Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[LC]

What a piece of work. Spends 12B of shareholder $$ on Crownrock and now she's dreaming of a buyout from her rich uncle.

 

Try returning profits to shareholders, Vicki.

[MMM20]

“I don’t remember a month or a quarter gone by where Greg didn’t have a question or a clarity or a thought,” said NetJets CEO Adam Johnson. “And I have to remind myself that he’s doing that 60 times [across all of Berkshire’s subsidiaries].” https://omaha.com/news/local/business/article_5a02fb17-e783-4060-8e8e-d270cd70e019.html

[John Hjorth]

On 4/30/2025 at 6:01 PM, ValueMaven said:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherhelman/2025/04/29/oxy-taps-ai-to-help-inject-old-oilfields-with-carbon-dioxide/

 

Meanwhile CEO Vicki Hollub says a Warren Buffett buyout “would be a dream come true.”

 

On 4/30/2025 at 7:18 PM, LC said:

What a piece of work. Spends 12B of shareholder $$ on Crownrock and now she's dreaming of a buyout from her rich uncle.

 

Try returning profits to shareholders, Vicki.

 

Great and fun reading this on a Friday, it doesen't matter all the fun took place on Wednesday! 

[Xerxes]

I asked Gemini, Grok and ChatGPT what time was BRK AGM

 

 

looks like Gemini is getting CT mixed up with ET

 

[John Hjorth]

YouTube : Guy Spier [May 2^nd 2025] : VALUExBRK 2025.

 

The session starts at 22:36.

[Blake Hampton]

Buffett just said nothing he does with Berkshire is for the transition to Abel.

[John Hjorth]

9 minutes ago, Blake Hampton said:

Buffett just said nothing he does with Berkshire is for the transition to Abel.

 

 

Blake [ @Blake Hampton ],

 

We a have a separate topic for the AGM here.

[MMM20]

On 4/28/2025 at 10:19 AM, MMM20 said:

Has anyone taken a stab at quantifying the potential boost to earnings from Abel taking over and getting more hands on?

bump

[fareastwarriors]

1 hour ago, MMM20 said:

Has anyone taken a stab at quantifying the potential boost to earnings from Abel taking over and getting more hands on?

 

As long as Warren is in decent health, I doubt there will be much change at all. No way Abel will make any major changes as long as Warren is around. 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2025 by fareastwarriors

[John Hjorth]

11 minutes ago, fareastwarriors said:

As long as Warren is in decent health, I doubt there will be much change at all. No way Abel will make any major changes as long as Warren is around.

 

Yeah, @fareastwarriors,

 

The limits of power and influence between the two men appear a bit fluid by now. So be it, and it's OK, as long as they're communiticating with each other in the transitional phase. Personally, I speculate they'll get it to work, for the benefit of all shareholders.

 

I'm feeling pretty confident with this, and I personally think it'll work out. The managerial basis basis is that they like and respect each other. Likely all good.

[Spekulatius]

On 4/30/2025 at 1:18 PM, LC said:

What a piece of work. Spends 12B of shareholder $$ on Crownrock and now she's dreaming of a buyout from her rich uncle.

 

Try returning profits to shareholders, Vicki.

I think OXY is one holding where Abel is going to crank up the heat. Vicky should be careful what she wishes for. WEB pretty much said he is not going to buy control of OXY (for implicit liability reasons we can presume) but if Abel did, she could be out of her job really quick…

Edited May 3, 2025 by Spekulatius

[John Hjorth]

Berkshire Hathaway - Press Release [Maj 5^th 2025] : News Release

 

Quote

At a question and answer session that preceded Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Shareholders Meeting that was held on May 3, 2025, Warren Buffett Berkshire’s Chairman and CEO announced that he was going to recommend to Berkshire’s Board of Directors at its meeting to be held on the next day that Greg Abel, Berkshire’s Vice Chairman Non-Insurance Operations be appointed Berkshire’s Chief Executive Officer to become effective on January 1, 2026. On May 4, 2026, Berkshire’s Board of Directors voted unanimously to appoint Greg Abel to become Berkshire’s President and CEO effective on January 1, 2026. Warren Buffett will remain the Chairman of the Board of Directors. 

