1998: What are the advantages of investing in Berkshire Hathaway as opposed to investing in the stocks that Berkshire owns?

AUDIENCE MEMBER: My name is Bob Swanson (PH) from Phoenix.

And I’m wondering, what are the advantages of investing in Berkshire Hathaway as opposed to investing in the stocks that Berkshire owns?

WARREN BUFFETT: Well, a lot of people do one or the other and some people do both. But you have to really make up your own mind on that.

We’re not going to go to great lengths to tell you about everything that Berkshire is doing as we go along, and there could be some changes, and there will be things that can happen in Berkshire that I think you would have trouble duplicating elsewhere.

But on the other hand, you know, if you’d put all your money in Coca-Cola some years back, you might have done better than if you’d put it in Berkshire.

So we really make no recommendations as to what people do with their money. We do not seek to become investment advisors through, in effect, our portfolio actions at Berkshire.

Charlie?

CHARLIE MUNGER: Amazingly, we hate it when people following us — follow us around buying what we buy. (Laughter)

WARREN BUFFETT: Nothing personal.

CHARLIE MUNGER: No. (Laughter)