Monday, July 30, 2018

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/30/18

Eastbound BNSF manifest at Rosenberg TX

Warren Buffett has set the table for a big stock buyback at Berkshire Hathaway

In a press release late Tuesday, the company said that it has amended its policy regarding share repurchases, now allowing for repurchases of Berkshire stock to be made at the discretion of Buffett and vice chairman Charlie Munger so long as both men "believe that the repurchase price is below Berkshire’s intrinsic value, conservatively determined." [...]

Additionally, the company will not repurchase stock in excess of an amount that would reduce its cash and equivalent holdings to less than $20 billion. [...]

Atul Gawande starts first day as CEO of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan health venture

After months of anticipation and fanfare, Dr. Atul Gawande is starting his new job Monday as the CEO of the healthcare venture from Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase.

The healthcare community at large seems to be both skeptical and hopeful about the venture and Gawande’s appointment. His goal will be to create innovations in a burdened and dangerously large healthcare industry, lowering the cost of care while improving health outcomes. [...]

Berkshire's Todd Combs Aided Buffett in Showdown Over USG Transaction

Warren Buffett’s investing deputy, Todd Combs, helped the billionaire investor in his effort to exit Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s stake in USG Corp. [...]

Combs’s role in the deal highlights his emergence as a top deputy for Buffett. Combs was selected for an investment role at Berkshire in 2010 and was later joined by Ted Weschler. The pair now oversee $25 billion, according to Berkshire’s annual letter released this year. Combs has increasingly been in the public spotlight with his appointment to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s board in 2016 and his recent role helping to craft Berkshire’s health-care venture with JPMorgan and Amazon.com Inc. [...]

Meet the new CIO of BNSF Railway, and learn how technology will shape the railroad's future

[...] In the five years Murugappan has been with the company, he's driven a substantial amount of change in how BNSF utilizes technology.

He was part of the team that modernized the systems BNSF uses to inspect its assets. Predicting when the assets need maintenance is vital, and BNSF is using things like big data to make the process more efficient. [...]

Oil industry concerned over BNSF's move to limit retrofit tank cars

U.S. refiners and producers are seeking ways to counter efforts by BNSF Railway Co to limit use of retrofitted oil tank cars following an Iowa derailment last month, Reuters has learned.

The crackdown by the country’s largest railroad, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc, could take thousands of tank cars off a key rail line at a time when producers and refiners are scrambling to hire them.

With latest OK, PacifiCorp moves ahead with wind, transmission additions

With the last necessary state-level regulatory approvals it needed now in hand, PacifiCorp said it will move forward in building 1,150 MW of wind projects and a high-voltage transmission line in Wyoming.

The utility's goal is to complete the three wind projects in 2020 to realize the full benefit of production tax credits. The new projects will increase the amount of owned and contracted wind capacity on PacifiCorp's system by more than 60% [...]

Warren Buffett donates $3.4 billion worth of Berkshire stock

Warren Buffett's annual donation of stock to five foundations is worth around $3.4 billion this year.

In a news release, Berkshire Hathaway said Buffett converted 11,867 of his Class A shares into around 17.8 million Class B shares to make the contributions.

Based on the schedule established in 2006, when Buffett pledged to give away the bulk of his fortune in the coming decades, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation will be getting a large majority of the shares. [...]

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