Jonathan Stempel
OMAHA, Nebraska (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway shareholders on Saturday overwhelmingly rejected six proposals to address environmental and social policy issues at Warren Buffett’s conglomerate, but the billionaire investor Warren Buffett and the board both opposed it.
Shareholders at Berkshire’s annual meeting voted by more than 4-1 against two proposals that would have required the company’s insurance and energy businesses to disclose more about their efforts to address climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions.
They also rejected proposals calling for more disclosure about efforts to promote diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace.
Stockholders overwhelmingly create a board-level committee to oversee safety at BNSF’s rail division and require Berkshire to report annually on how dependent its business operations are on the “hostile” Chinese government. He also voted against another environmental proposal that would have required Americans to do more.
Berkshire invested in Chinese electric car company BYD in 2008, but began reducing its investment in 2022.
The vote was not surprising since Buffett owns a special stock that gives him 31% of Berkshire’s voting power. That makes it difficult to adopt proposals that Mr. Buffett opposes.
Berkshire shareholders also re-elected the company’s 14-member board of directors.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Nebraska; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
