Warren Buffett Backtracks On DEI? Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter Removes Diversity Mention

Legendary investor Warren Buffett released the latest Berkshire Hathaway Inc BRKBRK shareholder letter over the weekend.

The highly anticipated release included many updates and comments on the state of the market and the company's businesses, but one missing item could become a big topic of discussion.

What Happened: Berkshire Hathaway's newest shareholder letter highlighted the company's different business segments, including the strength of the insurance sector.

Across Berkshire Hathaway there are 189 operating businesses, which collectively employ nearly 400,000 people.

As part of Berkshire Hathaway’s annual report, the letter omitted a line on the company's diversity that had been in past shareholder letters, as reported by the New York Post.

The previous report said Berkshire Hathaway's hiring practices "intended to identify qualified candidates and promote diversity and inclusion in the workforce."

This year's letter stopped that line after the word candidates, omitting the diversity and inclusion line.

Berkshire Hathaway did not respond to a request for comment by Benzinga at the time of writing.

In May 2024, Berkshire Hathaway shareholders voted down a proposal for the company to disclose more about its efforts to promote DEI. The company's board of directors opposed the proposal.

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Why It's Important: The removal of the diversity and inclusion line could be Berkshire Hathaway following many other companies that have changed their hiring policies and wording to omit terms like diversity and inclusion in the current Donald Trump White House administration era.

Trump has fought to eliminate DEI, a common acronym for diversity, equity and inclusion, across businesses and federal government agencies. DEI is often used by companies to promote fair hiring policies to also include people who are underrepresented in the workforce and are more likely to be discriminated against in the hiring process.

Another explanation could be Berkshire Hathaway giving the power to their operating units to decide what is best for their own hiring processes. This could be a way to not be targeted by Trump and also let its businesses hire based on their own terms.

One of Berkshire Hathaway's largest portfolio companies has changed its DEI programs and hiring practices. Beverage giant Coca-Cola Co KO was expected to revise its DEI policy to adhere to a new White House mandate that affects beverage services on military bases and other government properties.

The beverage company recently said that its cooperation with DEI mandates for federal contractors could hurt the company's business.

"If we are unable to attract or retain specialized talent or top talent with diverse perspectives, experiences and backgrounds that reflect the broad range of consumers and markets we serve around the world, our business could be negatively affected," Coca-Cola said in its recent risk factors of a financial filing.

Berkshire Hathaway owns 400 million Coca-Cola shares, representing around 9.3% of the beverage company.

Changing DEI policies and wording on websites and in materials is becoming more common for companies in the Trump era.

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