2012: Should public-company CEO's refrain from political commentary?

BECKY QUICK: This question comes from John in Brunswick, Georgia.

He says, “You are clearly entitled to speak your mind on any and all subjects as an individual, but the recent publicity around the Buffett tax has become quite loud.

“And as a shareholder, I fear it is limiting, to some degree, the interest in the Berkshire stock, on principal, for some people.

“For instance my 84-year-old father is not interested in investing in Berkshire because of his opposition to this tax position, and otherwise, he likely would.

“While being a public company CEO, should some of the political dialogue be somewhat muted for the betterment of the company and its share price?”

WARREN BUFFETT: Yeah. That’s a question that’s raised frequently. (Applause)

But I really — in the end, I don’t think that any employee of Berkshire, I don’t think that the CEOs of any of the companies that we own stock in, should in any way have their citizenship restricted.

We did not — (Applause)

When Charlie and I took this job, we did not decide to put our citizenship in a blind trust. People are perfectly willing — it’s fine if they disagree with us. I think it’s kind of silly.

I don’t know the politics of — necessarily — of [American Express CEO] Ken Chenault or [Coca-Cola CEO] Muhtar Kent or [Wells Fargo CEO] John Stumpf. I got a pretty good idea with [banker Richard] Kovacevich at one time. (Laughs)

But they run these businesses in which we have ten — [IBM CEO] Ginni Rometty, I mean, we’ve got 11 or $12 billion with her. I don’t know what her politics are, and, you know, I don’t know what her religion is.

She’s got all kinds of personal views, I’m sure, that probably are better than mine, but it doesn’t make any difference. I just want to know how she runs the business.

And I really think that that 84-year-old man making a decision on what he invests in based on who he agrees with politically, sounds to me like you ought to own FOX. (Laughter and applause)

Charlie?

CHARLIE MUNGER: Well, I want to report that Warren’s view on taxes for the rich has reduced my popularity around one of my country clubs. (Laughter)

WARREN BUFFETT: If it keeps him from hanging around the country club, I’m all for it.

CHARLIE MUNGER: And it’s a disadvantage I am willing to bear in order to participate in this enterprise. (Laughter)

WARREN BUFFETT: Charlie and I, we don’t disagree on as many things as you might think, but we’ve certainly disagreed on some things over 53 years. It’s never — we’ve never had an argument in 53 years. Maybe you can get one started here if you work on it. (Laughter)

But it — it’s just — it’s irrelevant. I mean, you know, roughly half of the country is going to feel one way this November and the other half is going to feel a different way.

And if you start selecting your investments, or your friends, or your neighbors, based on trying to get people that agree with you totally, you’re going to live a pretty peculiar life, I think.