Warren Buffett Highlights NTI’s Work at Shareholders Meeting

Speaking at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting on May 2, Warren Buffett commended NTI’s work on biosecurity and nuclear threat reduction, efforts he has long supported.

In remarks about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, Buffett highlighted the Global Health Security (GHS) Index, the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across 195 countries. The GHS Index, which was released last fall, was developed by NTI and the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security with research by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Buffett was briefed on the GHS Index in November by NTI Co-chairs Ernest J. Moniz and Sam Nunn, as well as Vice President for Global Biological Policy and Programs Beth Cameron. They shared the report’s top conclusion that no country is fully prepared to face an epidemic or pandemic. Cameron now leads the NTI | bio team’s response to COVID-19 and is working with fellow health care experts and leaders in the United States and around the world to address the pandemic.

At the Shareholders meeting, Buffett described Nunn as "one of the people I admire most in the United States and the world." Nunn, who played the role of the president of the United States in the Dark Winter simulation, co-founded NTI in 2001.

Buffett has been a long-time and consistent supporter of NTI's work. In 2005, he promoted the release of Last Best Chance, a docudrama about the threat of terrorists acquiring a nuclear weapon. Buffett also generously helped fund development of an international Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank, which provides states interested in peaceful nuclear power an assured fuel supply. Called “Mr. Buffett’s excellent idea” by The New York Times, the International Atomic Energy Agency-run LEU Bank launched in 2017.

Buffett continues to generously support NTI’s mission to build a safer world. You can watch the May 2 Shareholders meeting on YouTube here.