Parsad Posted May 5 Posted May 5 2 hours ago, Hektor said: Berkshire Picks Gen Re Chairman as Insurance Star Ajit Jain’s Successor Charlie Shamieh, an insurance-industry veteran, is slated to succeed Jain whenever he is ready to retire Berkshire Hathaway has selected Gen Re chairman Charlie Shamieh as the successor to longtime insurance mastermind Ajit Jain, aiming to ensure a smooth leadership transition at one of the conglomerate’s most critical businesses, people familiar with the matter said. Shamieh will step in to run Berkshire’s sprawling insurance arm when Jain decides to retire, the people said. Jain, a 74-year-old executive who Berkshire chairman Warren Buffett has said is irreplaceable, hasn’t signaled when he will step down. He is expected to remain in the role for the foreseeable future https://www.wsj.com/business/berkshire-picks-gen-re-chairman-as-insurance-star-ajit-jains-successor-e857bb5f?st=c6BVTq I only see Ajit staying around as long as Buffett is around. That relationship is incredibly unique! I also think Todd Combs leaving says something about how eager or important it was for some of these guys to work specifically for Buffett. Cheers!
Munger_Disciple Posted May 5 Posted May 5 (edited) 36 minutes ago, Parsad said: I only see Ajit staying around as long as Buffett is around. That relationship is incredibly unique! I also think Todd Combs leaving says something about how eager or important it was for some of these guys to work specifically for Buffett. Cheers! I think in Ajit's case health seems to be a factor. I hope he stays as long as he can. A true rock star and a treasure for Berkshire!! It will be a big loss for Berkshire when he departs. Edited May 5 by Munger_Disciple
ratiman Posted May 5 Posted May 5 (edited) The replacement value remark was an aside but in general , is buying at a tiny fraction of replacement value a good strategy? I think I would probably get laughed off this board if I wrote up a company with the investment thesis "it trades at less than replacement value" Trading for less than RV means that it's been a bad investment for a really long time. Anyway, does anyone remember who it was that calculated the BNSF return? Was it Semper Augustus? Edited May 5 by ratiman
CassiusKing1 Posted May 5 Posted May 5 If Greg and Warren agreed to stock buybacks at an average of $486/B share, then hopefully they like the current price of $465!
Eldad Posted May 5 Posted May 5 1 hour ago, CassiusKing1 said: If Greg and Warren agreed to stock buybacks at an average of $486/B share, then hopefully they like the current price of $465! I they do. Don’t tell CNBC this time.
Munger_Disciple Posted May 5 Posted May 5 Does anyone else think it's strange to see no follow-up from Berkshire about the WSJ article on Ajit's successor? It's not like WSJ is a tabloid or something.
ratiman Posted May 5 Posted May 5 BNSF as bond. Bond coupons if BNSF were a bond https://www.watchlistinvesting.com/p/119-bnsf-as-a-bond
John Hjorth Posted May 5 Posted May 5 1 hour ago, CassiusKing1 said: If Greg and Warren agreed to stock buybacks at an average of $486/B share, then hopefully they like the current price of $465! Yeah! - +1! - Buying, myself!, at these levels! - How difficult is it, or has it to be?
redskin Posted May 6 Posted May 6 8 hours ago, ratiman said: BNSF as bond. Bond coupons if BNSF were a bond https://www.watchlistinvesting.com/p/119-bnsf-as-a-bond $4,000 in 2024 and $4,400 in 2025. $1,000 in Q1. Total dividends paid from BNSF to Berkshire since purchase has been $63.08 billion.
redskin Posted May 6 Posted May 6 21 minutes ago, redskin said: $4,000 in 2024 and $4,400 in 2025. $1,000 in Q1. Total dividends paid from BNSF to Berkshire since purchase has been $63.08 billion. If you value BNSF at $100B it would be a 14% annualized return. UNP is valued at $150B
redskin Posted May 6 Posted May 6 5 minutes ago, redskin said: If you value BNSF at $100B it would be a 14% annualized return. UNP is valued at $150B SP 500 did about the same
Charlie Posted May 6 Posted May 6 13 hours ago, John Hjorth said: 15 hours ago, CassiusKing1 said: If Greg and Warren agreed to stock buybacks at an average of $486/B share, then hopefully they like the current price of $465! Yeah! - +1! - Buying, myself!, at these levels! - How difficult is it, or has it to be? +2 In German TV they said the glamour is gone. I think than it´s time for the value investors.
