In Rare Interview, Ted Weschler Says He Likes Apple’s “Subscription Element“
In the first detailed explanation of Berkshire’s investment thesis for Apple, Weschler says that the smartphone business had been transformed by the app economy and cloud computing. "As network speed has gotten faster and faster, and with it the information that people can absorb on the network, things like photo applications, and apps, they create a stickier ecosystem". Statistics showed that there was a high likelihood iPhone or iPad buyers would also purchase their next device from Apple, he added: "Once you are fully invested in the App ecosystem and you have got your thousands of photographs up in the cloud and you are used to the keystrokes and functionality and where everything is, you become a sticky consumer." [...]
Cash at Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway hits new record with stock market near highs
Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway closed the third quarter with $84.8 billion in cash, a gain of some $13 billion during the course of 2016.
Buffett over the years has not been shy about using the cash spit off from his vast array of holdings to buy companies, such as his most recent acquiree, Precision Castparts. Even excluding the $20 billion he has said he likes to keep as a cushion, Buffett has plenty of firepower to deploy. [...]
Warren Buffett’s business buys KC area’s largest home builder
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has bought the assets of the Kansas City area’s largest home builder, Summit Custom Homes, the companies announced.
The deal involved Berkshire’s Tennessee-based Clayton Properties. It has been buying other home builders, beginning its own operations with the purchase of an Atlanta business last fall. Clayton has sold 500 homes in its first year.
Clayton Properties bought the operating assets of Summit Custom Homes, which is based in Lee’s Summit. The announcement, which did not disclose terms of the sale, said it included about 1,200 lots in the Kansas City area. [...]
Purchase gives Shaw Industries huge share of wood-plastic composite market
Shaw Industries Group Inc., the world's biggest carpet maker, is taking a harder approach to floorcovering with the purchase of the leading producer of the increasingly popular wood-plastic composite flooring.
The Dalton, Ga.-based Shaw announced Tuesday it has reached a definitive agreement to purchase USFloors, also based in Dalton, for an undisclosed amount. Started in 2001 by Piet Dossche — the brother-in-law of Beaulieu of America co-founder Carl Bouckart — USFloors helped develop the waterproof, wood-like vinyl flooring, as well as cork, bamboo and hardwood products. [...]
Berkshire’s Richline Buys Jeweler Started by Stay-at-Home Moms
Richline Group Inc., a jewelry manufacturer and marketer owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., agreed to buy designs, a brand name and inventory from Silpada Designs as part of a push into sterling-silver products.
Silpada was started by stay-at-home moms and grew into “the world’s largest home party seller of sterling silver jewelry,” Richline said Friday in a statement. Terms weren’t disclosed. [...]
Buffett-Backed Insurer Keeps Getting Sued Over Complex Products
Miller’s nonprofit is one of dozens of employers -- from a bike-courier service in Manhattan to a linen-supply company in Sacramento -- that have sued Applied for deceptive practices. The businesses allege the insurer peddled products regulators hadn’t approved. They complain about being surprised by large bills based on formulas that stacked the deck in the insurer’s favor. California, Vermont and Wisconsin have banned some Applied plans. [...]
As courts weigh these quarrels, this much is clear: It’s a lot of hot water for one of Buffett’s companies. The billionaire, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, tells Berkshire managers that “there’s plenty of money to be made in the center of the court.” In other words, no need to get close to the line, legally or ethically, to make some extra bucks. [...]
Warren Buffett Loves This Business—Maybe a Little Too Much
Warren Buffett watchers know that the reinsurance business has been an important ingredient in his winning formula. Companies like his Berkshire Hathaway sell coverage to other insurance companies for natural disasters and other big events. In return, the reinsurance sellers collect lots of premiums, which they can invest while waiting to pay claims. Buffett has credited this “float” with helping to build one of the world’s great fortunes.
But the business isn’t what it used be. Buffett sold stakes in the world’s two largest reinsurers—Swiss Re and Munich Re—last year, saying their prospects look worse in the next decade than they did in the last. And he put a new leadership team in at Berkshire’s own Gen Re unit to try to reverse more than a decade of shrinking float. [...]
Here's How Long it Takes Warren Buffett to Decide on a Billion-Dollar Deal
When asked by Rubenstein if he receives calls from people every day, hoping to pitch him the “perfect” deal, Buffett said his phone rings less than expected because Berkshire has a clear-cut criteria.
“When somebody calls, I can usually tell within two or three minutes whether a deal is likely to happen or not,” Buffett told Rubenstein. “There’s just half-a-dozen filters,” he said, gesturing toward his head. “And it either makes through the filters or not.” [...]
Newspaperman, Omaha native Stanford Lipsey had ear and trust of Warren Buffett
Omaha native Stanford Lipsey, who led newspapers owned by Warren Buffett to Pulitzer Prizes in Omaha and Buffalo, New York, died Tuesday morning at his home in Rancho Mirage, California. [...]
In 1969 he sold the Sun to Berkshire Hathaway Inc., headed by Buffett, beginning a nearly 50-year relationship between the two men.
When Berkshire’s Blue Chip Stamps division bought the Buffalo Evening News in 1977, Buffett sent Lipsey to Buffalo, eventually making him publisher. [...]
