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Warren Buffett calls stock buyback critics ‘economic illiterate’ in Berkshire Hathaway annual letter



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An Andy Warhol-like print of Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett hangs outside a clothing stand during the first in-person annual meeting since 2019 of Berkshire Hathaway Inc in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S. April 30, 2022.Scott Morgan | ReutersWarren Buffett defended stock buybacks in Berkshire Hathaway’s annual letter, pushing back on those railing against the practice he believes to be beneficial to all shareholders.”When you are told that all repurchases are harmful to shareholders or to the country, or particularly beneficial to CEOs, you are listening to either an economic illiterate or a silver-tongued demagogue (characters that are not mutually exclusive),” the 92-year-old investor said in the much-anticipated letter released Saturday.The “Oracle of Omaha” initiated a buyback program in 2011 and relied on repurchases in recent years during a competitive deal-making environment and an expensive stock market. The conglomerate spent a record $27 billion in buybacks in 2021 as Buffett found few opportunities externally.Repurchase activities slowed down this year to about $8 billion as the billionaire investor went on a buying spree with stocks selling off. Berkshire also took over insurance company Alleghany for $11.6 …

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