 

[Pellom]

Quote

Bill Miller, the veteran stock picker, advised Abel to follow the advice Buffett has long dispensed to individual investors: “Put most of the excess cash in an S&P 500 index fund,” he wrote. “Then let Todd and Ted actively manage the residual.” 

 

https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/greg-abels-challenge-lead-berkshire-into-a-new-era-without-the-buffett-touch-5d725906

[gfp]

Bill Miller suspiciously unwilling to do the same

[John Hjorth]

3 minutes ago, Pellom said:

https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/greg-abels-challenge-lead-berkshire-into-a-new-era-without-the-buffett-touch-5d725906

 

2 minutes ago, gfp said:

Bill Miller suspiciously unwilling to do the same

 

New discipline for selfpromotional talking heads : Giving Greg Abel advice about what to do. [Naturally, right? ]

[Pellom]

Yeah, Bill is nuts for that suggestion. I'm surprised he didn't suggest Bitcoin. 

[Spooky]

9 minutes ago, gfp said:

Bill Miller suspiciously unwilling to do the same

 

Classic Bill.

[73 Reds]

3 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

 

 

New discipline for selfpromotional talking heads : Giving Greg Abel advice about what to do. [Naturally, right? ]

There are folks here and on other investment forums who have been giving Buffett investment advice for as long as I can remember - nothing new there.  With Greg, the issue comes down to his propensity and ability to make large deals - particularly once Buffett is actually not available.  Shareholders will not give him the same deference to hold huge sums of cash as they do for Buffett.

[WFF]

14 minutes ago, Pellom said:

“Then let Todd and Ted actively manage the residual.” 

Perhaps give Li Lu some money? Him cap is supposedly raising money.  

[Spooky]

25 minutes ago, 73 Reds said:

There are folks here and on other investment forums who have been giving Buffett investment advice for as long as I can remember - nothing new there.  With Greg, the issue comes down to his propensity and ability to make large deals - particularly once Buffett is actually not available.  Shareholders will not give him the same deference to hold huge sums of cash as they do for Buffett.

 

I'm not so sure about this. Given BRK's size, it's best shot of obtaining crazy returns is still to be the investor of last resort when the markets go haywire. If Greg makes deals just because the cash pile is getting too large it will be a sign that their investment discipline is eroding.

[Blugolds]

7 minutes ago, Spooky said:

 

I'm not so sure about this. Given BRK's size, it's best shot of obtaining crazy returns is still to be the investor of last resort when the markets go haywire. If Greg makes deals just because the cash pile is getting too large it will be a sign that their investment discipline is eroding.

 

Warren commented on that very thing during the meeting, he described deploying capital just for deployment sake as the stupidest thing he could do. I doubt strongly that would be Gregs strategy. 

[73 Reds]

7 minutes ago, Spooky said:

 

I'm not so sure about this. Given BRK's size, it's best shot of obtaining crazy returns is still to be the investor of last resort when the markets go haywire. If Greg makes deals just because the cash pile is getting too large it will be a sign that their investment discipline is eroding.

Not to suggest any lesser investment discipline but if cash continues to build under Greg, shareholders will begin clamoring for a dividend which is the last thing this shareholder wants.  There are more competitors these days vying to be the investor of last resort.

[Spooky]

1 minute ago, 73 Reds said:

Not to suggest any lesser investment discipline but if cash continues to build under Greg, shareholders will begin clamoring for a dividend which is the last thing this shareholder wants.  There are more competitors these days vying to be the investor of last resort.

 

I'm also hoping for no dividend. We will see what happens!

[John Hjorth]

7 minutes ago, 73 Reds said:

Not to suggest any lesser investment discipline but if cash continues to build under Greg, shareholders will begin clamoring for a dividend which is the last thing this shareholder wants.  There are more competitors these days vying to be the investor of last resort.

 

Count me in, @73 Reds,

 

Deciding for ourselves what income to declare and get taxed on, and what to defer [for me, only in taxable accounts] is a great privilege.

[Blugolds]

Yeah also a No DIV voter, along with what hopefully remains to be the majority of shareholders