’ve never had my mic cut, and I’ve never been removed from a meeting room. And I’ve certainly never been arrested,” Flaherty said, “Those things were unprecedented for me.”
The issue last year was that Flaherty questioned the character of one of Buffett's best friends and a former Berkshire board member, Bill Gates. Flaherty suggested that Buffett's close association with Gates could hurt Berkshire's reputation because of reports that Gates had been associated with Jeffrey Epstein before he was arrested for sex trafficking. So he was proposing that Berkshire give someone else Buffett's chairman title while leaving him as CEO.
Buffett has donated billions to Gates’ foundation over the years and plans to give him the bulk of his fortune to distribute.
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