David Brown, the chief executive of Greater Omaha Chamber, the city's main business organisation, says there are hundreds of millionaires in Omaha thanks to being early investors in Berkshire. Buffett's first investment fund, Buffett Associates, was founded in the city in 1956. The companies that make up Berkshire's empire, range from Borsheims, a jewellery store, to Dairy Queen, the US ice cream maker.
"Having someone as influential and trusted as Mr Buffett in Omaha really gives us credibility as a place to invest and do business," says Mr Brown.
In the 1960s, the company began by investing principally in shares, rather than buying whole companies, Berkshire has always enjoyed a loyal following among local shareholders. However, its shareholder register expanded significantly last year when a stock split was used to pay for the acquisition of Burlington Northern Santa Fe, America's second-largest railroad company. That saw enough new shares issued to admit Berkshire into the S&P 500 for the first time, bringing a new pool of investors.
For some of Berkshire's institutional shareholders the Sokol episode raises some more troubling questions. "It was certainly an unseemly event and not Buffett's greatest moment," says Michael Yoshikami, who runs Californian fund manager YCMNET Advisors and is a Berkshire shareholder. "While I don't think it's indicative of how they run their affairs, I suspect their governance will be tightened up."
Berkshire, which is named after a Massachusetts textile mill that Buffett bought in the early 1960s, eventually bought Lubrizol for $9bn in the middle of March. It was not until the end of that month that questions over the timing of Mr Sokol's share purchases ? which were made in the middle of December and early January ? were made public.
Those who have followed Mr Buffett for years say change at Berkshire was, of course, inevitable when he and Charlie Munger, his veteran business partner, were no longer in charge. Now some change will have to come while they're still at the helm, according to Alice Schroeder, author of a recent biography of the billionaire.
"Berkshire is going to have to change a lot," she says. "Buffett has a huge attention span and has been able to run the company without any real infrastructure. They must move to a more traditional corporate structure."
Although Mr Buffett has given no sign he intends to retire, the departure of Sokol has reignited the question of succession. Mr Buffett has said there are several internal candidates. His role is likely to be split between a chief investment officer to manage Berkshire's $144bn of investments and another to oversee its more than 70 subsidiaries.
Todd Coombs, a hedge fund manager whom Berkshire hired last year, is seen as a leading candidate for the former role, while Mr Sokol had been judged frontrunner for the latter.
"Neither Buffett nor Munger has any plans to retire so I can understand why they won't want to be more explicit on succession," explains Meyer Shields, who covers the company for stockbroking firm Stifel Nicolaus.
But perhaps the bigger question for Berkshire is how to continue to generate the returns that have drawn thousands to Omaha this weekend.
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