Buffett/Berkshire - general news

[gfp]

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/mcguinn-homes-sale-scale/

[KPO]

13 minutes ago, gfp said:

https://www.housingwire.com/articles/mcguinn-homes-sale-scale/

Thanks for sharing. As with the Taylor Morrison acquisition I like this because these cyclical businesses that generate solid free cash flow on average through cycles make a lot of sense under the Berkshire umbrella. At the same time they’re building scale and can exploit cost synergies at the parent level. 

[rogermunibond]

https://www.housingwire.com/homebuilder-rankings/for-sale-units/

 

There are a lot of homebuilders that Berkshire can buy out on this list.

[DooDiligence]

I really like the push into home building. Wouldn't mind seeing them start buying developable real estate.

[John Hjorth]

Wall Street Journal - Business [June 29^th 2026] : Warren Buffett Skips Midyear Donation to Gates Foundation as He Awaits Epstein Review

 

Subtitle : Billionaire expected to delay decision on his ‘lifetime’ pledge to see results of Gates Foundation’s review.

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

Please make up your own mind and opinion about WSJ sources here. Last year, the donation press release was on the Berkshire website from Warren Buffett 27^th June 2025. I have checked up on EDGAR just before posting this.

[gfp]

I wonder if there is a BRK.B supply (Gates foundation is a daily seller since the donations started) dynamic that the market is picking up on.  All the BRK.B stock will eventually be sold by the family foundations but any delay or discontinuation of the Gates Foundation share grants delays some of that supply and slightly changes the supply/demand for BRK.B shares

[73 Reds]

16 minutes ago, gfp said:

I wonder if there is a BRK.B supply (Gates foundation is a daily seller since the donations started) dynamic that the market is picking up on.  All the BRK.B stock will eventually be sold by the family foundations but any delay or discontinuation of the Gates Foundation share grants delays some of that supply and slightly changes the supply/demand for BRK.B shares

It is interesting that just this year Buffett decides to delay gifting to the Gates Foundation even though Bill Gates has been tied to Epstein for many years and the Foundation and its work is entirely separate and apart from anything Gates may have been involved with concerning Epstein.  Melinda is every bit a part of the "Gates" name associated with the Foundation and clearly she had nothing to do with Epstein.  

[John Hjorth]

10 minutes ago, gfp said:

I wonder if there is a BRK.B supply (Gates foundation is a daily seller since the donations started) dynamic that the market is picking up on.  All the BRK.B stock will eventually be sold by the family foundations but any delay or discontinuation of the Gates Foundation share grants delays some of that supply and slightly changes the supply/demand for BRK.B shares

 

Yes, @gfp,

 

That may well be the case. So,  we perhaps now  have just left a period, where the B share traded at what we could get it for in February 2025, and the stock has pretty much done squat  since then.  Such so typical for this stock over time. Meanwhile bliions of USD roll in the coffers - every month! 

[gfp]

7 minutes ago, 73 Reds said:

It is interesting that just this year Buffett decides to delay gifting to the Gates Foundation even though Bill Gates has been tied to Epstein for many years and the Foundation and its work is entirely separate and apart from anything Gates may have been involved with concerning Epstein.  Melinda is every bit a part of the "Gates" name associated with the Foundation and clearly she had nothing to do with Epstein.  

 

Melinda is no longer involved in that foundation at all.  The Epstein files that were released publicly contained new information that Warren was not aware of.  Something about Boris Nokolic, I'm not an expert on Epstein stuff at all.

 

"I'm learning things I didn't know" - WEB

 

 

[73 Reds]

6 minutes ago, gfp said:

 

Melinda is no longer involved in that foundation at all.  The Epstein files that were released publicly contained new information that Warren was not aware of.  Something about Boris Nokolic, I'm not an expert on Epstein stuff at all.

 

"I'm learning things I didn't know" - WEB

 

 

Yeah but Melinda's imprint is all over the work that they do.  Do you think what he learned has anything to do with the work of the Foundation?  If so, is there any recourse for clawbacks?  Gives charitable giving a sour name any way you look at it, which is why it is so important to know who you are giving to when making charitable gifts (i.e. don't assume a 501c designation is all that matters). 

Edited 3 hours ago by 73 Reds
missed lines

[John Hjorth]

21 minutes ago, 73 Reds said:

It is interesting that just this year Buffett decides to delay gifting to the Gates Foundation even though Bill Gates has been tied to Epstein for many years and the Foundation and its work is entirely separate and apart from anything Gates may have been involved with concerning Epstein.  Melinda is every bit a part of the "Gates" name associated with the Foundation and clearly she had nothing to do with Epstein.  

 

@73 Reds,

 

Using Google AI, as I'm not razersharp on the personal Buffett stuff in my memory about the timeline about this, I got this :

 

 

- - - o 0 o - - -

 

So, in a way, a double diworse, we may express it.

