OMAHA, Nebraska – Warren Buffett warned the tens of thousands of shareholders who crowded an arena for his annual meeting that AI frauds might become “the growth industry of all time.”

Doubling down on his warnings from last year, Buffett informed the crowd that he had just encountered the disadvantages of artificial intelligence. And it looked and sounded exactly like him. Someone created a phony film of Buffett, which appeared to be convincing enough that the so-called Oracle of Omaha admitted he could imagine it deceiving him into moving money offshore.

The wealthy investing guru predicted that crooks will grasp the technology and cause more harm than good.

“As someone who doesn’t understand a damn thing about it, it has enormous potential for good and enormous potential for harm and I just don’t know how that plays out,” he was quoted as saying.

Warren Buffett Says AI May Be Better For Scammers Than Society. And He’s Seen How

The day began early Saturday with Berkshire Hathaway reporting a significant decline in earnings as the paper worth of its investments fell, and it reduced its Apple holdings. In the first quarter, the business posted a $12.7 billion profit, or $8,825 per Class A share, a 64% decrease from $35.5 billion, or $24,377 per A share, the previous year.

However, Buffett advises investors to focus more on the conglomerate’s operating earnings from the companies it actually owns. These increased by 39% to $11.222 billion, or $7,796.47 per Class A share, driven by the success of insurance businesses.

Nothing that got in the way of having fun.

Crowds flocked to the arena to buy Squishmallows of Buffett and former Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, who died last October. The gathering draws investors worldwide and is unlike any other business meeting. Those attending for the first time are motivated by a desire to be here while Buffett, 93, is still alive.

“This is one of the world’s top events for learning about investment. “To learn from the gods of the industry,” said Akshay Bhansali, who traveled from India to Omaha for nearly two days.

Devotees go from all over the world to gather pearls of wisdom from Buffett, who memorably nicknamed the event ‘Woodstock for Capitalists.’

However, one missing aspect this year was the first meeting after Munger’s death.

The gathering began with a video homage featuring some of his most famous statements, including the legendary line, “If people weren’t so often wrong, we wouldn’t be so rich.” The movie also included pranks the investors had done with Hollywood celebs over the years, including a “Desperate Housewives” spoof in which one of the women introduced Munger as her lover and another in which actress Jaimie Lee Curtis swooned over him.

Warren Buffett Says AI May Be Better For Scammers Than Society. And He’s Seen How

As the film ended, the arena erupted in a sustained standing ovation for Munger, whom Buffett referred to as “the architect of Berkshire Hathaway.”

Buffett stated that Munger remained curious about the world until his death at 99, throwing dinner parties, meeting with people, and making regular Zoom calls.

“Like his hero Ben Franklin, Charlie wanted to understand everything,” Buffett said.

For decades, Munger and Buffett served as a legendary comic pair, with Buffett providing lengthy setups to Munger’s sharp one-liners. He once called unproven internet startups “turds.”

Together, they transformed Berkshire from a struggling textile mill into a vast conglomerate of diverse interests, from insurance companies such as Geico to the BNSF railroad, many major utilities, and a slew of other businesses.

Munger frequently described the key to Berkshire’s success as “trying to be consistently not stupid, instead of trying to be very intelligent.” He and Buffett were also recognized for sticking to businesses that they knew well.

“Warren would always do at least 80% of the talking. But Charlie made an excellent foil,” said Stansberry Research analyst Whitney Tilson, who was looking forward to his 27th consecutive meeting.

Munger’s absence, however, allowed shareholders to get to know the two executives who directly supervise Berkshire’s companies: Ajit Jain, who runs the insurance operations, and Abel, who handles everything else and has been anointed Buffett’s successor. This year, they performed alongside Buffett on the main stage.

When Buffett initially asked Abel a question, he accidentally said, “Charlie?” Abel shrugged off the error and delved into the issues that utilities face due to the increasing risk of wildfires and certain regulators’ unwillingness to allow them to make a respectable profit.

Morningstar analyst Greggory Warren says Abel spoke up more on Saturday, allowing shareholders to see some genius Berkshire management boasts about.

Abel twisted Munger’s famed “I have nothing to add” statement by frequently beginning his answers Saturday with “The only thing I would add.”

Warren Buffett Says AI May Be Better For Scammers Than Society. And He’s Seen How

“Greg’s a rock star,” stated Chris Bloomstran, head of Semper Augustus Investment Group. The bench is deep. He won’t be in the same mood at the meeting, but I believe we all come here every year as a reminder to remain logical.”

Buffett made it obvious that Abel would be Berkshire’s next CEO, but he stated on Saturday that he had altered his mind about how the company’s investment portfolio should be managed. He has previously stated that it would fall to two investment managers who now control tiny portions of the fund. On Saturday, Buffett approved Abel for the position, which includes managing the running businesses and potential acquisitions.

“He understands the business well. “If you understand business, you understand common stocks,” Buffett stated. The board will ultimately decide, but the billionaire has threatened to come back and haunt them if they try something different.

