The only book sold at Berkshire Hathaway's shareholder meeting
A dispatch from Omaha and Warren Buffett's updated reading list.
Never have I waited in a 40-minute line to buy a book I knew nothing about.
But that’s what happened at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting, which told its 40,000 attendees it would have only 5,000 copies of this year’s book on site in Omaha.
It’s the second year in a row Warren Buffett promoted just one title at his event. In 2024, to honor the late Charlie Munger, it was Poor Charlie's Almanack.
60 Years of Berkshire Hathaway, according to the conference, would not be sold online or in stores.
I didn’t know anything about 60 Years until I had it in my hand. Those who waited in line next to me said the same. But because it’s Berkshire Hathaway — and because it’s Buffett — we were all happy to wait as long as it took.
In his shareholder letter published ahead of the conference, Buffett said the book blew him away with “its ingenuity, contents, and design.”
That said, the attendees I’ve met all agreed the contents of the book mattered less than the fact they secured one.
The demand would be overwhelming no matter what the book was. Thousands of us stood in line not for paper and ink, but to own something finite.
The book — a slim volume of archival material, historical documents and commentary — was produced in close collaboration with Buffett himself. It celebrates him and Munger’s six-decade partnership and the conglomerate they built.
Like Buffett, the book is not flashy.
Predictably, though, it does feel built to last.
As glad as I am to have my copy, I’m equally intrigued by the piece of paper that accompanied the book — a list of recommended reading from Berkshire.
Twenty-seven titles about the company, business and life.
The variety of topics covered on the reading list serves as a quiet reminder that the best investors are readers first. A well-rounded reading life, like a stock portfolio, compounds in ways that are hard to measure but impossible to discount.
It’s fitting that I came for a rare book but left with a blueprint to much more.
Like any good investment, I expect it’ll pay dividends for years to come.
Phil Rosen
Co-founder & Editor-in-Chief of Opening Bell Daily
For your convenience, I’ve transcribed Buffett’s latest reading list below:
Poor Charlie’s Almanack: The Essential Wit and Wisdom of Charles T. Munger by Peter D. Kaufman
A Few Lessons for Investors and Managers from Warren E. Buffett by Peter Bevelin
The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America (8th Edition) by Lawrence A. Cunningham
Tap Dancing to Work: Warren Buffett on Practically Everything by Carol Loomis
The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway: A Chronological Analysis of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s Conglomerate Masterpiece by Adam Mead
Capital Allocation: The Financials of a New England Textile Mill 1955–1985 by Jacob McDonough
Margin of Trust: The Berkshire Business Model by Lawrence A. Cunningham and Stephanie Cuba
Berkshire Hathaway Letters to Shareholders: 1965–2014 collected by Max Olson
Charlie Munger: The Complete Investor by Tren Griffin
Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street by John Brooks
The Great Crash: 1929 by John Kenneth Galbraith
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The Intelligent Investor (Revised Edition) by Jason Zweig
The Little Book of Common Sense Investing: 10th Anniversary Edition by John C. Bogle
The Ten Commandments for Business Failure by Donald R. Keough
Where Are the Customers’ Yachts? by Fred Schwed Jr.
All I Want to Know is Where I'm Going to Die So I’ll Never Go There: Buffett and Munger — A Sense of Humor with Common Sense by Peter Bevelin
Seeking Wisdom: From Darwin to Munger by Peter Bevelin
Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert Cialdini
Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy by James Stewart and Rachel Abrams
My New Berkshire ABC by Nancy Rips, illustrated by Matt Haney
Americana: A 400-Year History of American Capitalism by Bhu Srinivasan
Getting There: A Book of Mentors by Gillian Zoe Segal
Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade by Robert Cialdini
Running with Purpose: How Brooks Outpaced Goliath Competitors to Lead the Pack by Jim Weber
Trillion Dollar Triage: How Jay Powell and the Fed Battled a President and a Pandemic—and Prevented Economic Disaster by Nick Timiraos
The Oracle’s Fables: Life Lessons for Children Inspired by the Oracle of Omaha by John Prescott, illustrated by Tom Kerr