Jonathan Stempel
OMAHA, Neb. (Reuters) – Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:) Inc shareholders on Saturday overwhelmingly rejected six proposals addressing environmental and social policy issues at Warren Buffett’s conglomerate, all of which were opposed by the billionaire investor and his board of directors.
By a margin of more than 4 to 1, shareholders at Berkshire’s annual meeting voted down two proposals to require the company’s insurance and energy operations to disclose more information about their efforts to address climate change, including greenhouse gas emissions.
They also rejected a proposal for greater disclosure of efforts to promote diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace.
Shareholders voted overwhelmingly against a separate environmental proposal, creating a board-level committee to oversee safety at BNSF’s rail division and requiring Berkshire to report annually on how dependent its business operations are on the “hostile” Chinese government.
Berkshire invested in Chinese electric vehicle company BYD (SZ:) in 2008 but began reducing that stake in 2022.
The votes weren’t surprising since Buffett owns special shares that give him 31% of Berkshire’s voting shares. This makes it difficult to accept proposals that Buffett opposes.
Berkshire shareholders also re-elected the company’s 14-member board of directors.