Berkshire Hathaway News Briefs - 10/7/17

Buffett bets on truck stops, to buy majority of Pilot Flying J

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc bought a major stake in Pilot Flying J, the largest U.S. truck stop operator, and said it will become the majority owner in six years, deepening its commitment to the American economy.

Pilot Flying J has more than 750 locations in 44 U.S. states and Canada selling gas, diesel fuel, and convenience goods, and offering trucks more than 70,000 parking spaces and 5,000 diesel lanes.

While terms for Tuesday's transaction were not disclosed, Pilot Flying J is 15th-largest private company in the United States, with annual sales of $19.6 billion, Forbes magazine said. The family-run company employs more than 27,000 people.

Berkshire bought 38.6 percent of Pilot Flying J from several investors and plans to boost ownership to 80 percent in 2023.

The controlling Haslam family retained a 50.1-percent stake, and will own the remaining 20 percent once Buffett takes over. [...]

Why Autonomous Trucks Aren't A Threat To Buffett's Investment In Pilot Flying J

As fast charging of EVs takes greater hold across the U.S., places like Pilot Flying J will become even better revenue machines than they are now. When truckers and car travelers stop at one of their places now for gas and diesel, they are apt to shop as well during the 15-20 minute stay they have now. Fast charging of batteries, which takes up to 45 minutes, will extend the time a customer has to spend money on goods, as well as the changing service itself.

The point of Buffett’s investment is not just to take advantage of the strong business of Pilot Flying J now as a well branded, preferred network of truck stops serving today’s long-haul diesel truck driver, but as a growing network of places to serve the needs of gas, diesel and EV vehicles. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway's New Moat? Helping America's Family-Run Businesses Protect Their Legacy

[...] Buffett’s held out Berkshire as a safe place for family-owned businesses to turn to when they want to sell and he's beginning to pile up a major trove of deals.

In 2006, Buffett took control of Israeli billionaire Stef Wertheimer’s precision tool company ISCAR, ponying up $4 billion for 80% of the business and taking full control a handful of years later. The Pritzker family turned to Berkshire in 2007, selling a 60% stake in their industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings, then the world’s 36th largest privately-held company. Seven years later, Berkshire bought the remaining 40% of Marmon and that year it also bought Van Tuyl Auto Group, America’s largest private-held car dealership operator with $8 billion in annual revenues. For Larry Van Tuyl, son of company founder Cecil Van Tuyl, the deal was a 'no-brainer' way to protect a proud legacy; he took a role as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Automotive when it closed in early 2015.

Now Buffett is at again. On Tuesday morning, Berkshire Hathaway announced it will take a 38.6% investment in travel center operator Pilot Flying J , buying shares from the Haslam family of Tennessee. [...]

Nine years ago Warren Buffett bet on an unknown Chinese battery maker, and it’s sort of paying off

Nine years ago this week, as stocks were tanking in the global financial recession, Warren Buffett put money into a little-known mobile phone battery maker in Shenzhen. This year, with China making it clearer than ever that fossil-fuel cars aren’t going to be welcome for long, that bet is doing better than it’s done in a while.

On Sept. 27, 2008, MidAmerican Energy, controlled by Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, announced it was putting $230 million (paywall) into China’s BYD, paying about HK$8 a share (a little over US$1). Back then, BYD, which started out in 1995, was just on the verge of getting into selling electric vehicles. It’s now China’s biggest seller of electric vehicles and saw its stock price increase nearly 60% this year, sending the value of MidAmerican Energy’s stake to about $1.9 billion as of Monday’s closing price. [...]

Russell to cease production of athletic uniforms

Fruit of the Loom, the parent company to Russell Athletic & Activewear, announced Thursday it was getting out of the team uniform business. [...]

“Today, we will begin to transition away from the team uniform business to allow greater emphasis on the consumer retail market. With this shift, we will continue to offer high quality athletic lifestyle and performance apparel for distribution through multiple retail and wholesale channels, including continued distribution of collegiate licensed products along with non-uniform apparel through the team dealer network.” [...]

Dairy Queen, getting a new CEO, looks to freshen brand

International Dairy Queen Inc. will be getting a new chief as the company continues an effort to modernize its  77-year-old brand.

The Edina-based company said Thursday that President and CEO John Gainor will retire at the end of the year and current Chief Operating Officer Troy Bader will take his place, effective Jan 1. [...]

Dairy Queen, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has been replacing its old-style restaurants in recent years to compete in the cutthroat quick-service restaurant category. Through its DQ Grill and Chill remodels, the company has updated its seating, beefed up its menu with more food items and tried to offer more specials and creative ice cream treats. It also has made a deliberate push to expand internationally. [...]

Berkshire Weathers the Storms

Given the storm damage and flooding created by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria during the third quarter, we find it unlikely that wide-moat Berkshire Hathaway will come away unscathed. [...] While we expect the company to experience material losses, it is more than adequately reserved to deal with this year’s hurricane season. [...]

All in, we’re probably looking at $1.5 billion-$3.0 billion in total insured losses for Berkshire’s insurance operations from hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria (based on the dispersion of insured losses from other periods of heavier hurricane activity), with our expectations being somewhere in the middle of that range.

For some perspective, Berkshire recorded $3.4 billion in hurricane-related losses in 2005 when hurricanes Katrina ($2.5 billion), Rita, and Wilma ($900 million) struck the Gulf Coast, with Geico reporting $200 million in pretax losses, General Re posting $685 million in insured losses, and BHRG seeing $2.5 billion in pretax losses. With Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Berkshire’s total insured losses were $1.1 billion on a pretax basis, with $490 million coming from Geico, another $266 million tied to General Re, and $364 million from BHRG. [...]

Consolidation of BH Media Group newspaper printing begins at Journal plant

The consolidation of newspaper printing by BH Media Group’s North Carolina affiliates has begun at a $10 million expansion of the Winston-Salem Journal’s production plant. [...]

The consolidation involves the News & Record of Greensboro, as well as newspapers in Morganton, Marion, Hickory, Statesville and Mooresville printed at the Hickory Daily Record. The plant eventually will take over printing for newspapers in Concord and in Rockingham County. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway's Gen Re Targets Indian Market

General Re, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. which won a license to open an Indian office in May, is seeking a larger slice of the world’s fastest-growing reinsurance market.

The unit plans to expand in health and life insurance, as well as explore opportunities in property and casualty cover, said Venkatesh Chakravarty, chief executive officer of General Reinsurance AG India Branch. [...]

Building a business in India could help Gen Re’s turnaround. A glut of capital in the global reinsurance industry in recent years has caused prices for some kinds of coverage to sag. Rather than take on policies at those lower rates, Gen Re has said it’s turning away some business.

By contrast, India’s reinsurance market, grew at a compound annual rate of 26 percent from 2012 to 2016, according to Reports Monitor, luring in global reinsurers. [...]

Buffett's Berkshire Expands Bet on Italy With Stake in Cattolica

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Thursday it agreed to buy about 9 percent of Italian insurer Societa Cattolica di Assicurazioni Scrl from Banca Popolare di Vicenza SpA, one of two failed banks in the northern region of Veneto. [...]

The purchase follows the December acquisition by Berkshire unit Marmon Holdings Inc. of Modena, Italy-based Zephir SpA, a manufacturer of industrial tractors and vehicles that move train cars in rail yards. Earlier last year, Marmon announced it would buy Italian pasta-equipment maker Dominioni Punto & Pasta Srl and catering-equipment firm Angelo Po.

While Italy, Europe’s third-largest economy, has been struggling with slow growth, Buffett has long said he’s willing to endure sluggish periods at businesses with attractive long-term prospects. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway starts building 212-MW wind farm

BHE Renewables LLC, a unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Energy, has commenced construction on a 212-MW wind farm in Illinois, the Putnam County Record said Tuesday. [...]

BHE Renewables bought the Walnut Ridge project from renewables developer Geronimo Energy LLC in 2015. The scheme has a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 140 MW with the General Services Administration (GSA) of the US government. [...]