 

Edit :

 

We don't know who knows what, and why, and we likely never will.

 

Edited 3 hours ago by John Hjorth

[gfp]

Just now, 73 Reds said:

OK so you think what he learned has anything to do with the work of the Foundation?  If so, is there any recourse for clawbacks?  Gives charitable giving a sour name any way you look at it, which is why it is so important to know who you are giving to when making charitable gifts.  

 

Beats me but I don't really focus on any of that stuff.  Warren is concerned with his legacy and reputation and can stop granting them shares.  His family foundations have scaled and he no longer has the problem he had when he "needed" a vehicle with the capability and scale of the Gates Foundation.  He also wasn't thrilled with their incredible overhead and I'm sure the 4 Buffett family foundations are run extremely lean compared to Gates Foundation

[John Hjorth]

@73 Reds,

 

You're a former lawyer by profession, what do you - by now - get out of Warren Buffetts pledge of June 26^th 2016, related to the situation by now? -Thank you in advance. - Please note : I'm here just taking the freedom asking you, no strings attached.

Edited 1 hour ago by John Hjorth

[73 Reds]

11 minutes ago, John Hjorth said:

@73 Reds,

 

You're a former lawyer by profession, what do you - by now - get out of Warren Buffetts pledge of June 26^th 2016, related to the situation by now? -Thank you in advance. - Please note : I'm here just taking the freedom to ask, no strings attached.

Well, it would appear that in Buffett's mind Epstein could be an exception to lifetime gifts he referred to as irrevocable.  Legally, the issue is whether the letter is determined to be an actual contract between Buffett and the Gates Foundation and if so, whether the Foundation has relied upon this year's anticipated gift in pursuing its current endeavors.  Would hate to see litigation ensue b/t the Gates Foundation and Buffett - nothing good would come of that.

[John Hjorth]

17 minutes ago, 73 Reds said:

Well, it would appear that in Buffett's mind Epstein could be an exception to lifetime gifts he referred to as irrevocable.  Legally, the issue is whether the letter is determined to be an actual contract between Buffett and the Gates Foundation and if so, whether the Foundation has relied upon this year's anticipated gift in pursuing its current endeavors.  Would hate to see litigation ensue b/t the Gates Foundation and Buffett - nothing good would come of that.

 

Thank you very much here, @73 Reds,

 

It's really hard to be or get enthusiastic here about anything related to it. *ugh*

Edited 1 hour ago by John Hjorth

[gfp]

While we only have that public letter to go off of (which really only gives Buffett 3 specific "outs"), there is probably a more formal legal document that is in place.  Or Bill may just let Warren out of an irrevocable pledge because it's the right thing to do.

 

OR..  the independent law firm's investigation / report compels Sussman to remove Gates from "active engagement in policy setting and administration" of the foundation, which is one of Warren's explicit "outs" since Melinda already departed and its a "one or both" deal.

[John Hjorth]

3 minutes ago, gfp said:

While we only have that public letter to go off of (which really only gives Buffett 3 specific "outs"), there is probably a more formal legal document that is in place.  Or Bill may just let Warren out of an irrevocable pledge because it's the right thing to do.

 

OR..  the independent law firm's investigation / report compels Sussman to remove Gates from "active engagement in policy setting and administration" of the foundation, which is one of Warren's explicit "outs" since Melinda already departed and its a "one or both" deal.

 

What a friggin' issue to have at the age of 95, and as likely one of the most intelligent and smartest 'money' persons ever on this planet. Go figure. [If it actually is so, We - by now - don't know for sure.]

[73 Reds]

3 minutes ago, gfp said:

While we only have that public letter to go off of (which really only gives Buffett 3 specific "outs"), there is probably a more formal legal document that is in place.  Or Bill may just let Warren out of an irrevocable pledge because it's the right thing to do.

 

OR..  the independent law firm's investigation / report compels Sussman to remove Gates from "active engagement in policy setting and administration" of the foundation, which is one of Warren's explicit "outs" since Melinda already departed and its a "one or both" deal.

Typically promises of gifts are not construed as contracts and are not legally enforceable.  The difference is, Buffett's letter goes through great lengths to ensure that the Foundation should rely on his annual gifts for all but the three exceptions listed.  To your point, there would still probably need to be some form of written, formal acceptance by the Foundation to even begin to construe the letter as a binding contract.  On a related subject I picked up a book while traveling last year entitled "Warren and Bill - Gates, Buffett and the Friendship that Changed the World" (Anthony McCarten).  Rehashes how the relationship evolved and of course much is already known to most of us here.  The most interesting aspect of the book is that it did not paint Gates in a particularly kind light in a variety of ways, while also briefly touching on his relationship with Epstein.