Legendary investor Warren Buffett on Saturday called for greater federal control of the nation’s electric system and endorsed President Donald Trump’s government downsizing efforts in his last shareholder meeting as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett’s comments came during Berkshire’s hourslong annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, near the headquarters of the sprawling $1.1 trillion conglomerate. They are likely to reverberate in Washington, where the 94-year-old billionaire’s views have influenced public policy for decades.
As Berkshire’s chief executive, Buffett transformed the company from a struggling textile mill into an empire that now includes insurance, rail, energy and manufacturing businesses as well as substantial stakes in blue-chip U.S. firms like Apple, Chevron and Bank of America. He opposed Trump‘s candidacy ahead of his first term and has declined to back presidential contenders in subsequent races.
The nation “needs incredible improvement — rethinking, redirection, even to some extent — in the grid. I mean, we’ve outgrown what would be the model that America should have,” Buffett said at the Saturday meeting, which was livestreamed and moderated by the business outlet CNBC.