Inside Buffett’s Precision Castparts, a Union Scores a Foothold

On Friday, a group of about 100 welders at the company’s manufacturing operations in Portland, Oregon, voted 54-38 in favor of joining a union. Among the reasons they cited: a lucrative employee stock incentive program that went away after Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought Precision early last year.

Unionizing is something to watch closely at Precision Castparts, where Chief Executive Officer Mark Donegan is known for a relentless focus on costs. [...]

Precision Castparts -- now one of Berkshire’s largest companies -- has said the welders’ vote might ultimately have a broad effect on its highly integrated manufacturing operations in Portland, where the company is based. A push to unionize thousands of workers in that region failed in 2013. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/5/17

Why Warren Buffett Took Out an Ad on the Same Page as One for a Strip Club

The billionaire took out a fine-print ad in the New York Daily News to say he’s seeking permission from the Federal Reserve to hold as much as 25 percent of the credit-card issuer’s shares. The notice appeared alongside listings for a Brooklyn co-op, a $2,500 Honda Accord and a liquor license application, plus a quarter-page ad for a strip joint.

Of course, Buffett was just obeying the law. Federal regulations require that shareholders seeking to boost their stakes in banks above certain thresholds publish announcements in “a newspaper of general circulation” in the community where the financial institution is based. (AmEx has its headquarters in lower Manhattan.) Still, in an era when so much information flows to investors through online feeds, the back pages of a metro can feel like a place to bury rather than reveal news. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway buys stake in Lanxess

Warren Buffett (Trades, Portfolio)’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a stake in Germany’s Lanxess AG on May 19, worth roughly $179.85 million on the date of filing, a small fraction of his $96.5 billion cash hoard. [...]

Lanxess’ chemicals are used in an array of everyday and industrial products, such as biodiesel, spare wheels, paint pigments, leather manufacturing, white sugar, red wines and tires. Through a partnership with Saudi Arabian oil company Saudi Aramco, it also produces synthetic rubber.

The company has a 6.2 billion euro market cap, with revenue exceeding $7.6 billion in 2016, though revenue had been in decline for four straight years. On April 21, Lanxess completed the acquisition of U.S. company Chemtura, which produced 1.5 billion euro in annual sales, to stabilize the company, increase profitability and expand its footprint in the growth market of North America. [...]

Warren Buffet’s GenRe reinsurer gets India approval

General Re, which is a part of business guru Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway family of companies, has been given the final approval, called R3 from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India.

In a report, ieBusiness said that this is Berkshire’s second attempt to capture the Indian market. Berkshire’s initial venture was an online distribution that closed a couple of years after it launched in 2013.

Gen Re is different in that it will "deliver underwriting and risk management expertise locally rather than cross-border. It will facilitate an optimal business model," according to the report.

Gen Re’s area of interest is primarily on the life and health sector. It plans to expand in this segment but will also be looking to grow its presence in the property/ casualty reinsurance market in India which is a huge business opportunity. [...]

Meet Warren Buffett's 2 Trusted Stock Pickers

For much of the time Buffett has been at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway, he has managed the company's stock portfolio all by himself. However, that has changed in recent years with the hiring of two investment managers, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who were hired in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Both men are hedge fund veterans with impressive track records. For example, Weschler's fund delivered 1,236% in gains in just 11 years before he closed it -- roughly 9 times the gain of Buffett's stock portfolio during the same time frame. [...]

Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway could face fines over Texas dealership law

The billionaire’s holding company – Berkshire Hathaway Inc. – could be liable for civil fines in the range of $350,000 a day if an ongoing investigation by the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles determines it to be in violation of Texas law prohibiting the owner of an automobile manufacturer from also owning automobile dealerships in the state.

Berkshire Hathaway owns Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, which is based in Irving and operates 35 new-car dealerships in Texas, and it also owns Forest River Inc., an Indiana-based manufacturer of recreational vehicles. Owning both businesses potentially puts Berkshire Hathaway in violation of the Texas occupations code preventing ownership of a motor vehicle manufacturer and ownership of dealerships under a single corporate umbrella, even if the vehicles aren’t of the same type. [...]

Warren Buffett's cigar butt lesson: seeing value that others miss

While working in New York City, 20-something-year-old Buffett adopted Benjamin Graham’s practice of spotting companies that were slightly undervalued, such as having more in the bank account than they were worth on the stock market.

Anything with a bit of value that a smart investor could grab. In cigar terms, a mostly used butt ignored by others but with a few risk-free puffs left.

Looking beyond the unsavory image of smoking a used stogie (“The stub might be ugly and soggy,” Buffett once wrote), investors can embrace the idea of cigar butts as a lesson in recognizing value that others miss. Buffett used that ability to build up his personal investments in the 1950s before returning to Omaha and forming the partnerships that led to Berkshire. [...]

Two '90s Fan Favorites are Back at DQ

‘90s trends are in. Fashion, jewelry, shoes, toys and even hairstyles popular during that decade are part of a nostalgic revival taking place in 2017.

The Dairy Queen® system has now added treats to that list. The treat category leader, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is bringing back two popular fan favorites treats with Treatzza Pizza® on May 22 and Misty Slush® on June 26.

"There is an obvious resurgence in everything '90s and both Treatzza Pizza and Misty Slush were fan favorites from that era," said Barry Westrum, Executive Vice President of Marketing for American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ). "Those two treats were loved by fans from day one. They asked us to bring them back and we delivered." [...]

Warren Buffett lunch bidding quickly hits $1 million

An auction for well-heeled fans of Warren Buffett to eat lunch with the billionaire in support of a San Francisco charity that helps the homeless and impoverished got off to a fast start, with bidding quickly hitting seven figures.

The top bid was $1 million as of 1 p.m. EDT (1700 GMT) on Monday, and had been made within two minutes of the auction's Sunday night launch.

Bids often surge near the end of the eBay auction, which concludes on Friday at 10:30 p.m. EDT (230 GMT Saturday).

Buffett, the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, has raised $23.6 million in 17 years of auctions for Glide. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/3/16

Warren Buffett’s company tops up on Phillips 66 shares (CBS News)

Warren Buffett’s company now controls more than 15 percent of Phillips 66 stock after buying another 414,065 shares of the oil refiner this week.

Berkshire Hathaway disclosed the latest purchases in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on Wednesday.

Berkshire now owns about 79.5 million shares of Phillips 66 (PSX), which represents 15.2 percent of the Houston-based company’s stock. [...]

Here's How Warren Buffett Could Lose a Major Cash Cow as Dow Chemical Rallies (Fortune)

[Berkshire Hathaway] has been collecting roughly $225 million a year (or $8 a second) in interest from his Dow Chemical stake since 2009. That year, Buffett provided Dow with $3 billion to help finance its purchase of chemical maker Rohm and Haas. As part of the agreement, the industrials giant gave the investor preferred stock and slapped on a hefty 8.5% annual payment on top of it.

But the contract came with a back door for Dow. Starting in April 2014, should shares of Dow Chemical close above $53.72 for 20 days in any consecutive 30-day trading period, Dow can convert Buffett’s preferred shares into common stock—canceling the Oracle’s $8-a-second payout. Each of Dow’s common shares pay a mere 3.4% annual regular dividend, so it’s of little surprise that Dow Chemical has indicated that it fully intends to convert Buffett’s stake should the conditions be met. [...]

Berkshire’s Jain Tells Gen Re Staff to Fix ‘Problem’ With Costs (Bloomberg)

Ajit Jain, one of Warren Buffett’s top managers at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has a message for the staff that he oversees at Gen Re: It’s time for their business to get much leaner and less bureaucratic.

After taking charge of the reinsurer this year and installing a longtime deputy to lead the operation, Jain sent a memo to employees detailing five areas, including compensation and sales channels, where changes should be made. He also called for increasing business unit autonomy, accepting modifications on the terms of some risk-transfer deals and reducing complexity. [...]

