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I have long avoided learning anything about energy trading, so I ask from ignorance, but can someone explain what the point of the energy trading operations were/are for Pilot? Do all these changes signal that BRK is shutting down, or at least scaling back, the petroleum trading desk?

I share your view on Greg. At the high end of range of outcomes, he turns out to be a Tim Cook. WEB extols his operational prowess; who am I to argue? Maybe he can optimize operations on the existing businesses and expand the moats. At the mid-range, perhaps Abel won't be able pull the trigger on elephants, so he shifts to returning cash flow to investors through share buybacks and perhaps dividends. At the low-end, he can't stop firing at over-priced elephants, fails to reinvest in the great businesses, and squanders billions in cash. Nothing we've heard about Abel suggests he will fall prey to taking huge swings at stupid targets. And I'd like to believe that Ajit, Ted and Todd will have the sway to prevent Greg from making huge mistakes if I'm wrong about that. But I can certainly envision a Berkshire where the mid-range is the reality you've portrayed. Indeed, I'm not sure we haven't been living in that world for the past decade, where playing around with small, cheap, borrowed yen on the Japanese stock market is the most exciting transaction pursued. The test will be whether Abel is able to identify the huge opportunities presented in a dislocated market and, much harder, has the courage to bring out the buckets to act on those opportunities aggressively.

Agreed. I have long hoped that the Wrigley financing was a toehold into a Mars acquisition, but I haven't seen much evidence to justify that hope over the past decade.

Thought-provoking questions, although I wonder if you are setting the bar too high. If Abel is as good as Dimon, Cook, Brian M. that's more than you can ask for. But as big a question to me is who is Greg's Charlie? Structurally, I'm not sure Ajit is intended to play that role. And to be fair, I don't think you can structure such a role into being. Abel needs to find one or more talking partners. Perhaps it is Todd or Ted or a combination of the three.

The piece that I appreciated most was the value of his leadership at GEICO. I knew he had worked with Progressive, but I didn't realize that his work their overlapped with GEICO's weaknesses. I am optimistic that even as a part-time CEO, he will be able to provide the direction needed to restore GEICO.

Amazing story. Crazy growth starting from scratch with plenty of room to continue to pursue Lloyd's.

It's an interesting story. Crazy how much more efficient buyers were able to make the operations - I was particularly struck by the slashing in employees. This is one instance where I felt like the handsome return has been merited. It will be interesting to see if it works out for Smucker's. Has a Loser's Curse feel to the fancy price, but Smucker's is well enough run that there may be a workable strategy behind the combination.

And further to AAPL, if AAPL's stock price were cut in half, the power of AAPL's buybacks would become even more fearsome. As a serial buyer of stocks, BRK hopes the price of AAPL is cut in half (so long as the intrinsic value of the business isn't likewise cut in half, which China does not seem to so threaten).

I thought the different clips of questions to WEB about his successor in the kick-off video (which started in 1980s) made the point nicely. It is crazy how different BRK looks from even 10 years ago. My favorite part of Adam Mead's book is how easy it makes comparing BRK over the decades. To the same point was WEB's answer about what BRK will look like in 50 years. Who knows? That's why I love the image of the Berkshire canvas: we do know what some of the essential pieces will be in 50 years. How many other companies can you say that for?

Right. I don't have the source to hand, but I recall Charlie discussing how good a business big oil would be if the big oil companies would just stop with the money-destroying exploration. I have in mind that is the appeal of OXY: CEO Holub just turns on the cash spigot. (I haven't reconciled the Permian Basin play with that view though, as even the discussion at the annual meeting made it sound as if shale is an always-explore venture, as contrasted with Charlie's 50-year-plus monthly royalty check.)

Interesting thesis. To put your explanation in my words, Chevron was a liquid option that turned out to be a modest money market (better than costless!) but that hasn't proven to be a windfall, and WEB is ready to unwind (potentially to shift to Oxy, although with some of the preferreds being called, total exposure in oil is currently being lightened)?

Chevron is the interesting one to me. I am puzzled that BRK is jumping in and out of Chevron and TSMC. Obviously Chevron remains a very, very large holding, but I don't remember BRK churning ideas like this in the past - particularly with little evident change.

