Is This Company The Next Berkshire Hathaway?

[Parsad]

Wow, two articles on Prem and Fairfax today!  From what I understand, expect a massive crowd this year for the AGM.  The number I'm hearing is 900-1000 people...about double last year!  I hope Roy Thomson Hall can fit that many.  Cheers!

 

http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/20/is-this-company-the-next-berkshire-hathaway-/

[Mephistopheles]

Nice article.

 

As far as the question in the title of thread. What is everyone's thoughts about it? Clearly Prem has generated incredible returns for Fairfax over the last 30 years. And as an $8 billion market cap, it seems like it has a long way to go. So, does the fact that it's selling only slightly above book value make it an incredible bargain, to own over the course of a lifetime?

[Tommm50]

It's got my vote.

[Partner24]

The answer is no. These are different companies. I understand their respective long term track record, but while you can see similarities between both models, they are also different in several aspects.

 

I could take a look at Bidvest Group and say that it is the next Berkshire, but again there is also some differences. Same with Leucadia and Markel.

 

I guess that there will never be any "next Berkshire Hathaway", like there will never be any next McDonald, Madonna, Bill Gates, JFK...or whatever.

 

Cheers!