The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) received a complaint on Tuesday concerning Berkshire Hathaway BRK BRK. The complaint follows the arrest of a shareholder who raised questions about CEO Warren Buffett’s affiliations with Bill Gates and Jeffrey Epstein during a shareholder meeting.
What Happened: The chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center (NLPC), Peter Flaherty, was arrested after he questioned Buffett’s financial backing of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Gates’ connections with Epstein, reported The Daily Signal. Despite being registered as an attendee, Omaha police charged Flaherty with criminal trespass, which led to his detention for approximately three hours.
Following his arrest, NLPC’s counsel Paul Kamenar filed a complaint with the SEC, emphasizing the incident as a clear demonstration of societal disparity. The NLPC is urging the SEC to prevent Berkshire Hathaway from repeating such actions and to acknowledge them as violating rules.
An email sent By Benzinga to Berkshire Hathaway seeking comment didn’t elicit any response till the time of publishing this story.
A veteran shareholder activist, Flaherty remarked that this was his first arrest or microphone cut-off during a proposal. Currently, Berkshire Hathaway has not issued any comments regarding the incident.
Why It Matters: Earlier in May, the NLPC had warned that Buffett’s association with Gates could pose a significant risk to Berkshire investors. The group had attempted to oust Buffett as the board chair of Berkshire Hathaway due to these concerns.
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