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Investment guru has tried to brush off the share trading scandal that marred Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder rally Investment guru Warren Buffett has tried to brush off the share trading scandal that marred his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder rally, telling reporters, “I don’t think it will change a record of 80 years.” David Sokol, a former heir apparent to Buffett’s chief executive position, accused the investment guru of scapegoating him over the weekend. Sokol said he is “deeply saddened” by Buffett’s decision to publicly “disparage” him over a controversial share deal. In a statement, Sokol’s lawyers said the executive had considered Buffett a “friend and mentor”. Sokol resigned earlier last month after Berkshire disclosed he had invested $10m (£6m) in Lubrizol, a chemicals company he later advised Buffett to buy. Sokol made $3m profit on the deal. Speaking this weekend, Buffett, one of the world’s richest men, called Sokol’s behaviour “inexcusable and incomprehensible”. He said he had collected “pretty damning evidence” against Sokol and given it to the financial regulator the Securities and Exchange Commission. Buffett said the authorities had asked him about other trades Sokol may have made, but he knew of no others. He said they were not investigating any other directors. Buffett’s business partner, Charlie Munger, said the firm had had “a brush with scandal” but its record was “pretty damn good”. Munger said: “We are not looking under every rock and anticipating more to come.” The Sokol affair cast a shadow over Berkshire’s meeting in Omaha, which attracts 40,000 people. Many shareholders questioned Buffett about his initial statement on Sokol’s resignation. At the time he had said: “Neither Dave nor I feel his Lubrizol purchases were in any way unlawful.” Buffett had also described Sokol’s contribution to the company as “extraordinary” and said the resignation had been a “total surprise”. Sokol had run several Berkshire subsidiaries, including MidAmerican Energy and NetJets, which sells part-ownerships of private jets. At his annual meeting, Buffett said he had made a “big mistake” in not quizzing Sokol about the controversial share deal. He said he had paid him $24m last year; Sokol is believed to be worth more than $100m. Buffett said Sokol once volunteered to give $12.5m of a bonus to Greg Abel, his colleague in Berkshire-owned energy firm MidAmerican, because he thought the money should be shared. Last year Sokol was a hit with shareholders, who wanted their photo taken with a man tipped to be Buffett’s successor. Through his lawyers Sokol said: “It is alarming that Mr Buffett would be advised to so completely flip-flop and resort to transparent scapegoatism. After 11 years of dedicated and hugely successful service to various Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries, Mr Sokol would have expected to be treated fairly. That would have been in Berkshire’s interest.” At a press conference, Buffett said his lawyers had attempted to talk to Sokol and calls had not been returned. Buffett spoke at length about the US and European economies. He believes another banking crisis is unlikely in the near future in the US but expressed concern about the fragility of the European Union. Buffett said European banks could have problems if their nations are unable to resolve their debt problems and said it was hard to say whether EU countries would be willing to stay tied to a single currency if they have to keep bailing out other nations. Munger said: “I think Europe has a hell of a problem.” He described recent attempts to solve Europe’s issues as “a Band-Aid on a cancer.” The pair said it was too early to tell whether the UK’s austerity measures would rescue Britain’s economy. “Three years from now you’ll read some fascinating accounts of what’s happening in Britain and in Europe,” said Buffett. “I just don’t know what the final chapter is yet.” Berkshire owns shares in Tesco, a company he said was “clearly a very good business”, although Buffett refused to be drawn on whether it would buy more. But Munger commented on Tesco’s problems with its US chain, Fresh & Easy, saying it should really be called “Fresh & Hard”. Buffett’s most fancied successor is now Ajit Jain, head of Berkshire’s reinsurance businesses. “To an extraordinary degree, he thinks about Berkshire first,” Buffett told shareholders. The investment guru has said he has a list of potential successors and intends to split his job, appointing a chief executive and a chief investment officer. He said his successor would come from within Berkshire but was unlikely to have the same management style as Munger and Buffett, whose annual shareholder meeting is a jamboree, with investors from all over the world flying in to hear the duo talk about their lives as much as their share picks. Buffett makes comedy films and plays music at the event. He said they were not looking on Broadway for a replacement. “I don’t think they will be looking for someone who plays the ukulele,” Buffett said. Warren Buffett Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk