Munger_Disciple Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 2 minutes ago, StubbleJumper said: Another case of a marginally competent family member being given a position on the board. Should we now call Buffett the Prem Watsa of the south? SJ Chris Davis is a decent guy but I am not blown away by his appointment either. Middle of the road large cap fund manager who overdosed on financials just before the GFC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxthetrade Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 8 minutes ago, StubbleJumper said: Another case of a marginally competent family member being given a position on the board. Should we now call Buffett the Prem Watsa of the south? Have you watched 'Succession' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hjorth Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 9 minutes ago, StubbleJumper said: Another case of a marginally competent family member being given a position on the board. Should we now call Buffett the Prem Watsa of the south? SJ SJ, You're killing me. If I could, I would quote your post into the "Jokes"-topic in General Discussion forum. Unfortunately, I'm still not able to do so with the new CoBF setup. Rest assured, I'll find the way to do so along the way. I'm not a "quittor". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValueMaven Posted October 20, 2021 Share Posted October 20, 2021 On the positive side - Davis is a huge fan of buybacks with regards to Berkshire. Sussie is ridiculous and poor choice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munger_Disciple Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 Some inconsequential news: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-22/buffett-brings-generali-close-to-completing-cattolica-purchase Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadMan24 Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 I believe those appointments are more to do with maintaining culture at Berkshire along with further diversity of thought. To say Sussie is ridiculous and poor choice is astonishing considering the fees directors receive on other boards that are habitual yes men. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StubbleJumper Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 19 minutes ago, RadMan24 said: I believe those appointments are more to do with maintaining culture at Berkshire along with further diversity of thought. To say Sussie is ridiculous and poor choice is astonishing considering the fees directors receive on other boards that are habitual yes men. Just for the record, this is the résumé of Susie Buffett: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Alice_Buffett Does that look like the ideal background of someone who has been appointed to guide the management of a $650 billion company? I'd say that she makes Christine McLean and Ben Watsa look like rock stars.... SJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadMan24 Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 3 minutes ago, StubbleJumper said: Just for the record, this is the résumé of Susie Buffett: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Alice_Buffett Does that look like the ideal background of someone who has been appointed to guide the management of a $650 billion company? I'd say that she makes Christine McLean and Ben Watsa look like rock stars.... SJ Do you run a philanthropy foundation? Curious on what real world knowledge you have to make that statement. Moreover, again -- ensuring Berkshire's culture is there post-Warren is not important to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StubbleJumper Posted October 22, 2021 Share Posted October 22, 2021 58 minutes ago, RadMan24 said: Do you run a philanthropy foundation? Curious on what real world knowledge you have to make that statement. Moreover, again -- ensuring Berkshire's culture is there post-Warren is not important to you? No, I have never had my father donate $1 billion so I could be hand-picked to run my own philanthropy foundation. My guess is that somebody who climbed through the ranks of the non-profit sector, with successive jobs of progressively higher responsibility, to eventually be competitively selected to be the boss of a $1 billion foundation would be a pretty talented person. But, that's not how Susie was selected for the job, was it? The culture of BRK will probably last one or two CEOs post-Buffett and then it will likely revert to a typical organization with an over-confident, self-interested management cadré. Appointing a 68 year-old family member to the board is unlikely to forestall that process. SJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spekulatius Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 (edited) On 10/20/2021 at 4:58 PM, StubbleJumper said: Another case of a marginally competent family member being given a position on the board. Should we now call Buffett the Prem Watsa of the south? SJ LOL, Woot Woot for nepotism. I sort of wonder how Howard and Susan keep the Berkshire culture intact if they have no idea what is going on at Berkshire. Edited October 23, 2021 by Spekulatius Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munger_Disciple Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 32 minutes ago, Spekulatius said: LOL, Woot Woot for nepotism. I sort of wonder how Howard and Susan keep the Berkshire culture intact if they have no idea what is going on at Berkshire. Couldn't agree more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DooDiligence Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 11 hours ago, Spekulatius said: LOL, Woot Woot for nepotism. I sort of wonder how Howard and Susan keep the Berkshire culture intact if they have no idea what is going on at Berkshire. This is terribly distracting. Not as bad as when WEB bought into airlines but nearly so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flesh Posted October 23, 2021 Share Posted October 23, 2021 They are just votes voting how there told for awhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Hjorth Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) On 10/22/2021 at 9:21 PM, StubbleJumper said: No, I have never had my father donate $1 billion so I could be hand-picked to run my own philanthropy foundation. My guess is that somebody who climbed through the ranks of the non-profit sector, with successive jobs of progressively higher responsibility, to eventually be competitively selected to be the boss of a $1 billion foundation would be a pretty talented person. But, that's not how Susie was selected for the job, was it? The culture of BRK will probably last one or two CEOs post-Buffett and then it will likely revert to a typical organization with an over-confident, self-interested management cadré. Appointing a 68 year-old family member to the board is unlikely to forestall that process. SJ @StubbleJumper I'm thinking about the content of your post. Thank you for sharing your thoughts & line of thinking. Edited October 24, 2021 by John Hjorth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IceCreamMan Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 On 10/22/2021 at 3:21 PM, StubbleJumper said: No, I have never had my father donate $1 billion so I could be hand-picked to run my own philanthropy foundation. My guess is that somebody who climbed through the ranks of the non-profit sector, with successive jobs of progressively higher responsibility, to eventually be competitively selected to be the boss of a $1 billion foundation would be a pretty talented person. But, that's not how Susie was selected for the job, was it? The culture of BRK will probably last one or two CEOs post-Buffett and then it will likely revert to a typical organization with an over-confident, self-interested management cadré. Appointing a 68 year-old family member to the board is unlikely to forestall that process. SJ UNLESS... What if Susie and Howard have been instructed to make sure more "culture keepers" are added to the board (as S & H reach retirement age) and to instruct them continue the cycle? Buffett has talked in the past about his desire for Howard to maintain the Berkshire culture; is it possible that Warren wants to has a plan to try to keep the chain of trust going for as long as possible (i.e. beyond his children)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adesigar Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 (edited) I’d rather have honest people who genuinely care about the company than worthless incompetent big names similar to the board of directors of Theranos. Edited October 24, 2021 by adesigar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gfp Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I don't know why it was decided to add Susie to the Board of Directors but I would bet that, if asked, Warren would say that Susie is tasked with saying something when Warren is "losing his marbles" so to speak. He has talked for many years about how hard it is for directors - or even Warren & Charlie - to speak up and make a change when a CEO is starting to slip cognitively. Susie spends more time with Warren than just about anybody and he probably recognizes that she is his best option as far as feeling comfortable enough to speak up when it's time to make the call. Another possibility is that Howard is not particularly healthy, but I would place my bet on the first theory. I wouldn't necessarily expect Susie to stay on the board once Greg Abel is CEO but what do I know? The timing of the announcement was probably just based on the death of Walter Scott. Obviously they added two and only lost one - but there was likely some debate on who to add and what the pros and cons were and maybe they just said lets chose more than one. Warren is getting old and working from home was not particularly good for someone who likes to tap dance to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munger_Disciple Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 I feel like the board quality has been going down in recent times. We lost Walter Scott, who brought the energy business opportunity to Berkshire in the late 90s and had an outstanding business career and Bill Gates. Gates' replacement is ok but not as good as Gates. I don't understand why Susie needs to be on the board to provide input to the other members on Warren's mental acuity. Chris Davis is a decent fellow but why do we need one more investor on the board? We already have Meryl Whitmer in addition to Sandy Gottesman. What we really need are board members who have business operating background like Scott and Gates. Having a competent shareholder oriented board is more important than ever given Warren's advanced age and upcoming CEO transition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ValueMaven Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 In other news - BYD is going vertical again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubsfan Posted October 25, 2021 Share Posted October 25, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, gfp said: I don't know why it was decided to add Susie to the Board of Directors but I would bet that, if asked, Warren would say that Susie is tasked with saying something when Warren is "losing his marbles" so to speak. He has talked for many years about how hard it is for directors - or even Warren & Charlie - to speak up and make a change when a CEO is starting to slip cognitively. Susie spends more time with Warren than just about anybody and he probably recognizes that she is his best option as far as feeling comfortable enough to speak up when it's time to make the call. Another possibility is that Howard is not particularly healthy, but I would place my bet on the first theory. I wouldn't necessarily expect Susie to stay on the board once Greg Abel is CEO but what do I know? The timing of the announcement was probably just based on the death of Walter Scott. Obviously they added two and only lost one - but there was likely some debate on who to add and what the pros and cons were and maybe they just said lets chose more than one. Warren is getting old and working from home was not particularly good for someone who likes to tap dance to work. Bravo GFP. This is an excellent point - and who better to protect Berkshire from a declining Warren than his daughter and son that know how & what their father will want them to do. Edited October 25, 2021 by cubsfan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wabuffo Posted October 26, 2021 Share Posted October 26, 2021 WTF? Is Elon Musk making a hostile bid for BRK? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleepydragon Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 40 minutes ago, wabuffo said: WTF? Is Elon Musk making a hostile bid for BRK? Or more likely Buffett buying Tesla, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hasilp89 Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 was listening to the 2004 meeting and heard WEB say that there were four internal candidates that could take the reigns. Assuming at the time that was Sokol, Abel and Jain - blanking on the 4th anyone know. Anyway its quite interesting to listen to the Q&A on succession from almost 20 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Munger_Disciple Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 (edited) 2 hours ago, wabuffo said: WTF? Is Elon Musk making a hostile bid for BRK? https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/BRK-B?p=BRK-B&.tsrc=fin-srch Not reflected in B share price, so it seems like a (fat finger mistake) market order on 3 A shares after hours LOL. Edited October 27, 2021 by Munger_Disciple Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aws Posted October 27, 2021 Share Posted October 27, 2021 Someone did it again today with 1 share trading for 504k, or about 70k over the closing price. Starting to think I should have a GTC sell order just sitting out there. I can even give them a bargain and just have it at 50k over regular trading hour prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now