KEY POINTS
  • Whenever a situation like this arises "it's the shareholders who pay," says Buffett at the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting.
  • Buffett's comment was followed by cheers from the crowd.
  • Buffett made his remark responding to a shareholder's question regarding the Wells Fargo scandal involving the creation of fake accounts.
Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.

OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett thinks CEOs of failing banks should lose literally everything they're worth.

"If a bank gets to where it needs government assistance, the responsible CEO should lose his net worth and his spouse's net worth," Buffett said at Berkshire's shareholders meeting. Whenever a situation like this arises, "it's the shareholders who pay."