Meet Prem Watsa

[Parsad]

A few of the articles today introducing the rest of the world outside of Canada to Prem.  About frickin' time people paid attention!  Cheers!

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/09/23/meet-prem-watsa-the-man-riding-to-blackberrys-rescue/tab/print/

 

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/09/23/meet-blackberry-acquirer-fairfax-financial-the-canadian-berkshire-hathaway/

 

 

[Partner24]

Peter Eavis, where are you?  ;)

[Stone19]

I'm sure Herb Greenberg will be all over this with some conspiracy theory tonight on TV.

[StubbleJumper]

A few of the articles today introducing the rest of the world outside of Canada to Prem.  About frickin' time people paid attention!  Cheers!

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/09/23/meet-prem-watsa-the-man-riding-to-blackberrys-rescue/tab/print/

 

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/09/23/meet-blackberry-acquirer-fairfax-financial-the-canadian-berkshire-hathaway/

 

 

Actually, I would have been happy had Prem quietly made some money for me rather than making a high-profile, but very dubious acquisition.  I really don't care if the rest of the world knows who he is.  Just do a solid job on capital allocation....which unfortunately is an open debate right now.  :(

[Parsad]

A few of the articles today introducing the rest of the world outside of Canada to Prem.  About frickin' time people paid attention!  Cheers!

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2013/09/23/meet-prem-watsa-the-man-riding-to-blackberrys-rescue/tab/print/

 

http://blogs.marketwatch.com/thetell/2013/09/23/meet-blackberry-acquirer-fairfax-financial-the-canadian-berkshire-hathaway/

 

 

Actually, I would have been happy had Prem quietly made some money for me rather than making a high-profile, but very dubious acquisition.  I really don't care if the rest of the world knows who he is.  Just do a solid job on capital allocation....which unfortunately is an open debate right now.  :(

 

Well I agree with you on keeping the low profile, but Munger and Buffett are getting older, and the investing community will need quality mentors to continue lessons on investing, life, morality and economics.  There are plenty of people out there worthy of that, but I think Prem deserves that recognition as well...especially for the quality leadership he brings, as well as the astute investment mind he and his team possess.  Cheers!

[accutronman]

From today's Financial Times

 

 

Oracle of Ontario v Sage of Omaha

By Lina Saigol

Prem Watsa, the Indian-born billionaire who is leading a $4.7bn bid to buy BlackBerry, is sometimes compared to Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and one of the world’s richest men. Here’s a look at how the two match up.

 

PREM WATSA (aka the “Oracle of Ontario”)

 

Classic quote: “Trees don’t grow to the sky and markets don’t fall to the floor.”

First job: Left India for Canada with $8 in his pocket and found a job selling air conditioners and furnaces door-to-door. This funded his MBA at the University of Western Ontario business school.

Investment strategy: A value investor and a disciple of Ben Graham, Mr Watsa invests via his insurance company Fairfax Financial Holdings.

Top shareholdings: Resolute Forest Products; Dex Media; Cooper Tire & Rubber Company; IBM; Merck & Co; New York Times.

Portfolio Value: $2.5bn. Fairfax’s compound annual growth in book value per share has been 23 per cent since 1985, while the common stock price has risen at a compound rate at 19 per cent annually.

Biggest Deal: The proposed $4.7bn acquisition of smartphone maker BlackBerry.

Shrewd moment: Cemented his reputation for turning disaster into profit when he made $1.15bn betting against US real estate.

Worst moment: Buying shares in BlackBerry at an average cost of $50 in 2010. The shares closed on Monday at $8.82.

Personal Net Worth: Estimated at about $2bn. He earned $622,000 in 2012.

 

WARREN BUFFETT (aka the “Sage of Omaha”)

 

Classic Quote: “Rule No. 1: never lose money. Rule No. 2: don’t forget rule No. 1.”

First job: Running businesses as a paper boy and selling his own horseracing tip sheet, aged 13. That same year, he filed his first tax return, claiming his bicycle as a $35 tax deduction.

Investment strategy: Like Mr Watsa, a value investor and Graham disciple. Mr Buffett invests via his ownership of insurance company Berkshire Hathaway.

Top shareholdings: Coca-Cola; ConocoPhillips; DirecTV; GlaxoSmithKline; General Electric; IBM.

Portfolio Value: Berkshire’s equity portfolio was valued at $103.3bn at the end of June. Over the past 48 years, Berkshire’s book value has grown from $19 to $114,214, a rate of 19.7 per cent compounded annually.

Biggest Deal: The $26.6bn acquisition of US railway Burlington Northern Santa Fe in 2009.

Shrewd moment: Berkshire received a 10 per cent coupon and five-year warrants giving it the right to buy Goldman Sachs stock at a distress-sale price, in return for investing in the bank in September 2008.

Worst moment: Berkshire’s 1998 acquisition of reinsurance company General Re was marred by a portfolio of complex derivative securities and state and federal investigations.