Buffett believes Berkshire’s arrangement of having all non-insurance companies report to Abel, and insurers report to Jain is effective. He no longer receives many calls from management since they rely on Abel and Jain for assistance.

“This place would work extremely well the next day if something happened to me,” Buffett stated in an interview.

Nonetheless, Buffett’s closing remark was the biggest applause line of the day: “I not only hope that you come next year, but that I come next year.”

SOURCE – (AP)

SAN FRANCISCO — The Securities and Exchange Commission charged an auditing firm hired by Trump Media and Technology Group only 37 days ago with “massive fraud” on Friday, but not for any work done for former President Donald Trump’s media company.

The SEC accused the accounting firm BF Borgers and its owner, Benjamin F. Borgers, of “deliberate and systematic failures” in over 1,500 audits.

Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’

The charges include failing to follow accounting regulations, falsifying documents to conceal flaws, and falsely claiming in audit reports that its work fulfilled audit criteria.

To settle SEC accusations, BF Borgers agreed to pay a $12 million fine, while its owner consented to pay a $2 million fine, according to the SEC. Benjamin Borgers did not immediately return a phone for comment.

BF Borgers and Benjamin Borgers both agreed to permanent sanctions, which will take effect immediately and prevent them from handling SEC-related matters as accountants.

According to the company’s most recent annual report filing, Trump Media appointed BF Borgers as its auditor on March 28. The business acknowledged that BF Borgers had similarly addressed its audits before its public offering by combining with a cash-rich shell company called Digital World Acquisition Corp.

The company had already hired at least two other auditors, one who resigned from the account in July 2023 and another who was fired by the board in March, just as it was rehiring BF Borgers.

Trump Media “looks forward to working with new auditing partners in accordance with today’s SEC order.”

Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’

The SEC discovered that BF Borgers’ shortcuts included:

• Copying audit documents from the prior year.
• Changing the pertinent dates.
• Passing it off as current documentation.

In addition to inaccurately recording work that was never completed, the fake documentation detailed planning meetings with clients that never took place and “falsely represented” that both Benjamin Borgers and another reviewer had authorized the audit work.

Trump Media’s Newly Hired Auditing Firm Was Just Busted By The SEC For ‘Massive Fraud’

“Ben Borgers and his audit firm, BF Borgers, were responsible for one of the largest wholesale failures by gatekeepers in our financial markets,” stated Gurbir Grewal, the SEC’s enforcement director. “Thanks to the painstaking work of the SEC staff, Borgers and his sham audit mill have been permanently shut down.”

SOURCE – (AP)

The Royal Bank of Canada, the country’s largest bank, has removed Chief Financial Officer Nadine Ahn following a probe into a personal relationship she allegedly had with another employee, according to the NDTV.

Ms Ahn joined Royal Bank in 1999 and worked in treasury, risk, investor relations, and other financial responsibilities before becoming CFO in September 2021.

In a press release on April 5, the bank stated that it became aware of ”allegations” against Ms Ahn and initiated an investigation. It discovered she breached its code of conduct by having a ”undisclosed close personal relationship with another employee, that led to preferential treatment of the employee, including promotion and remuneration increases.

The Royal Bank’s code of conduct states: “While we are all held to the high ethical standards set out in our Values and the Code, those of us who are people managers are accountable for leading by example,” which includes “being respectful, transparent, and fair in all relationships.”

Violation of Royal Bank’s code of conduct

Though the investigation absolved both workers of any malfeasance involving the bank’s financial statements, it stated that, despite the lack of financial impropriety, the bank saw her acts as a violation of its code of conduct.

As a result, both employees had their jobs terminated, according to the Royal Bank.

According to The Globe and Mail, the other employee is Ken Mason, a vice president and head of capital and term funding at RBC with 23 years of experience. Katherine Gibson, the bank’s senior vice president of finance and controller, has been designated temporary CFO while the hunt for a permanent successor continues.

An RBC spokesperson said “in her new role, Ms Gibson will bring a wide range of experience leading global teams and major strategic enterprise initiatives, including a deep understanding of business drivers and growth opportunities across several areas of the bank,” RBC stated.

Bank of Canada Ponders Rate Drop

Meanwhile, Governor Tiff Macklem of the Bank of Canada told Senators that it is coming closer to being able to begin reducing interest rates from their current 23-year highs.

Macklem told the Senate Banking Committee that inflation was falling and Canadians wanted to know when the central bank would begin decreasing interest rates.

“The short answer is we are getting closer,” he went on to say.

Canada’s annual inflation rate in March was 2.9%, slightly higher than the previous month. The Bank of Canada has set a 2% inflation objective.

Inflation has remained below 3% since January, in keeping with the central bank’s prediction for the first half of 2024, with carefully watched core consumer price indicators also falling steadily.

“We are seeing what we need to see, but we need to see it for longer to be confident that progress toward price stability will be sustained,” he said.