Iowa Approves Massive Wind Farm Amid Utility's Push for 100 Percent Renewable Energy (GovTech)

The Iowa Utilities Board has given MidAmerican Energy the green light for the utility's plans for a $3.6 billion wind energy investment, the largest renewable energy project in the state.

The state board on Friday gave final approval for the utility's Wind XI farm.

The project -- first announced in April -- is part of Des Moines-based MidAmerican's goal to reach 100 percent renewable energy for Iowa customers. [...]

BNSF launches faster intermodal service between Pacific Northwest, Texas (Progressive Railroading)

Starting Sept. 12, BNSF Railway Co. will offer intermodal customers a new service to move freight between the Pacific Northwest and Texas, the Class I announced yesterday.

Under the new service, shippers who move commodities and consumer goods between Portland, Ore., or Seattle and Dallas/Fort Worth will be able to cut transit times by up to two days when compared to rail transit time options currently in the marketplace, BNSF officials said in a press release. [...]

Berkshire Affiliates Refund $95K After Market-Based Rate Ruling (RTO Insider)

NV Energy and PacifiCorp returned nearly $95,000 to generation customers after FERC revoked market-based rate authority for Berkshire Hathaway Energy affiliates in four neighboring Western balancing authority areas and imposed cost-based rates. [...]

The commission restricted Berkshire’s market-based rate authority in June after ruling that the company’s affiliates failed to disprove that they collectively exercise horizontal market power in the PacifiCorp East, PacifiCorp West, Idaho Power and NorthWestern balancing areas [...]

Berkshire Hathaway, Transformed (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway took its first step toward becoming a conglomerate back in 1967 by stepping from textiles into insurance, which would become its lifeblood. Nearly fifty years later, it's evolved again.

The $358 billion company's steady foray into energy, railways and manufacturing (among other sectors) has radically changed its earnings profile over the past decade. As a result, once-core insurance divisions such as Geico have become a much smaller part of the overall business. In fact, Berkshire's insurance arm is expected to contribute just 25 percent of its total 2016 pre-tax operating earnings, less than half the 57 percent that it accounted for in 2006. [...]

86 Reasons We Love Warren Buffett (Fool)

Tuesday, Aug. 30, is Warren Buffett's 86th birthday. Each year, I celebrate the Babe Ruth of Investing's birthday by adding another reason we love our hero. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/14/16

Berkshire applies to boost Wells Fargo stake above 10 percent (Business Insider)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has applied to increase its ownership stake in Wells Fargo & Co above 10 percent, the Federal Reserve said on its website on Friday.

Boosting the stake above 10 percent could mean increased federal scrutiny over the investment. [...]

CEOs relish 'unique' benefits of being a Buffett-owned business, despite some downsides (Omaha World Herald)

Donegan, during a visit to Omaha this spring for the annual meeting of Berkshire shareholders, estimated that since he became a Berkshire CEO, he can devote 15 percent more of his days to actually running Precision Castparts.

That’s a substantial gain in perhaps the most valuable of economic commodities — time — and an example of how business life inside Berkshire is different from business life outside. [...]

Billionaire Warren Buffett doing energy pilot program in Hawaii (Pacific Business News)

Warren Buffett’s energy company has started doing a pilot program for a residential property manager in Hawaii, a spokeswoman for one of his companies confirmed to Pacific Business News this week.

Iowa-based MidAmerican Energy Services LLC, a Berkshire Hathaway Energy company which was recently registered as a new business in Hawaii, is doing an energy management pilot that uses a technology platform to help clients manage the performance of the heating, ventilation, air conditioning and electric water heater systems at their property sites.[...]

Buffett may be interested in buying Hawaiian Electric Co. if Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc.’s proposed $4.3 billion deal to purchase the Honolulu utility falls through. A decision by Hawaii regulators on the NextEra-HECO sale is expected to come soon.

Precision Castparts neighbors sue, demand company to stop polluting (Oregon Live)

Four Southeast Portland residents who say their homes have been smothered with heavy metals and other pollution by a nearby Precision Castparts manufacturing plant are asking a judge to order the parts maker to stop polluting.

In a suit filed last week, the residents also are asking a Multnomah County Circuit judge to force Precision Castparts to clean up millions of pounds of nickel, chromium, arsenic and other toxic pollutants that they say have settled upon their neighborhoods and increased their chances of cancer and other health problems -- and even put children at risk of lower IQs. [...]

Gen Re Seeks to Add Brokerage Business Through Hookup with TransRe (Insurance Journal)

General Re, the unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. that appointed a new chief executive officer in May, struck a deal with a rival reinsurer to help revive sales.

Alleghany Corp.’s TransRe will share revenue and risks on property/casualty reinsurance business that it underwrites through brokers and intermediaries for the next five years, the companies said Tuesday in a statement. The partnership gives TransRe, with the backing of Gen Re, the ability to take on twice as much risk for clients, the Alleghany unit said in a separate document listing facts about the deal.

Gen Re CEO Kara Raiguel is seeking new sources of premium revenue after being named to take over for Franklin “Tad” Montross. [...]

Buffett's Brooks branches out to attract gym generation (Channel NewsAsia)

Brooks, the running brand owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, believes that the U.S. marathon boom has peaked and it is looking to broaden its appeal to a younger gym generation.

Founded in 1914, the Seattle-based firm was close to bankruptcy when Jim Weber took over as chief executive in 2001. Weber decided to concentrate solely on running, a strategy Buffett bought into when he acquired the brand in 2006.

Brooks is now the market leader in the U.S. specialty running shoe market with a 29 percent share. It had total sales in 2014 of US$548 million, still only a fraction of overall leader Nike's sales of US$32 billion in the year to May 31. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Said to Be Among Leading Oncor Bidders (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. submitted a bid for Energy Future Holdings Corp.’s Oncor Electric Delivery Co., people familiar with the talks said, joining NextEra Energy Inc. as a top contender to buy Texas’ biggest transmission operator.

Energy Future is mulling offers that value Oncor at about $18 billion, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private. The process is fluid and the leading bidders have switched places several times, the people said. [...]

25 Years of Learning and Laughter (Gates Notes)

I don’t remember the exact day I first met most of my friends, but with Warren Buffett I do. It was 25 years ago today: July 5, 1991.

I think the date stands out in my mind so clearly because it marked the beginning of a new and unexpected friendship for Melinda and me—one that has changed our lives for the better in every imaginable way.

Warren has helped us do two things that are impossible to overdo in one lifetime: learn more and laugh more. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/27/16

Berkshire Hathaway's quartery 13-F came out last week, detailing last quarter's stock transactions. Dataroma has an easy-to-understand format for keeping up with BRK's holdings.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway takes new stake in Apple, ups stake in IBM (CNBC)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has taken a new stake in Apple and upped its holdings in IBM, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing Monday.

Berkshire portfolio managers Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, who each invest about $9 billion, made the investments.

Berkshire's new stake in Apple totaled 9.8 million shares, while the company boosted its shares of IBM by 198,853 to 81.2 million shares. [...]

Berkshire also boosted its holdings in Visa by 3.6 percent to 10.2 million Class A shares, increased its stake in Phillips 66 by 22.9 percent to 75.6 million shares, and upped its stake in Bank of New York Mellon by 3.6 percent to 20.8 million shares.

Berkshire reduced its holdings in a number of big names, as well. It lowered its holdings in Wal-Mart Stores by 949,430 to 55.2 million shares, and dissolved its stake in AT&T, according to the 13F filing.

Berkshire slashed its Procter & Gamble stake by 99.4 percent to 315,400 shares, and also reduced its stake in MasterCard by 5.6 percent to 4.9 million Class A shares.

Why Berkshire Hathaway Bought Into Apple (Fool Video)

Warren Buffett is famously anti-tech, but his company, Berkshire Hathaway, has recently become a shareholder of Apple.

In this segment from the MarketFoolery podcast, Chris Hill, Jason Moser, and Taylor Muckerman explain why the billionaire investor's company bought in. Learn why Apple isn't the same investment now that it was 10 years ago and why this move is much more in line with Berkshire's investment philosophies than it first seems. To wrap-up, the team runs down a couple other moves Berkshire Hathaway announced in its most recent 13-F filing.

