Jimmy Ling Article mentioned in Buffett letter

[LongHaul]

http://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/1982/october/jim-ling

[Jurgis]

Sounds similar to Henry Singleton and maybe a bit to Malone in terms of rollups and spinoffs. :)

 

I wonder what Buffett thinks of Singleton and Malone. ;)

[Jurgis]

It would be interesting if someone got him to compare Singleton and Ling. :) I think his attitude is rather subjective and possibly colored by personalities and results: Singleton succeeded (while he was at the helm ;)) and possibly was less abrasive than Ling. Looking from ten thousand feet (and 50 years ;)), I don't see much difference between the two in general.

[rogermunibond]

Singleton used Teledyne stock to buy companies with real earnings.  He did so until the market no longer paid a premium for conglomerates at which point he went in the opposite direction.  He used free cash from all those companies he bought to repurchase shares.

[Jurgis]

Singleton used Teledyne stock to buy companies with real earnings.  He did so until the market no longer paid a premium for conglomerates at which point he went in the opposite direction. 

 

Ling used LTV stock to buy companies with real earnings. He did so until he was kicked out of LTV, so he never had to handle the point when the market no longer paid a premium for conglomerates. He might have gone in the opposite direction too.