OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett says Coca-Cola can easily adjust the compensation plan he has called excessive, and he defended the quiet way he handled his objections.
Buffett appeared on CNBC Monday after spending the weekend meeting with shareholders of his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.
Buffett says he decided to abstain from voting Berkshire's 400 million Coca-Cola shares on the compensation plan because he didn't want to "go to war" with Coca-Cola. But he met with the CEO to express his concerns.
"I don't really want to embarrass the Coca-Cola company," Buffett said, according to CNBC. "I was certainly looking to have them reexamine what they were doing."
Buffett says Coca-Cola can make the compensation plan acceptable by spreading the stock options over more years than the four initially proposed.
Buffett says he believes Coca-Cola will do what's right.
Nearly 40,000 people attended Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting in Omaha on Saturday to hear Buffett spend several hours answering questions.