Warren Buffett, Quicken Loans founder in Yahoo bid (Reuters)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc Chairman Warren Buffett is backing a consortium vying for Yahoo Inc's internet assets that includes Quicken Loans Inc founder Dan Gilbert, people familiar with the matter said on Friday. [...]

The consortium is in the second round of bidding in the auction for Yahoo's assets, the people said. Buffett is helping finance the offer, one of the people added. [...]

Susan Decker, who worked at Yahoo in several senior roles between 2000 and 2009, including president and chief financial officer, is now a director on Berkshire's board.

Warren Buffett: I may help bankroll billionaire Dan Gilbert's bid to buy Yahoo (CNBC)

Berkshire Hathaway has offered to be a potential finance partner for fellow billionaire Dan Gilbert's bid to buy Yahoo, Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett confirmed to CNBC.

"I'm an enormous admirer of Dan and what he has accomplished in Quicken Loans‎. Yahoo is not the type of thing I'd ever be an equity partner in. I don't know the business and wouldn't know how to evaluate it, but if Dan needed financing, with proper terms and protections, we would be a possible financing help," Buffett told CNBC. [...]

Berkshire’s Jain Taps ‘Secret Weapon’ Raiguel to Run Gen Re (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. promoted longtime reinsurance executive Kara Raiguel to run the company’s Gen Re unit, which has struggled to expand amid increased competition.

Raiguel will take over from Franklin "Tad" Montross, according to an internal memo confirmed by Gen Re. She has been at Berkshire for 15 years and was a key deputy to Ajit Jain, who runs the company’s namesake reinsurance operation and recently took on responsibility for Gen Re as well.

Read Ajit Jain’s Memo About the New CEO at Berkshire’s Gen Re (WSJ Moneybeat)

For Berkshire investors, the two-page memo may be interesting for more than the information it provides about Ms. Raiguel. It also offers a glimpse of Mr. Jain’s writing style, and it sounds a fair bit like the folksy, jargon-free tone that Mr. Buffett favors. Mr. Jain has long been thought by outside observers of Berkshire to be one of the leading candidates to replace Mr. Buffett. [...]

Richline Group Acquires Nordt (BusinessWire)

Richline Group, Inc. has the pleasure to announce the acquisition, effective June 1, 2016, of John C. Nordt, Inc. [...] a leading manufacturer and supplier of precious metal products to the jewelry industry. Founded in 1872 in New York City, Nordt has operated in Roanoke Virginia since 1984.

Here's How Berkshire Hathaway Gets a $63 Billion Interest-Free Loan From the U.S. Government (Fool)

[...] Berkshire Hathaway has some structural advantages that are less well understood. One of them is the size of its deferred tax liabilities – a whopping $63.2 billion, based on the most recent data [...]

A deferred tax liability arises from temporary differences between a company's financial accounts and its tax accounts. [...] Because it is assumed that companies will eventually realize the investment gains achieved through the sale of their winning stocks thereby incurring capital gains tax, that future liability is reflected on the balance sheet as a deferred tax liability.

Berkshire's NetJets settles U.S. immigration bias claim (Reuters)

NetJets, the luxury plane unit of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, agreed to settle U.S. charges that it discriminated against immigrant workers by requiring them to provide extra documents to prove their employment eligibility.

The settlement calls for NetJets to be monitored by the U.S. Department of Justice for two years, improve training of its human resources staff, and pay a $41,480 civil penalty, the department said in a Friday statement. NetJets denied wrongdoing in agreeing to settle, and cooperated in the probe.

A NetJets spokesman said the government found "inadvertent errors" in the company's processes for verifying workers' residency. "There was no intent to discriminate," he added.

Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Group Invests In Technology (Travel Market Report)

Most people don’t think of Berkshire Hathaway as a hip modern brand. Warren Buffett is a conservative, patient investor who still owns a flip phone and brags he has sent one e-mail his whole life. What many might not know is that his Berkshire holding company owns a travel-insurance business that is making a mark for itself by offering high-tech, consumer-centric products and services. [...]

BHTP continues to invest in mobile technology and will be releasing a new version of its mobile app in the coming weeks. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/12/16

Buffett Deputy Jain Will Add Gen Re Oversight as Montross Exits (Bloomberg)

Ajit Jain, long considered a top candidate to replace billionaire Warren Buffett as chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is expanding his oversight of the company’s insurance operations.

Gen Re, one of the major reinsurance businesses at Berkshire, said Tuesday that CEO Tad Montross, 60, will step down by the end of this year. His replacement hasn’t been named, but will report to Jain, said Sabine Denne, a spokeswoman for the reinsurer.

Berkshire Hathaway Sees Power Market as Electrons' Match.com (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy unit has been courting three dozen power transmission operators in the western U.S. to join its utilities and the California grid in trading power across their borders electronically and instantaneously. This means traders wouldn’t need to pick up the phone or send e-mails each hour to schedule the purchase and sale of renewables while hoping the sun and wind hold out until the next hour.

This so-called Energy Imbalance Market is the equivalent of creating a “Match.com for electrons,” Jonathan Weisgall, vice president of government relations at Berkshire Hathaway Energy, said [...]

Clayton Homes buys Alabama manufactured-housing company (Knoxville News Sentinel)

Maryville-based Clayton Homes has acquired manufactured-home builder River Birch Homes of Hackleburg, Ala.

In a release, Clayton Homes said the purchase includes all operating assets of River Birch Homes, and is effective immediately.

River Birch, which makes single- and multi-section homes and markets them in nine states throughout the Southeast, has nearly 240 employees in the Hackleburg area, in northwest Alabama.

The company was started in 1997 by owners Delmo Payne and Gerald Terrell.

Acme Brick Co. to close Springfield and Edina brick facilities for good this year (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Texas-based Acme Brick Co. will officially shut its Minnesota operations for good later this year, a move that will affect 19 employees.

The company will keep its Edina sales office open to serve customer orders through Sept. 30. Its Great Lakes Plant in Springfield, Minn., which stopped producing bricks in 2014, will not restart production as expected. Instead it will sell its remaining inventory at the Edina facility and through select distributors.

Acme acquired the Great Lakes Plant in January 2008. It was Minnesota’s last operating brick plant and was formerly part of Ochs Brick Co. [...]

Fire at Nebraska Furniture Mart warehouse caused estimated $1.4 million in damage (Omaha World-Herald)

Insurance officials still are investigating the cause of a fire that caused an estimated $1.4 million in damage in Nebraska Furniture Mart’s flooring warehouse Sunday.

The flooring center remained closed Monday, but the retailer is operating normally otherwise.

The fire involved boxes of laminate flooring and as a result was quite smoky, retired Furniture Mart executive Bob Batt said. [...]

Acquisitions lead Lubrizol to expand its offerings (Crain's Cleveland Business)

Lubrizol Corp. is expanding its health care product offerings and investing $15 million in the effort, the Wickliffe-based company announced at the Medical Design and Manufacturing West trade show and conference in Anaheim.

Expanding Lubrizol LifeSciences offerings has in part been made possible with the recent acquisition of Vesta Inc. and Particle Sciences, whose capabilities are turning the company’s health-care business into the “polymer-based drug delivery company” of the future, company reps said [...]

Shaw industries land on Forbes' "America's Best Employers of 2016" list (Chatanooga Times Free Press)

Calhoun-based Mohawk Industries, the world's largest flooring maker, and Dalton-based Shaw Industries, the world's largest carpet maker, are two the best industrial manufacturers in the country to work for, according to the latest Forbes' "America's Best Employers of 2016" list. [...]

Shaw ranked 282 overall [out of 30,000], and number 18 in the engineering/manufacturing category. [...]

Shaw is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, Inc., with more than $4.8 billion in sales and more than 22,000 employees.

