New York Times (May 6)
When Warren Buffet unexpectedly announced his retirement at the end of 2025, “people in the crowd, many of whom were in tears, rose from their seats in a standing ovation for a singular figure in the business world.” The Oracle of Omaha, as he is known, “is often described as a symbol of American capitalism. In truth, he is an outlier. He is more the conscience of capitalism, willing to speak uncomfortable truths about the system’s ills while others remained silent.” A humble billionaire, Buffet “always comes across as a gentleman, and in an age of distrust he has become a trusted figure.” No doubt, another “of his biggest accomplishments” was “using his annual Berkshire letters and marathon Q&A sessions with shareholders to educate generations about business, investing and life itself.”
Tags: Berkshire, Buffet, Capitalism, Conscience, Educate, Gentleman, Humble, Oracle of Omaha, Outlier, Ovation, Q&A, Retirement, Shareholders, Tears, Trusted, U.S., Uncomfortable truths
Sustainability Magazine (March 22)
“Almost all Disney shareholders have rejected a proposal challenging the company’s participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index…. The proposal, which sought to push Disney to reconsider its commitment to the index, received support from only 1% of shareholders, signalling strong investor backing for the company’s diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.”
Tags: Challenging, Commitment, DEI, Disney, Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, Investor backing, Proposal, Rejected, Shareholders, Support
Reuters (February 13)
“U.S. President Donald Trump says trade wars are easy to win. If so, his 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium imports ought to have big overseas producers like Rio Tinto begging for mercy. Yet shareholders in the $107 billion miner and rivals like BHP have already shrugged off concerns. Granted, they may be overly optimistic, or reckon the levies, set to go into effect next month, won’t be imposed. But it also could be because the duties would hurt the U.S. the most.”
Tags: 25% tariffs, Aluminium, BHP, Duties, Hurt, Imports, Miner, Overseas producers, Rio Tinto, Shareholders, Steel, Trade wars, Trump, U.S., Win
Reuters (September 23)
“Rebuffing a low-ball, unsolicited, $39 billion takeover proposal from Alimentation Couche-Tard was a straightforward task for Seven & i. But the resulting 20% surge in the Japanese target’s stock price puts it under pressure to lay out a compelling plan to improve its returns. That will be critical to shoring up its defence if its suitor tries to take an offer directly to shareholders.”
Tags: $39 billion, Compelling plan, Couche-Tard, Japan, Low-ball, Rebuffing, Returns, Seven & i, Shareholders, Stock price, Straightforward, Surge, Takeover, Target, Unsolicited
Investor’s Business Daily (July 19)
“Magnificent Seven stocks dumped more than $1.3 trillion in market value in a week…. Former do-no-wrong AI company Nvidia (NVDA) is the No. 1 culprit” behind the “epic implosion.” Shares in Nvidia “have plunged more than 11% from July 10. That effectively wiped out more than $417.3 billion in shareholders’ wealth — or roughly a third — of the Mag 7’s dollar-value loss in that time.”
Tags: $1.3 trillion, AI, Culprit, Epic implosion, Magnificent Seven, Market value, Nvidia, Plunged, Shareholders, Stocks, Wealth
BBC (April 24)
In the bank’s final quarterly results, Credit Swiss disclosed that nearly $69 billion was withdrawn by depositors during the first three months of 2023. Coming on the heels of a gaping loss in 2022 and forecast loss for 2023, the deposit withdrawal was part of the impetus behind “its forced sale to rival Swiss bank UBS.” The sale has “has angered taxpayers and shareholders of both banks, who were deprived of a vote on the takeover. Some have also argued it has damaged Switzerland’s global reputation as a financial centre.”
Tags: 2023, Banks, Credit Swiss, Damaged, Deposit, Depositors, Forecast, Loss, Quarterly results, Reputation, Shareholders, Switzerland, Takeover, Taxpayers, UBS, Withdrawn
OilPrice.com (March 7)
There is scant “spare oil production capacity globally.” This mostly lies with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. U.S. shale firms “are expected to raise oil production this year compared to 2022,” but might surprise on “the downside due to supply chain and labor bottlenecks, cost inflation, and the industry’s strategy to reward shareholders and pay down debts instead of taking on more debts to boost output.”
Tags: 2022, Cost inflation, Debts, Downside, Labor, Oil, Production capacity, Saudi Arabia, Shale, Shareholders, Supply chain, U.S., UAE
Reuters (January 20)
“The end of a long battle to wring some value from Toshiba is finally within reach.” Foreign investors and private equity are unlikely to be encouraged. The process “typifies the tortuous journey required of pushy shareholders to get Japanese executives to allocate capital more shrewdly.”
Tags: Allocate, Battle, Capital, Encouraged, Executives, Foreign investors, Japan, Private equity, Pushy, Shareholders, Tortuous, Toshiba, Value
The Economist (April 9)
“Toshiba was once synonymous with Japan’s industrial might.” Over the past decade, it “has become a byword for drama,” which has included accounting fraud and an ongoing “series of ‘slapstick’ struggles between management and shareholders.” A possible buy-out led by Bain Capital has “raised hopes among investors for some sort of resolution to the saga.” This could potentially prove a watershed moment and “be a big deal for Japan.”
Tags: Accounting fraud, Bain Capital, Buy-out, Drama, Hopes, Industrial might, Investors, Japan, Management, Shareholders, Slapstick, Struggles, Toshiba
Forbes (March 24)
In his latest letter to shareholders, BlackRock Chairman Larry Fink noted that “the war between Russia and Ukraine has heralded the end of globalization, as the conflict has upended the current world order that has been in place since the Cold War and will have lasting global economic consequences.”
Tags: BlackRock, Cold war, Conflict, Fink, Globalization, Russia, Shareholders, Ukraine, Upended, War
