Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO Greg Abel opened the first annual meeting without Warren Buffett on stage Saturday. Abel was promoted to CEO in January. Thousands of people again attended the meeting, but the Omaha arena where the event is held was only a little over half full. The meeting began with a video tribute to Buffett that was filled with clips from the previous 60 annual meetings for the conglomerate. Buffett surprised shareholders a year ago at the end of the meeting when he announced he would step down. Buffett took the microphone briefly to endorse Abel and praise Apple CEO Tim Cook who helped Berkshire's $35 billion investment in Apple a decade ago generate $185 billion for Berkshire.