Wall Street Journal (October 7)
“Billionaire Warren Buffett tossed lifelines to a handful of blue-chip companies during the financial crisis. Five years later the payoff on those deals is becoming clear: $10 billion and counting.” In terms of income before taxes, the investments to companies like Bank of America, Dow Chemical, General Electric, Goldman Sachs and Mars, have yielded Berkshire approximately 40%. Berkshire received an attractive premium, but provided the companies with critical capital and something even more valuable: “Mr. Buffett’s implicit endorsement of their long-term prospects. Shares of these companies generally went up after they revealed Berkshire’s involvement.”
Tags: Bank of America, Berkshire, Billionaire, Blue-chips, Capital, Dow Chemical, Endorsement, Financial Crisis, General electric, Goldman Sachs, Investments, Mars, Payoff, Premium, Shares, Warren Buffett
Business Insider (March 21)
Warren Buffett canceled his planned trip to Japan due to the earthquake. He does, however, remain upbeat on Japanese equities. “If I owned Japanese stocks, I would certainly not be selling them because of the events of the past 10 days or so. Something out of the blue like this, an extraordinary event, really creates a buying opportunity.”
Tags: Buying opportunity, Earthquake, Japan, Warren Buffett
Forbes (August 4)
Warren Buffett has been making cold calls. He is trying to get the 400 wealthiest Americans to make a Giving Pledge to donate their fortunes to charities and other good causes. Buffet admitted there were quite a few people he didn’t know before he dialed. In total, about 75 people have been contacted, with 40 enlisting so far. This brings pledges to approximately $120 billion. Microsoft’s Bill Gates, New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg and hotelier Barron Hilton are among those who have taken the Giving Pledge.
Warren Buffett has been making cold calls. He is trying to get the 400 wealthiest Americans to make a Giving Pledge to donate their fortunes to charities and other good causes. Buffet admitted there were quite a few people he didn’t know before he dialed. In total, about 75 people have been contacted, with 40 enlisting so far. This brings pledges to approximately $120 billion. Microsoft’s Bill Gates, New York’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg and hotelier Barron Hilton are among those who have taken the Giving Pledge.
