The crowd that fills Omaha's downtown arena and several overflow rooms to listen to Buffett answer questions always books every hotel room in the region. Airbnb is signing up people willing to rent all or part of their homes to help provide rooms for the more than 40,000 people expected to attend this year's meeting. Buffett has said he hopes Airbnb can help shareholders who don't want to pay for the expensive three-night minimum stays that some Omaha hotels require during the meeting. Over the past five decades, Buffett has transformed the struggling New England textile maker into a conglomerate that owns more than 80 subsidiaries, including utility, furniture and jewelry firms.