Big crowds gather for Warren Buffett's annual shareholder meeting

More than 40,000 Berkshire Hathaway shareholders gathered in Omaha of Nebraska on Saturday to celebrate the 50-year successful run of Warren Buffett and his partner Charles Munger of one of the most profitable companies in the world.

Warren Buffett, Berkshire's chairman and chief executive, and Charles Munger, its vice chairman, are taking questions from shareholders and journalists for around six hours at the annual gathering, also known as Woodstock for Capitalists.

The grander-than-usual show draws a record number of attendances, roughly 10 percent of the population of Omaha. Questions are likely to include the company's recent investment in Kraft, its stakes in IBM and Coca-Cola, and succession planning, a perennial favorite. Topics of the macro-policy of the world's major economies are also expected.

Taking a question on whether he could repeat his success if he started over, Buffett said he got lucky in several instances over the past five decades since taking the helm at Berkshire.

"The whole thing is business is being opened to ideas as they come along," he added.

Insurance companies laid part of the foundations of Buffett's initial success. He said he liked those options because the companies were something he could understand.

But he said if he was starting over again, he would find something other than insurance to direct his attention to. Endite