John Hjorth Posted May 6 Posted May 6 2 hours ago, Charlie said: +2 In German TV they said the glamour is gone. I think than it´s time for the value investors. Charlie [ @Charlie ], In a way it is. First we had had two semi or fully bold heads on stage, the one a talking head explaining endelessly, the other just quipping '... nothing to add', then the '... nothing to add' bold head passes away, and bold talking head choses to retire, and next on stage a new, younger bold talking head makes his entry. Hard to see glamour in it, even if you're not German TV. The glamour is in the money and cash flow!
CassiusKing1 Posted May 6 Posted May 6 https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/06/berkshire-hathaway-mclane-autonomous-freight-trucking-aurora.html Very interesting development. Didn't have this on my BRK bingo card. Autonomous freight introduction. Does this lead to an electric fleet? An electric fleet that is charged at Pilot/Flying J?
Intelligent_Investor Posted May 6 Posted May 6 I think both Warren and Charlie at the end of their run realized if Berkshire was going to continue to outperform, they would need to invest more in relatively capital light, high ROE business like tech, hence the recent Google purchase. Charlie even said as much before he passed. I think that was probably part of the reason Warren decided to retire as well - he realized the investments needed to keep Berkshire a better choice than the S&P 500 was outside his own circle of competence which made it make sense to pass the reigns to the next generation that has a better shot at understanding those businesses.
Eldad Posted May 6 Posted May 6 8 minutes ago, Intelligent_Investor said: I think both Warren and Charlie at the end of their run realized if Berkshire was going to continue to outperform, they would need to invest more in relatively capital light, high ROE business like tech, hence the recent Google purchase. Charlie even said as much before he passed. I think that was probably part of the reason Warren decided to retire as well - he realized the investments needed to keep Berkshire a better choice than the S&P 500 was outside his own circle of competence which made it make sense to pass the reigns to the next generation that has a better shot at understanding those businesses. Sounds good in theory but I’m pretty sure WB still calls all the stock investment shots. He basically said as much in the CNBC interviews.
gfp Posted May 6 Posted May 6 new General Counsel bought some shares today https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1713777/000119312526209661/xslF345X03/ownership.xml
bizaro86 Posted May 7 Posted May 7 On 5/3/2026 at 4:04 PM, ratiman said: This is a good post on the "Buffett puzzle" https://www.creditbubblestocks.com/2026/05/the-buffett-puzzle.html The puzzle is why Buffett invested in a lot of heavy capex and industrial businesses like energy, BNSF, and Precision Castparts when he could have just bought Visa at the IPO because Visa is a classic Buffett business. I think the scenario the author imagines (one where a surplus of capital bids down returns on equities for decades) is exactly the situation where you want to own a bunch of capex-heavy businesses. If equities offer a 4% return going forward then plowing the cash pile into 10% ROE projects at BHE and BNSF is hugely attractive.
ValueMaven Posted May 8 Posted May 8 Anyone hear from, or anything about Joe Brandon at all at the Annual Meeting?
RadMan24 Posted May 10 Posted May 10 On 5/7/2026 at 12:45 AM, bizaro86 said: I think the scenario the author imagines (one where a surplus of capital bids down returns on equities for decades) is exactly the situation where you want to own a bunch of capex-heavy businesses. If equities offer a 4% return going forward then plowing the cash pile into 10% ROE projects at BHE and BNSF is hugely attractive. Yea, good point, those businesses let you stay rich.
tnathan Posted May 13 Posted May 13 Why doesn't Berkshire just start outright acquiring things like $BR (Broadridge) or an insurance broker?
Pellom Posted May 15 Posted May 15 “Berkshire’s continued net seller status somewhat obscures the fact that it laid out $15.9 billion during the quarter on new purchases. That represents a pretty significant amount of capital freshly deployed into the portfolio. A real statement of conviction after many quarters of relatively modest activity. And, in the space of three months, just slightly less than Berkshire spent on stock throughout all of last year.” The Berkshire Beat: May 15, 2026 - Kingswell Should be pretty interesting to see what Ted bought with Todd's allocation.
DooDiligence Posted May 15 Posted May 15 A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking real money.
backtothebeach Posted May 15 Posted May 15 13F is out: https://www.dataroma.com/m/m_activity.php?m=BRK&typ=a
gfp Posted May 15 Posted May 15 (edited) Pretty impressed with the Google move uncle warren just your basic geriatric building a $22 billion position out of nowhere.. good Edited May 15 by gfp
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