There is rampant speculation this morning after Berkshire Hathaway(BRKA) announced it had repurchased 9200 class A shares from “the estate of a long-time shareholder”. Many are reporting, irresponsibly, in our opinion, that the stake comes from David Gottesman. This makes no sense to us for two reasons. First, Mr. Gottesman, being very much alive,...
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If you own a house, it’s very likely you’ve purchased title insurance from Fidelity National Financial(FNF). After all, the company writes more policies than any other. Increasingly though, it’s likely that you’ve eaten at one of the company’s restaurants. Yes, you read that correctly. The company has been steadily acquiring restaurant assets, and will...
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I first became interested in Daily Journal Corporation(DJCO) while reading Janet Lowe’s excellent Chralie Munger biography, Damn Right. I have owned it in the past though not currently. It consists of a declining but still profitable niche newspaper publisher, and with Berkshire Hathaway’s recent acquisition of Wesco, is the only company managed solely by...
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In an unexpected move, David Sokol, Warren Buffett’s presumed successor as Berkshire Hathaway(BRKB) CEO, has resigned from all of his positions at the company. Buffett made the announcement in a press release he identifies as “unusual”. Sokol, who apparently has attempted to resign before, resigned by letter two days ago, citing his desire to...
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If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it might just be Sardar Biglari playing dress up. In his continuing effort to pretend to be Warren Buffett, Biglari Holdings(BH) announced this morning that its Board Of Directors had approved a 1-15 reverse stock split. This follows a previous 1-20 reverse split,...
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As reported previously, Berkshire Hathaway(BRK-B,BRK-A) announced its intention on August 25, 2010 to propose to Wesco(WSC) that it purchase the 19.9% of Wesco it did not already own. This morning, at long last, the two companies have announced a definitive merger agreement. Wesco shareholders will be able to elect cash or stock at what...
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Image via Wikipedia In the latest step in his effort to mimic Warren Buffett, Sardar Biglari of Biglari Holdings(BH) has proposed to create a new, non-voting class of shares, which existing class A shares could be converted to at a rate of somewhere between 20 to 1 and 50 to 1. The disclosure came...
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Image via Wikipedia Li Lu, thought by many to be Warren Buffett’s successor as investment manager at Berkshire Hathaway has decided to stay at his own hedge fund, Buffett said. In the wake of today’s surprise announcement that Todd Combs would be joining Berkshire as investment manager, New York Times’ Andrew Ross Sorkin spoke...
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In a move that is sure to stun even the most ardent Warren Buffett watchers, Berkshire Hathaway(BRKA,BRKB) announced today that they have hired Todd Combs to “handle a significant portion of Berkshire’s investment portfolio” as an investment manager. Mr. Combs, who has heretofore been largely unknown, has been managing a hedge fund for Castle...
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From the just-filed 13D The original purpose of the purchases of the Shares, all of which occurred more than 30 years ago, was to increase the ultimate control by Blue Chip of Wesco. On August 25, 2010, Berkshire’s management determined to propose to Wesco a cash-stock election transaction in which it would acquire the remaining...
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