I hope this isn't the governing attitude - one person's individual preferences shouldn't stand in the way of the best decision from the business's perspective, even if that one person is Warren Buffett

Of course not. Over 90%+ of shares (excluding Warren's) voted for NO dividend. Thus it's very clear that almost all shareholders of BRK don't want a dividend as long as retained earnings test is met (as originally proposed by Warren & Charlie):

A dollar of retained earnings must produce > one dollar of market value.

This test is unrelated to book value metric which lost significance as Warren pointed out several times before getting rid of it in the performance table. Given that buybacks almost always occur above book (but below intrinsic value), it loses even more significance over time.

In summary, Warren's personal situation aligns beautifully with that of the 90%+ of his partners. And the board & Greg know when they can no longer retain earnings anymore. I hope that day is very, very far off as I view it as a sad day indeed for it's the day BRK management & board declare defeat in terms of their ability to retain earnings effectively and wisely and reinvest them for the benefit of shareholders.

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

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