How Omaha Feels Different Without Warren Buffett at Berkshire Weekend

David Kass, a finance professor at the University of Maryland, is a longtime attendee of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Neb.—an event so popular it has earned the nickname “Woodstock of Capitalism.” In past years, Kass saw lines forming around the block as early as 6 a.m., along with overflow rooms and packed exhibition halls.

This year’s gathering, held last weekend and the first led by Berkshire’s new CEO Greg Abel, felt noticeably different. “Attendance was way down,” Kass told Observer.

Official figures haven’t been released, but early estimates suggest attendance was roughly 30 percent lower than the usual crowd of about 40,000. The drop has raised concerns for local businesses that typically benefit from the event’s economic boost.

For more than 60 years, Buffett followers have traveled to Omaha each first weekend of May. What began as an opportunity to hear Buffett’s investing insights has evolved into a full-scale spectacle, complete with shopping, picnics and even a 5k run. The 2024 gathering generated more than $21 million in tourism revenue, and last year’s event filled 95 percent of Omaha’s hotel rooms over two days. Only the College World Series, which takes place every June in Omaha, brings a larger economic impact to the city.

Buffett’s deep ties to Omaha, where he grew up and still lives, have long been part of the draw. Visitors stop by his favorite local spots, including Gorat’s Steakhouse, to order his go-to meal: a rare T-bone steak with a double side of hash browns and a cherry Coke. The restaurant is typically so busy that it hires extra staff, with the weekend sometimes generating one to two months’ worth of revenue.

This year, however, business at Gorat’s slowed. A dip in shareholder attendance was “reflected in our own personal guest count,” Ashley Blodgett, the restaurant’s general manager, told Observer. The slowdown wasn’t a surprise: as early as February, reservation calls were already lower than usual.

Events like the Berkshire meeting and the College World Series are “what we really look forward to, and can sometimes carry us throughout the rest of the year,” said Blodgett. In an effort to offset the lighter traffic, Gorat’s reached out to guests who previously couldn’t get table reservations to let them know spots had opened up. “It was definitely still a success for us,” said Blodgett. “It just wasn’t as big as the last years.”

The shareholder meeting itself also had a different tone. Buffett, long the face of the event, handed over the reins to Abel earlier this year after stepping down following a six-decade run.

While Buffett has long been the figurehead of the event, he passed the responsibility this year to Abel, who took up Berkshire’s helm earlier this year after the 95-year-old Buffett stepped down following a six-decade reign. While Abel capably led the Q&A sessions, some attendees said they missed Buffett’s trademark humor and folksy charm, especially the dynamic he shared with his late partner, Charlie Munger.

“People were both going there to learn about Berkshire and to be entertained, quite honestly,” said Kass. While he expects longtime attendees to keep returning, he believes newer participants may lose interest. “For the shareholders who are more recent, I would predict a decline in the years ahead.”

International visitors were another noticeable absence. Attendees said the crowd felt more American than usual, a shift reflected across Omaha businesses. At Gorat’s, Blodgett reported a “huge” drop in tour groups from countries like China, Brazil and Germany, suggesting the conference may be losing some of its appeal as a global tourism draw without Buffett.

Other factors may also be at play, including rising airfare costs and policies from the Trump administration that have made international travel more difficult. “I do wonder with the rest of the political climate, too, if that had an impact on people coming into America,” said Blodgett.

Still, not every business felt the slowdown. The Omaha Marriott Downtown at the Capitol District, located near the CHI Health Center where the meeting is held, was fully booked. “It couldn’t have gotten any busier for us,” said general manager Carlo Vermeeren. While some businesses farther from the venue may have seen declines, his hotel remained at capacity. “We’re not worried about it.”

Still, not every business felt the slowdown. The Omaha Marriott Downtown at the Capitol District, located near the CHI Health Center where the meeting is held, was fully booked. “It couldn’t have gotten any busier for us,” Carlo Vermeeren, the hotel’s general manager, told Observer. While some businesses farther from the venue may have seen declines, his hotel remained at capacity. “We’re not worried about it,” Vermeeren said.

The massive crowds that now define the Berkshire meeting are actually a relatively recent phenomenon, according to Ernie Goss, an economics professor at Creighton University who has lived in Omaha for about 30 years. “When I first came to Omaha, it was not that way,” he told Observer. The inaugural 1965 meeting drew just a dozen attendees.

Even if attendance continues to slip, Omaha will still benefit from the event’s extensive media coverage, including outlets like CNBC, Goss said. The only real concern, he added, would be if the meeting ever moved away from Omaha, the city so closely tied to Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. “I think it will go on, of course, and his legacy will remain with Omaha.”