Not @Saluki obviously, but the last reference I know of to Schroeder working on a Buffett investing book was in a terrific 2010 interview she did with Miguel Barbosa (second to last question): https://seekingalpha.com/article/235292-behind-the-scenes-with-buffett-s-biographer-alice-schroeder Since I've heard nothing since, I had assumed she dropped the project when she shifted to operating a business and since has focused on board service. But I'm hoping I'm wrong, since the book sounds valuable.

I agree. I listened to the audiobook version, which I recommend. The authors do a terrific job teaching and contextualizing contemporary history. I'd put it up with Barbarians at the Gate, in the pantheon of fantastic storytelling wrapped meeting an important subject.

Really interesting perspective. Thanks for making the point.

Agreed. It's speculation, but each twist provides more rationale for why Berkshire abandoned its never-sell approach for Applied.

Lubrizol picks up an interesting niche player: https://www.smartbusinessdealmakers.com/articles/topic/lubrizol-buys-bavaria-medizin-technologie-through-german-subsidiary-lubrizol-deutschland/?utm_campaign=Cleveland2019&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=74847407&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9gkp8xyI4ndLTGdlVjIpXjOmvKv5gIv0p1IIX8adgbtwkFL6ayWpKZ97AJK0-ERLHHSu_7b7DfhNayCZxG0IvxqKEhyyWuwK_AESXF2S1u0DL7bCM&_hsmi=74847407 No price is mentioned, but the 100-employee German firm expands Lubrizol's expertise, it appears.

Very helpful review. Regarding your thesis that there are a few super talented operators, how do you balance that against WEB's goal to find businesses so good that a ham sandwich can run it? I am not challenging your perspective that there are some business people who leap out as much better than the competition no matter the field. But I am cognizant of the WEB maxim that when management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for bad economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact.

Very helpful. Thank you.

I loved the Acquired podcast. A number (nearly all) of episodes are terrific, but the one I go back to is about Blue Bottle coffee. https://www.acquired.fm/episodes/episode-46blue-bottle-coffee The discussion about fundraising was really great. There is also a subscription premium podcast with Sara Adler that is a favorite. I can't figure how to link it, since it requires a subscription. But there is a seven-day free trial now, so I recommend trying it out. (Although I would recommend not starting with the first episode, on VC vocabulary, which was granular. Not bad but not their best work.

For all the "explanations" about wanting to treat shareholders as partners and not as counterparties and wanting to be certain that a shareholder contemplating selling has all the information that the shareholder needs, I concur. Over the past decade, I have spent more time trying to understand this aspect of BRK than any other. The retrospectively silly pegs to BV; the nibbling; the continued affirmations that they will act aggressively. I just don't get it. Still, I like the increase in runrate. If BRK will repurchase $1.7 billion of shares a quarter, this will start to become material very quickly. It was 2X the Amazon purchase. Annualized, that's approximately 50% of each of Ted and Todd's pool, it is equal to Charlie's entire stake, it is a large portion of cash earned from operating businesses in the quarter, etc., so while it is well below what I'd like to see, it is moving in the right direction and, for last quarter only, may be reaching the point where any more aggressive purchasing could start to impact share price.

With respect, it is quite a leap to suggest that not being about to get confidence in Oracle's future prospects suggest an inability to expand circle of competence. I tend to your first impression, recognizing that the number of people who have tech within their circle of competence - in an investable way - is vanishingly small.

Nice historical perspective. Thanks for doing the work.

Could you elaborate on the "drivel" part of this? I understand the view that material is frequently recycled, but I would not have characterized the site as offering drivel.

Dr. Singleton had the "advantage" of being willing to take advantage of his shareholders. One of the most powerful deterrents to BRK's repurchases has been a reticence to act greedily when the stock price was low. I am ambivalent yet about whether to admire or regret the behavior - the loyalty of the shareholder base is a cardinal advantage. If you start to treat them as arms'-length financial interests, you will surely lose that benefit. Then, when the stock price sags, BRK risks a breakup at the very time it could be aggressively deploying its resources. I appreciate why WEB dithers. :-\