Top 5 Takeaways From Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting

Here are some of the highlights from the "Oracle of Omaha" over the weekend.

ByABC News
May 2, 2016, 4:18 PM
Warren Buffett sits behind a desk under a portrait of founder Mary See at the See's Candies booth during a part of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, April 29, 2016, in Omaha.
Warren Buffett sits behind a desk under a portrait of founder Mary See at the See's Candies booth during a part of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting, April 29, 2016, in Omaha.
Eric Francis/AP Photo

— -- Billionaire Warren Buffett, widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world, didn't hold back his opinions at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meeting over the weekend.

Berkshire Hathaway's chairman hosted investors at the yearly gathering in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday, following a "Shareholder Shopping Day" on Friday at the company's exhibit booths.

The 85-year-old investor discussed everything from politics to soda.

Here are some of the top five takeaways from the "Oracle of Omaha" over the weekend:

Berkshire will be "fine" after the election

Buffett, who is a supporter of Hillary Clinton, answered a question about the regulatory impact on Berkshire if Republican front-runner Donald Trump were to win the election in November.

"That won't be the main problem," he told the audience, Reuters reported. "If either Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton becomes president, and one of them is very likely to be, I think Berkshire will continue to do fine."

Warren rails on Wall Street

Buffett said on Saturday that hedge funds and investment consultants are usually a "huge minus" to those who follow their advice, the Wall Street Journal reported. Buffett pointed to a bet he had with hedge fund Protege Partners since 2006. The hedge fund bet that its cumulative returns of five funds it chose would outperform the Vanguard S&P 500 index fund, including fees. But at the end of 2015, the index fund had a return of 65.7 percent, beating the hedge fund's 21.9 percent return. The S&P outperformed the hedge fund in six of the eight individual years of the bet also, the Journal reported.

Blaming obesity on soda is 'spurious'

Buffett, who has a stake in Coca-Cola, called the blame for obesity and diabetes on soda "quite spurious." Buffett, who famously drinks Cherry Coke, said he hasn't seen evidence that has convinced him that consuming "water and broccoli" instead of soda will help him reach 100 years old.

“You have a choice of consuming more than you use,” he said. “I make a choice to get 700 calories from Coke, I like fudge a lot, too, and peanut brittle and I am a very happy guy. If you were happy every day -- and it may be hard to measure -- you are going to live longer as well, so that may be a compensating factor," Buffett said, according to the Financial Times.

Why he doesn't prioritize diversity

Berkshire Hathaway was criticized for its lack of diversity among its 12 board members.

"You've explicitly stated you do not consider diversity when hiring for leadership positions and board members," asked reporter Andrew Ross Sorkin. "Does that need to change, and are we missing any investment opportunities as a result?"

Buffett answered, "No."

"We will select board members -- and we lay it out and have done so for years, and I think we've been much more explicit than most companies -- we are looking for people who are business-savvy, shareholder-oriented, and have a special interest in Berkshire," Buffett said, according to Yahoo. "And we've found people like that. And as a result, I think we've got the best board that we could have."

Valeant Pharmaceutical's business model 'enormously flawed'

“The business model of Valeant was enormously flawed,” Buffett said. “I watched the Senate hearings a couple days ago when Senator Collins and Senator McCaskill interrogated three people from Valeant, and it was not a pretty picture.”

Last week, Valeant executives admitted that it spiked drug prices and promised to lower the price of some hospital drugs.