Chinese aviation firm to take 25% stake in NetJets China (Flight Global)

Chinese business aircraft manager Business Aviation Asia will take a 25% stake in the China unit of fractional ownership firm NetJets. [...]

NetJets China is a joint venture between the US-based fractional ownership giant and a consortium of Chinese investors, led by private equity firm Hony Capital and Fung Investments. It operates two aircraft on a charter basis in the mainland. [...]

Initial bids for Kansas utility Westar Energy due this week (Utility Dive)

Initial bids for Westar Energy are due this week, according to Bloomberg, and the company has reportedly been courted by a wide range of potential investors, from Canadian investment companies to rival utility Ameren.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has also been named as a potential suitor, with the Hillsboro Free Press reporting it is not the first time the billionaire investor has considered acquiring the utility. [...]

Brooks Unveils London Transit-Inspired Adrenaline GTS 16 (Footwear News)

Brooks Unveils Boston Marathon Shoe Inspired By New England Lifestyle (Footwear News)

Brooks Running is rolling out some unique-looking running shoes in conjunction with some of the most popular marathons.

Top running brands are getting ready for the upcoming Boston Marathon, prepping sneakers for the celebrated race. One such brand is Brooks, with a reimagined iteration of its Adrenaline GTS 16, hitting stores in April. The Brooks “Nantucket” Adrenaline GTS 16 is scheduled to hit stores Friday and retail for $130.

New book offers detailed analysis of Buffett’s investments (Omaha World-Herald)

Yefei Lu, a portfolio manager for Shareholder Value Management of Frankfurt, Germany, analyzes 20 of Berkshire’s investments, from the Sanborn Map Co. in 1958 to IBM in 2011, in a forthcoming book, “Inside the Investments of Warren Buffett” [...]

In a final chapter titled “What We Can Learn From Buffett,” Lu says Buffett, chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., seeks “an abundance of relevant objective data for the companies in question.”

Berkshire Subsidiary Briefs - 3/13/16

This week's post got really long, so I broke it in two. News about Berkshire Hathaway itself was in the prior post, news about subsidiaries is in this one.

Berkshire's Specialty-Insurance Unit Opens Europe Operation (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will begin offering coverage in Europe through a specialty-insurance unit that Chairman Warren Buffett has been building over the past three years.

Tom Bolt was named president of U.K. and Southern Europe operations, starting June 1, and will be based in London, the Berkshire unit said in a statement Thursday. Gregor Koehler will be president of Northern Europe, effective immediately, and work from Dusseldorf, Germany. [...]

Gen Re to close six offices in restructuring (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s General Reinsurance Corp. unit will close six of its smaller offices as part of a reorganization of its direct global property/casualty operations, Stamford, Connecticut-based Gen Re announced Friday. [...]

In addition, Gen Re will reorganize its European treaty underwriting resources into five line-of-business teams to support the entire region, Gen Re said in the announcement. [...]

Buffett’s ‘gem’ in Stamford weathers competition (Stamford Advocate)

Years after disastrous claims results buffeted Stamford-based General Reinsurance following its $21.7 billion sale in 1998 to Berkshire Hathaway, the reinsurance carrier is following through on its CEO’s vow last year to maintain underwriting discipline — despite a depressing effect on premiums that insurance companies reinvest to make money.

Gen Re revenue dropped slightly below $6 billion in 2015, off 4 percent from the previous year and roughly flat from its revenue in 2013. Gen Re’s Stamford-based sibling carrier Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Group saw a more precipitous decline in revenues, dropping 29 percent to $7.2 billion; combined, the two entities rank among the top five reinsurance underwriters in the world. [...]

Geronimo Energy Expands Partnership with BHE Renewables (PR Newswire)

Geronimo Energy, LLC ("Geronimo") is pleased to announce the sale of its second portfolio of Minnesota Community Solar Garden developments ("the Portfolio") to BHE Renewables, LLC ("BHE Renewables"), one of the most recognized names in the renewable energy industry, and a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.

Included in the Portfolio is a total of 66 megawatts ("MW") of solar garden projects spread across 21 locations and 16 Minnesota counties, which will be constructed by the end of 2017.

This acquisition is in addition to a previously purchased portfolio of Geronimo-developed community solar gardens by BHE Renewables, bringing the total combined portfolio size to nearly 100 MW. [...]

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage, part of Warren Buffett's empire, buys Cleveland firm (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC, part of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies led by Warren Buffett, has entered Ohio by buying a Cleveland-based mortgage-banking firm.

Berkadia snapped up RiverCore Capital, a small firm that has arranged financing for major downtown properties including the Flats East Bank project and The 9 complex on East Ninth Street. Neither party would discuss terms of the deal, which closed March 4. [...]

Will Duracell Be the Next Big Company to Leave Connecticut? (Patch)

Duracell, previously owned by Procter & Gamble and based in Bethel, Conn., recently advertised a job opening for an IT Specialist in Chicago, IL. The Simply Hired posting stated that Berkshire Hathaway has "announced its intent to acquire Duracell by the end of 2015 and Duracell will relocate its corporate headquarters to Chicago."

The News Times reported on Wednesday that the battery maker and Berkshire Hathaway not made an official announcement designating Chicago as Duracell’s new headquarters, however, the online job posting says otherwise. [...]

Richline Group a Proud Member of Jewelry Industry Initiative to Combat Wildlife Trafficking (BusinessWire)

As announced by the U.S. Wildlife Trafficking Alliance, Richline Group—alongside jewelry industry leaders Signet Jewelers and Tiffany & Co.—is celebrating World Wildlife Day by announcing its commitments to support broad jewelry industry efforts in the fight against wildlife trafficking. [...]

Richline Group’s commitments include keeping the elimination of wildlife trafficking part of best practice discussion, and to assist companies that want to update their codes of conduct through the newly introduced IvoryFreeJewelry.com. [...]

The Dairy Queen System Proclaims the End of Winter Five Days Early With Free Cone Day on March 15 (BusinessWire)

In the Dairy Queen® system, a Berkshire Hathaway company, winter is over and spring has officially begun on Tuesday, March 15 with a Free Cone Day benefiting Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®. [...]

Throughout the day, participating non-mall Dairy Queen and DQ Grill & Chill® locations across the U.S. will serve fans a FREE small vanilla soft-serve cone with the signature curl on top (limit one per customer while supplies last).

“Last year’s success of Free Cone Day surpassed all expectations and we have our fans to thank for that,” added Westrum. “Together we raised $140,000 in one day for Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and we averaged serving more than 1,330 cones per store. We are looking to surpass those numbers this year. We can’t wait.” [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 8/12/15

Warren Buffett Cuts Berkshire Hathaway's Biggest Ever Deal In $37B Precision Castparts Buy (Forbes)

On Monday morning, Berkshire confirmed it would buy aerospace components giant Precision Castparts (PCP) for $235 a share in cash, valuing it at $37.2 billion, when including the Portland, Oregon based company’s near $5 billion in debt. The deal comes at a 20% premium to Precision Castparts closing share price on Friday, however, it amounts to a slight discount from the company’s stock price at the beginning of 2015.

For Berkshire Hathaway, the deal is a major bet on U.S. aerospace and manufacturing, bringing a top parts supplier to defense and aviation companies around the world into the coffers of Buffett’s conglomerate. With over $10 billion in annual sales, Precision Castparts would instantly become one of Berkshire’s largest operating subsidiaries. The company reported a $1.5 billion profit in 2014, slightly less than the profits Berkshire’s energy unit generated last year. [...]

Berkshire Gets Dealmaker CEO in Precision Castparts Purchase (Bloomberg)

Mark Donegan, chairman and chief executive officer of Precision Castparts Corp., made more than a few deals of his own before becoming a target of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

Precision Castparts, a maker of equipment for the aerospace and energy industries, has completed at least 30 acquisitions since Donegan took over as CEO in 2002. [...]

Donegan could be an investment in the future for Buffett: The CEO -- typically loath to talk to the press -- was 58 when Precision Castparts filed its proxy in July. Berkshire likes to buy high-quality management teams that can help direct its vast cash pile, said Joel Levington, a senior credit analyst with Bloomberg Intelligence. [...]

