With Warren Buffett’s retirement, Berkshire Hathaway loses its best pitchman

A shareholder poses with a stand-up picture of Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, during the 2019 annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, May 3, 2019. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

Warren Buffett became the the world’s most famous investor because of his sage investment wisdom at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway. That wasn’t his only job: He’s also the company’s best pitchman.

Take the company’s annual meeting – the place to be if you want financial advice and to network with major business players. It’s also a shopping bonanza.

The “Berkshire Bazaar of Bargains” has become synonymous with the meeting itself, a Buffett-themed shopping mall that shows off products from the conglomerate’s various holdings. And there are many, many products under the company’s umbrella: enough at least to fill 20,000 square feet with 50,000 items of inventory for shareholders in 2025, according to the company.

The Nebraska billionaire has a love for posing with mascots and items under the ownership of Berkshire’s ginormous umbrella, too, with the smiling faces of Buffett and his late right-hand man Charlie Munger on all sorts of quirky products for sale in the bazaar.

With Buffett set to retire as CEO at the end of 2025, let’s take a look back at his role as his company’s biggest mascot.

Squishmallow

Anyone with children – or perhaps a kidult themselves – knows what a Squishmallow is. The egg-shaped plushies took the toy world by storm and is also part of Berkshire Hathaway’s portfolio. It joined through an indirect line of corporate takeovers, after Berkshire Hathaway acquired Alleghany in 2022, the parent company of Squishmallow-maker Jazwares.

Squishmallow made its first appearance in Omaha in 2023, debuting a Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger plush. The toys immediately flew off the shelves and reportedly sold for up to US$450 online.

See’s Candies

Buffett also has a history of buying up companies whose product he is a personal fan of. See’s Candies is one of those items, purchased by Berkshire Hathaway in 1972. Note the disco Buffett fudge box below.

Heinz

Warren Buffett has a long corporate history with Heinz. Berkshire Hathaway and 3G capital first bought Heinz for $28 billion in 2013, taking the condiment maker private. The two parties arranged a massive – but ultimately unsuccessful – merger between Kraft and Heinz in 2015, creating the third-largest food company in North America. This year, they split into two separate publicly-traded businesses.

Though Buffett told told CNBC he was disappointed by the split, Berkshire remains Kraft Heinz’s biggest shareholder.

Two figures who didn’t split, though? Buffett and Munger, who are seen here on a bottle of Heinz ketchup and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Jell-O mold

Food conglomerate Kraft Heinz was also the owner of Jell-O.

Fruit of the Loom

In 2001, Berkshire announced it was buying Fruit of the Loom for $835 million in cash. What better way to commemorate that than with Buffett-themed boxers?

Brooks Running

Not everyone can run Berkshire Hathaway, but at least you can run with Berkshire-backed Brooks Running shoes, with the founder himself on the soles.

Coca-Cola

Berkshire is Coca-Cola’s largest shareholder, owning 9.3% of the beverage giant. These Coca-Cola cans were produced for the Chinese market.

Duracell batteries

Berkshire announced it would acquire Proctor & Gamble’s Duracell in 2014, getting into the battery business. It also enabled Berkshire to create a portrait of Buffett made entirely of Duracell batteries.

By Ramishah Maruf, CNN