Product & Investing Nerd

Bessent is doing comedy now…

Barron's: "Berkshire doesn’t issue any stock compensation to executives—or any employee for that matter—and goes as far as stating it “never intends” to do so. Everyone gets paid in cash. Buffett’s salary was $100,000 in 2025—the same pay he has had for decades—while Abel and insurance chief Ajit Jain were each compensated $22 million in cash. That means no financial games common in the software industry where stock comp—an expense under GAAP accounting—is added back to earnings in a dubious “adjusted” earnings calculation. Buffett has been a critic of this financial technique. Berkshire’s directors compensation is straight out of the 1960s, with board members getting paid $900 for an in-person meeting and $300 for a phone meeting. Most directors got paid $3,000 last year (there were four meetings) or $7,000 (audit committee members get an extra $1,000 per quarter). The average board compensation for companies in the S&P 500 index is more than $250,000 a year per director. Berkshire looked out of touch earlier in this decade with its refusal to consider “diversity” when hiring board members but that looks prescient now given the backlash against DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) policies throughout Corporate America. The company said it doesn’t consider “diversity, however defined.” Here is what Berkshire looks for in a board member: “individuals who have very high integrity, business savvy, an owner-oriented attitude, a deep genuine interest in the Company and have had a significant investment in Berkshire shares relative to their resources for at least three years.”