Berkshire Profit Falls, Missing Estimates on Insurance Slump (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted second-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates because of higher claims costs at insurance units including Geico.

Net income dropped 37 percent to $4.01 billion, or $2,442 a share, from $6.4 billion, or $3,889, a year earlier, the Omaha, Nebraska-based company said Friday in a statement. Operating earnings, which exclude some investment results, were $2,367 a share, compared with the average $3,038 estimate of three analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

Why Earnings Fell at Berkshire Hathaway, but Book Value Rises in 2015 (24/7 Wall Street)

Berkshire Hathaway pointed out that, since the beginning of the year, Berkshire’s shareholder equity has increased $5.9 billion and its book value per Class A equivalent share was up by 2.4% to $149,735 per share. The company’s insurance float at June 30, 2015 was $85.1 billion. For a comparison to the first quarter book value, Berkshire Hathaway’s book value per Class A equivalent share had increased by 0.5% since the end of 2014 to $146,963 as of March 31, 2015. [...]

Operating earnings came to $3.89 billion in the second quarter, down from $4.33 billion a year ago. Gains from investments fell to $236 million, from $1.96 billion a year ago. [...]

If you add up the investment income and the operating income from the conglomerate structure, Berkshire Hathaway made $4.01 billion in net earnings, down from $6.395 billion a year earlier. [...]

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway loses millions on Australian storms (Australian Financial Review)

US billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway company pointed to reinsurance losses in Australia as it explained a 37 per cent drop in second-quarter profit.

The company's American reinsurance business lost $US115 million ($155 million) directly because of storm damage on the Australian east coast in April, the company disclosed in a regulatory filing in the US. [...]

Symetra’s Deal Enriches Berkshire Hathaway (WSJ MoneyBeat)

Two insurers most people have never heard of just agreed to a deal, and Warren Buffett’s company is another $144 million richer.

U.S. life insurance company Symetra Financial Corp. said Tuesday it agreed to sell itself to Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. for about $3.8 billion in the latest large acquisition in the U.S. by a Japanese life insurer.

Among Symetra’s biggest shareholders: Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. [...]

But Berkshire’s Symetra’s ownership, while hardly a secret, isn’t as widely known as most of its other equity positions. The stock doesn’t show up in in Berkshire’s most widely watched quarterly disclosures. Instead, it’s listed in the holdings for a Berkshire reinsurance unit, General Reinsurance Corp.

U.S. Identifies Insider Trading Ring With Ukraine Hackers (Bloomberg)

Exposing a new front in cybercrime, U.S. authorities broke up an alleged insider trading ring that relied on computer hackers to pilfer corporate press announcements and then profited by trading on the sensitive information before it became public. [...]

The suspected hackers, who are thought to be in Ukraine, allegedly infiltrated the computer servers of PRNewswire Association LLC, Marketwired and Business Wire, a unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., over a five-year period.

They siphoned more than 150,000 press releases including corporate data on earnings that could be used to anticipate stock market moves and make profitable trades, the U.S. said. [...]

Can the Insurance Industry Survive Driverless Cars? (Bloomberg)

Auto insurance has long been a lucrative business. The industry collected about $195 billion in premiums last year from U.S. drivers. New customers are the source of so much profit that Geico alone spends more than $1 billion a year on ads to pitch its policies with a talking lizard and other characters. Yet even Warren Buffett, whose company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns Geico, is talking about the long-term risks to the business model. "If you could come up with anything involved in driving that cut accidents by 30 percent, 40 percent, 50 percent, that would be wonderful," he said at a conference in March. "But we would not be holding a party at our insurance company."

International Dairy Queen Opens First Location in Kuwait (Business Wire)

The Dairy Queen® system, part of Berkshire Hathaway, has opened a new DQ Grill & Chill® restaurant at the Marina Mall in Salmiya, Kuwait. The opening of this location makes Kuwait the 27th country outside the U.S. and Canada with a DQ® presence. [...]

Durra Khaled for Foodstuffs Co., a subsidiary of KMGC, has signed a long-term franchise agreement with the Dairy Queen system and plans to develop more than 20 DQ Grill & Chill restaurants and DQ Treat stores throughout Kuwait over the next five years.

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/23/15

Lower oil prices affect Berkshire Hathaway (Salt Lake Tribune)

Berkshire is one of the biggest shareholders in Wal-Mart Stores and holds a stake in Costco Wholesale, both of which are trading near all-time highs. Lower gasoline prices could boost consumer spending this year, benefiting retailers. [...] Both jet-fuel and diesel prices have been falling, potentially reducing costs for Berkshire's luxury aviation unit, NetJets, and its trucking company, McLane. [...] Surging U.S. oil production has been a boon to Berkshire's largest subsidiary, BNSF Railway Co. The company has seen an increase in oil carloads from North Dakota's Bakken region and spent heavily to accommodate them. Some of that demand could go away if oil prices stay low for a prolonged period.

Warren Buffett's investing successors blew it in 2014 (Fortune)

Todd Combs and Ted Weschler both appear to have failed to beat the market in 2014. Combs missed the mark by the most. His portfolio appears to have fallen slightly, down 0.3%, in 2014. [...] Weschler did better. His picks rose 6.7%. Still, that wasn’t enough to best the S&P 500, which was up by just over 11%, before dividends, in 2014. (Fortune calculated the returns of Combs and Weschler before dividends as well.) It was the first year both Combs and Weschler lagged the market index since they joined Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Warren Buffett's Secret Stocks (Fool)

The critical distinction is that Berkshire Hathaway files what is known as a "13F Combination Report." In it is stated in plain sight that (emphasis added) "a portion of the holdings for this reporting manager are reported in this report and a portion are reported by other reporting manager(s)." In other words, what we see in the Berkshire Hathaway 13F filing are the stocks Berkshire Hathaway, owns. But another company, General Re New England Asset Management -- which is owned by Berkshire -- also files a 13F that further discloses what is included in Berkshire's stock portfolio. So what happens when we combine the holdings in the 13F's filed by Berkshire Hathaway and General Re New England Asset Management relative to what is shown in the annual report?

Brooks Breaks Tape on Momentous Year and Kicks Off 2015 with Clear Focus on Being No. 1 Choice for Runners Worldwide (BusinessWire)

For Brooks Running Company, 2014 was a year of milestones: among other noteworthy mileposts, Brooks reached half a billion dollars in annual sales, moved into a new state-of-the-art global headquarters and celebrated its 100-year anniversary. To cap it off, Brooks posted a 15 percent increase in revenue growth year-over-year driven by a 13 percent increase in U.S. footwear sales and a 32 percent increase in EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) sales on a local currency basis. Additionally, Brooks Canada clocked in more than 37 percent year-over-year revenue growth since formed as a wholly owned subsidiary in 2014.

Texas-sized Furniture Mart store can fit 3 Walmart Supercenters inside (Omaha World Herald)

Ed Lipsett, store director of the massive Nebraska Furniture Mart under construction in this Dallas suburb, takes great pride in the breadth of the new store. At 560,000 square feet, it’s big enough to fit three Walmart Supercenters inside. [...] Lipsett and other marketing executives with the Omaha-based store — owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway — recently allowed reporters to take a peek inside. The two-story, $400 million store, with its attached warehouse, is about 40 percent completed and has taken two years to build. Store officials declined to reveal a precise opening date. [...] The store will anchor a $1.5 billion, 433-acre development project being built by Berkshire Hathaway. Several restaurants and hotels are also planned.

BNSF Railway Re-evaluates Plan for Safer Cars Amid Client Talks (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is reconsidering a plan to buy 5,000 oil-tank cars built to new safety standards after some customers voiced concern about the initiative. “At first everybody applauded us for doing it,” BNSF Chairman Matt Rose said today during a panel discussion in Washington on oil-by-rail safety, without specifying which concerns were raised. “We’re going to go back and talk to our customers and see what they want us to do.” [...] Rose said the company also decided to delay its purchase until regulators establish a standard. While thicker walls are warranted, speed restrictions would hurt other businesses that rely on trains to haul their products, he said.

