Here’s a dirty secret of financial media: Putting Warren Buffett in a headline is pretty much guaranteed to give your article decent appeal. So it’s no surprise that everyone under the sun tries to derive meaning from even the slightest change Buffett makes — or more precisely, that his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway makes. A few years ago, Buffett liked railroads and Buffett liked banks. Last year, he started to like newspapers. And as I just wrote last week, Buffett doesn’t like gold and hasn’t for some time. But while interesting and good for clicks, this kind of oversimplification isn’t very helpful to investors.
New Ajit Jain Signals in the Berkshire Hathaway Tea Leaves (WSJ)
Today’s revelation that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. had poached four top executives from American International Group Inc. was big news all on its own. But it could also offer an important hint about a topic that’s a constant topic of speculation for Berkshire shareholders: who’s going to replace Warren Buffett. The four new hires, experts at insuring large and unusual risks, are defecting from AIG to set up a new property-casualty unit at Berkshire that reports directly to Ajit Jain, the mastermind behind many of Berkshire’s past successes in the world of insurance.[...]
But if it turns out that Jain is the one to fill Buffett’s shoes, the AIG executives who start their new jobs at Berkshire on Monday morning constitute a formidable bench that could step in to Jain’s current role as Berkshire’s insurance guru.
What Do Buffett's 4 New AIG Hires Mean for Berkshire Investors? (Fool)
On Friday, Berkshire Hathaway announced it has hired four senior executives from American International Group. So who, exactly, did Buffett snag from the notorious insurance giant? First, there's Peter Eastwood, a 22-year AIG veteran who most recently headed up the company's domestic property-casualty operations. Next, David Bresnahan served as president of AIG's Lexington unit since June, 2011. Then there's Sanjay Godhwani, who was president of AIG's property-casualty operations in Latin America and the Caribbean. Finally, Berkshire also hired David Fields, who formerly worked as AIG's president of risk finance.
Did Berkshire's Poaching Just Send AIG Back Into the Abyss? (Fool)
Executives move from from one company to another all the time -- that's a normal proceeding of the business world. But when several high-ranking executives leave all at once for the same company, we're often seeing a piece of a larger puzzle. That's what we saw this past Friday, when it was announced that four top employees were defecting from AIG to join the team at Berkshire Hathaway. [...]
So with three of the new employees heading major P&C units for AIG, their knowledge will surely help Berkshire to expand where necessary. The final member, Bresnahan, led the excess and surplus operations -- one of AIG's most successful segments, with the company dominating the market with an estimated 20% share.
The Smartest Thing Warren Buffett Ever Said (Fool)
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett is never shy about sharing wisdom. The brilliant investor is known for witty quips ("Rule No. 1: Never lose money. Rule No. 2: Never forget Rule No. 1.") as well as longer parables (such as "The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville"). But could any one of Buffett's gems of wisdom be the best? Could there be one Buffett-ism to rule them all? To find out, I grabbed five game Fools to weigh in.
What's the Best Way to Value Berkshire? (Morningstar)
Given its complexity, as well as the size and diversity of its businesses, valuing Berkshire Hathaway is unquestionably a challenge. The most commonly cited methods for valuing the company's shares include the use of an earnings-based multiple, a book-value-based multiple, a two-column approach, a float-based methodology, and, finally, a discounted cash flow valuation. In some cases, investors will use a combination of these different methodologies to value different parts of the business, or as a way to triangulate their own estimates. We believe that understanding the benefits and shortfalls of each of these methodologies can provide valuable insight into the ways in which different investors are approaching the firm's overall valuation.
Buffett Challenger Kass Prepares For Meeting, Munger Test (Bloomberg)
Buffett, 82, has sought to refocus attention at the meeting on Berkshire by allowing journalists and analysts to alternate with the audience in asking questions of him and Vice Chairman Charles Munger. Kass, founder of Seabreeze Partners Management Inc., answered Buffett’s call to change the panel by adding an investment professional who’s betting on the stock’s decline. “He wanted to spice up the annual meeting, and to make it more interesting from the context of the questions, as opposed to a bunch of softballs or non-Berkshire-related political questions, tax questions, policy questions,” Kass said.
IT pro has a hair-raising hobby (IDG)
Berkshire Hathaway Media Group is the collective name for all the newspapers Warren Buffett bought last year.
By day Chad Roberts, 35, is a Windows Server and Exchange administrator for Berkshire Hathaway Media Group. For play he's an award-winning competitive beardsmith and founder of the RVA Beard League in Richmond, Va. [...]
"I think since a lot of IT guys are behind the scenes, back in the server room, or off in some corner, the cultural expectations are different from, say, that of the sales staff who are a public face of the company and need to appeal to the absolute maximum number of potential clients. In IT, it's more about knowledge, results, and ability, than your choice of hair style."
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