Warren Buffett names successor, warns on US deficit, trade and greed: 10 takeaways from Berkshire Hathaway’s AGM

Here are 10 key takeaways from the meeting:

Buffett confirmed he plans to recommend Abel as CEO during a board meeting this weekend. “I think the time has arrived where Greg should become the chief executive officer of the company at year end,” Buffett said.

He will remain involved, but emphasised Abel will have the “final word” on decisions.

Buffett warned the federal deficit is “unsustainable over a very long period of time,” expressing frustration with congressional inaction. “We've got a lot of problems always as a country, but this is one we bring on ourselves,” he said. “If you picked a way to screw it up, it would involve the currency.”

Buffett reiterated support for free trade while cautioning against economic nationalism.

“Trade can be an active war,” he said. “We want a prosperous world... not one where a few countries say, ‘Ha, ha, ha. We won.’”

Despite his concerns, Buffett said he would still choose the US above all. “The luckiest day in my life is the day I was born... in the United States,” he said. “If I were being born today, I would just keep negotiating in the womb until they said, ‘You can be in the United States.’”

Berkshire has considered deals up to $100 billion, but Buffett noted that attractive investments are unpredictable. “Things don’t come along in an orderly fashion,” he said. “We’re running a business which is very, very, very opportunistic.”

Buffett compared the efficiency of stock investing with the complexity of real estate deals.

“It’s so much harder than stocks,” he said, citing time-consuming negotiations and ownership complications. “For a guy of 94, it’s not the most interesting thing.”

Buffett hinted at caution in currency exposure, saying Berkshire avoids investing in countries with unstable currencies. He added that fiscal mismanagement could eventually push the firm to diversify more globally.

"There could be... Things happen in the United States that... make us want to own a lot of other currencies. I suppose if we made some very large investment [in a] European country... there might be a situation where we would do a lot of financing in their currency."

Commenting on recent market turbulence, Buffett urged investors to stay unemotional.

“This is not a very dramatic bear market,” he said. "If you get frightened by markets that decline and get excited when stock markets go up... People have emotions, but you've got to check them at the door when you invest."

“You need to get a somewhat different investment philosophy because the world is not going to adapt to you.”

“You only have to get rich once,” Buffett said, quoting the title of a book as he warned against reckless speculation. “If very stupid things are happening around you... you do not want to participate.”

Buffett described American capitalism as a “magnificent cathedral” but acknowledged it includes a “massive casino” component.

“I think that bureaucracy is something that is amazingly prevalent and contagious even in our capital system and that big corporations overwhelmingly, most of them look like they could be run better.”