Ajit Jain's Value To Berkshire Hathaway (Seeking Alpha)

In 1998, BH Reinsurance had a float of $4.3BN and by 2013, the float had increased to $37BN based on Ajit Jain's risk management capability and a staff of less than 50 people. Moreover, the share of BH Reinsurance as a percentage of total Berkshire's total float increased from 19% in 1998 to 48%. The other contributors to Berkshire's float include General Re, GEICO & "Other Primary".

Berkshire Hathaway Corporation and Leucadia National Corporation Appoint Justin Wheeler CEO of Berkadia (BusinessWire)

Berkshire Hathaway Corporation and Leucadia National Corporation today announced the appointment of Justin Wheeler, currently Leucadia’s Chief Operating Officer, as Chief Executive Officer of Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC. Since April 2014, Mr. Wheeler has been Berkadia’s acting CEO and, upon becoming Berkadia’s permanent CEO, Mr. Wheeler will be stepping down from his position as Leucadia’s COO. Berkadia, a joint venture of Berkshire Hathaway and Leucadia, is an industry leading commercial real estate company providing comprehensive capital solutions and investment sales advisory and research services for multifamily and commercial properties.

Warren Buffett Watch: Berkshire meeting to offer anniversary book, more time for sales (Omaha World Herald)

Good news for shareholders who shop at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s annual meeting. For the first time, the exhibition hall at the CenturyLink Center Omaha will be open for business on the Friday afternoon before the meeting, as well as during the Saturday meeting on May 2. And this year the hottest item might be a special bargain, Berkshire Chairman Warren Buffett told me: A commemorative book to mark the 50th anniversary of the day he bought the New England textile company known as Berkshire Hathaway.

7 Things You Need to Know About Berkshire Hathaway (Fool)

Millions of words have been written about Berkshire Hathaway, and most of them have been devoted to CEO Warren Buffett. This is understandable, since Berkshire is truly a product of Buffett's guiding hands over the past half-century, turning the small regional textile maker into one of the great investing stories in modern history. Berkshire is an amazing collection of companies and stocks that Buffett has acquired over the years, but there's a lot to know about this mega conglomerate. Let's consider seven things you need to know about Berkshire Hathaway. Whether you're a shareholder, considering investing, or just interested in this great company, you might be surprised by some of the things on this list.

12 of the Best Things Charlie Munger Has Ever Said (Fool)

In financial media, you see quotes from Warren Buffett everywhere, as he's well known as one of the best stock-pickers around. The words of his longtime business partner Charlie Munger, however, don't make many headlines -- and that's a shame. [...] "If you buy something because it's undervalued, then you have to think about selling it when it approaches your calculation of its intrinsic value. That's hard. But if you buy a few great companies, then you can sit on your ass. That's a good thing."

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/9/14

Winning bidder for Buffett lunch from Singapore (Yahoo Singapore)

A man from Singapore on Friday bid $2,166,766 to win a private lunch with Warren Buffett, well below the record price but on par with other winning bids in recent years. It was the 15th annual online auction. The winner gets to spend several hours at lunch with Buffett, who leads Berkshire Hathaway and is known for his investing prowess and philanthropy. The auction benefits the Glide Foundation, which provides meals, health care, job training, rehabilitation and housing support to the poor and homeless in San Francisco.

Warren Buffett lunch winning bidder Andy Chua identified (Channel NewsAsia)

Mr Andy Chua made tongues wag when he put in a winning bid of US$2.17 million to dine with billionaire Warren Buffet. Little was revealed about the man by Glide Foundation except that he is a businessman from Singapore with a company called EMES, but Channel NewsAsia understands he is the chairman of AMES United, which runs a chain of beauty and grooming centres across Asia.

+++ Energy News +++

So much Energy News this week, that I'm giving it its own section...

Buffett’s $26 Billion Power Bet in West Seen Paying Off (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Warren Buffett’s $26 billion bet on western U.S. power plants, transmission lines and wind farms is poised to pay off. The energy unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., with the help of California’s grid operator, is moving to unite the holdings under a single market capable of dispatching power across seven states every five minutes. The system, designed to handle sudden swings in supply and demand, would revolutionize the markets from Oregon to Nevada, where 38 transmission operators manually balance their territories on an hourly basis.

Buffett to Expand Energy Wager ‘As Far as the Eye Can See' (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which has struck deals to expand its utility business in Nevada and Western Canada, plans more investment in the industry, in part by betting on renewable power, ChairmanWarren Buffett said. “We’ve poured billions and billions and billions of dollars in retained earnings, and several billion of additional equity,” into the energy business, Buffett, 83, said today at the Edison Electric Institute’s annual convention in Las Vegas. “And we’re going to keep doing that as far as the eye can see.”

First Wind to Sell Solar Power From Utah to Buffett Unit (Bloomberg Businessweek)

First Wind Holdings Inc., a Boston-based renewable-energy developer, has agreed to sell power from seven Utah solar farms to a utility owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Four solar farms planned for Beaver County and three for Iron County will sell power to PacifiCorp, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, First Wind said today in a statement. Construction is expected to begin later this year and end by mid-2015. The projects, which combined will produce 20 megawatts, will power about 4,000 homes. Rocky Mountain Power, a unit of PacifiCorp, is buying the electricity under a 20-year contract.

Solar Star I and 2 on schedule (Recharge News)

Owner MidAmerican Solar and SunPower Corp have completed more than half of what will be the world’s largest solar array - the 579MW (AC) Solar Star I and 2 projects in California. Construction on the projects began in 2013 and is on schedule for completion by yearend 2015. Southern California Edison will purchase electricity from the projects under two long-term power purchase agreements. MidAmerican, part of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company, recently installed the project’s one millionth PV module.

Another SunPower Project at Nellis Base (Zacks)

SunPower Corp. has entered into an agreement with NV Energy, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., to construct a 19 megawatt (MW) solar photovoltaic (PV) power project at Nellis Air Force Base in southern Nevada. This new project will bring more clean energy to Nevada’s military base. [...] The company will start the construction of the plant in 2015 subject to approval from the Nevada's Public Utilities Commission. This agreement marks the second one of its kind between these two companies. Earlier, SunPower and NV Energy had constructed a 14-MW solar power project at the base in 2007.

+++ Other Subsidiary News +++

Energy time is over... on to insurance and Marmon!

On the Job: Noel helps lead Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance into travel insurance business (Stevens Point Journal)

AirCare is the first of several travel-protection products slated to be released over the next several months by Berkshire Hathaway Travel Protection, which will operate under the leadership of John Noel. [...] In January, Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, part of the investment empire of billionaire Warren Buffett, reached an agreement with Stevens Point-based Noel Group to purchase two of its divisions, MyAssist and Insure America. MyAssist is a personal assistance and telematics service provider, while Insure America LLC provides insurance products to the travel industry. Noel, the founder, chairman and CEO of Noel Group, continues to head the MyAssist and Insure America operations.

Gen Re Names Rotatori CEO, Clark to Become President (Claims Journal)

Gen Re, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, announced several planned organizational changes prompted by Gerard Lynch’s announcement that he will be retiring December 31, 2014. Lynch has been chairman and CEO since founding New England Asset Management (NEAM) in 1984. Effective immediately, the company’s current president, William Rotatori, was promoted to chief executive officer and Chip Clark was appointed to president. Lynch will remain chairman until his retirement, at which point he will become non-executive chairman.

TSE Brakes Reveals New Logo, Website As Part Of Rebranding Effort (Aftermarket News)

TSE Brakes, a Marmon Highway Technologies/Berkshire Hathaway Co., has unveiled a new logo, website (www.tsebrakes.com) and supporting materials as part of an ongoing rebranding effort. [...] Founded more than 50 years ago, TSE says it has fostered a customer-first commitment while maintaining a singular focus on becoming one of the heavy-duty industry's leading spring brake manufacturers. Today, as a Marmon Highway Technologies/Berkshire Hathaway company, TSE Brakes is investing significant resources in R&D as it strives to develop the next industry-leading actuation technology.

Berkshire News Briefs - 9/15/13

AIG Said to Opt Against Buffett Reinsurance Amid Clash (Bloomberg)

American International Group Inc. (AIG) has decided against signing new reinsurance contracts with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. after Warren Buffett’s company started a commercial insurer competing against AIG, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. [...] Buffett said in May he was planning to add sales of commercial insurance after hiring executives from AIG including Peter Eastwood, who ran the company’s property-casualty operation in the Americas. The move challenges New York-based AIG in one of its main markets and expands Berkshire beyond its strengths in U.S. personal auto coverage and reinsurance.

Berkshire ‘A’ Shares, Soon Available In Pennies (WSJ)

Starting Sept. 16, the New York Stock Exchange plans to begin trading and quoting Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in pennies, according to a Thursday notice from the exchange. That means that the stock’s mammoth price – $168,180 on Thursday afternoon – will move in one-cent increments, rather than the current ten cents.

Improved Underwriting Results Boost RAA Companies' 1H Net Income (Property Casualty 360)

A group of 18 reinsurers belonging to the Reinsurance Association of America reported a combined 2013 first-half net income of just under $4.8 billion, up from $3.6 billion for the same companies a year ago, as improved underwriting income more than offset a slight drop in net premiums written. Similar to 2012’s first half, Berkshire Hathaway’s National Indemnity Co. accounted for over half of the group’s net income in the first six months of this year. National Indemnity reported just under $3 billion in first-half net income, far outpacing Transatlantic Reinsurance, which placed second among the group with $364.4 million in net income.

U.S. judge approves $72 mln fraud pact with Berkshire's Gen Re (Reuters)

A U.S. judge on Tuesday approved a $72 million settlement by Berkshire Hathaway Inc's General Re Corp to resolve claims that it engaged in a sham deal that helped fraudulently inflate American International Group Inc's loss reserves. The settlement's approval brings to an end nine years of shareholder litigation revolving around AIG accounting practices dating to 1999.

Shaw Industries opens carpet tile plant in China (Fibre 2 Fashion)

Berkshire Hathaway’s Shaw Industries Group, Inc. (Shaw) has announced its grand opening of a 210,000-square-foot carpet tile plant in Nantong, China – a port city 65 miles north of Shanghai. This facility offers customers in Asia quicker access to a wider range of completely recyclable, Cradle-to-Cradle-certified products, which are PVC-free and bitumen-free. [...] Expected to employ approximately 250 at full capacity, over 100 Shaw associates are onboard at this time. [...] Products manufactured in China will be sold for installation in the growing Asia market and there are no plans to export them back to the U.S.

SidePlate’s Active Projects More Than Double in 36 Months (Herald Online)

SidePlate®, a Berkshire Hathaway company that designs innovative steel building connections, today announced that it has doubled its employee base in the last 36 months to accommodate rising demand for its consulting and project-management services. As another indicator of the Company’s dramatic growth, SidePlate’s active projects have more than doubled since July 2010. [...] In 2009, Berkshire Hathaway’s MiTek® acquired SidePlate because of the Company’s sterling reputation, its innovative consulting services and technology, and its potential for the very growth that SidePlate is experiencing today.

Truss and Wall-Panel Component Manufacturers Stand Ready to Respond to Framing Labor Shortage (Herald Online)

“Housing starts are showing sustained growth, and they are predicted to spike to a run rate of 1.3 million by the end of 2014, and 1.5 million in 2015,” said MiTek’s Gregg Renner. “That’s good news, but it also indicates that the framing labor shortage won’t ease, and builders need a different approach to framing houses. That’s what MiTek’s component manufacturers offer.”

Berkshire’s Richline Makes Jewelry Deal With American Greetings (Bloomberg)

Richline Group Inc., owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., reached a deal to make and distribute jewelry featuring the artwork from cards produced by American Greetings Corp. [...] Richline also has relationships with the Marie Claire brand and the National Football League.

Borsheims to open second location at Nebraska Crossing Outlets (Omaha World-Herald)

For more than a half-century, Borsheims, Omaha's iconic jeweler, has limited itself to a single store. But this fall the Berkshire Hathaway-owned retailer will break tradition and open a second location — an outlet store at Nebraska Crossing Outlets in Gretna. The outlet store, opening Nov. 15 under the banner Borsheims Boutique, will occupy a 5,500-square-foot space next to the Coach factory store.

BNSF to spend $110 million on projects in Nebraska (Omaha World-Herald)

BNSF Railway Co. on Thursday announced plans to invest about $110 million this year in maintenance and rail capacity expansion projects in Nebraska. [...] BNSF also plans to invest $35 million this year in Iowa, which is part of the railroad’s total 2013 capital investment of $4.3 billion, a record for the company. [...] Omaha-based Union Pacific’s 2013 capital investment numbers aren’t yet available, but last year the company spent about $303 million in Nebraska and $3.7 billion total on its network.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Signs Nine More Affiliates (Fort Mill Times)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, today announced the signing of nine more brokerage companies for the network. The companies include: Prudential Anderson Properties, Houston, TX; Prudential California Realty, Cerritos, CA; Prudential Canyon Lake Realty, Canyon Lake, CA; Prudential Gallo, REALTORS®, Rehoboth Beach, DE; Prudential Serls Prime Properties, Lagrangeville, NY; Prudential Southeast Coastal Properties, Savannah, GA; Prudential Texas Realty, Austin, TX; Prudential Tropical Realty, Tampa Bay, FL; and Prudential Woodmont Realty, Nashville, TN. The brokerages will begin operating under the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices flag as early as the fourth quarter of 2013. They are the latest in a series of brokerage signees announced by the new real estate network, whose total members now represent more than $1 billion in annual gross commission income.

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/30/13

Berkshire's Oriental Trading Co. acquires toy company (Omaha World-Herald)

Omaha's Oriental Trading Co. said Thursday it had acquired a “brainy” toy company, taking another step in expanding Warren Buffett’s presence in the business of selling goods to consumers through catalogs and online. The subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Thursday it has purchased MindWare Holdings Inc. of suburban Minneapolis for an undisclosed amount of cash, its first acquisition under Berkshire ownership. MindWare creates, wholesales and sells more than 1,000 educational games, toys and other products via catalogs and online sites. [...]

“Our expectation is that this is the first of many acquisitions to come down the road,” Taylor said.“It gives us a chance to leverage our world-class, high-tech platform that we've built to sell products direct to consumers and to organizations.” MindWare owner Martin Smith, who is retiring, said he wanted the company to have a permanent home.

Buffett had helping hand in Oriental Trading acquisition (Omaha World-Herald)

Last year, when Taylor approached Berkshire Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett about buying Oriental Trading, he asked how involved Buffett would be in the business. Buffett answered that his philosophy is autonomy for top managers but that he should be informed about acquisitions. So Taylor brought the MindWare proposal to Buffett. “I knew we'd have to run this by Warren and get his blessing,” Taylor said, “mostly to make sure not to overpay for acquisitions. He was very helpful in helping us size it, to come up with our value we were going to offer.”

Buffett Adds $1.75 Billion in Hartford Annuity Deal (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.agreed to take on Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.’s U.K. variable-annuity business, adding $1.75 billion in assets under management. Berkshire will pay $285 million in cash for Hartford Life International Ltd., which sold the annuities from 2005 to 2009, according to a statement today from Hartford, which is based in the Connecticut city of the same name. The deal will cut second-quarter earnings by about $110 million, Hartford said. [...]

The $285 million price is about the same as the unit’s statutory surplus, a measure of assets minus liabilities, as calculated under Irish accounting standards, Hartford said. The Hartford Life Ltd. unit is based in Dublin.

Most Respected (Forbes) http://online.barrons.com/article/barrons_cover.html#article...

Apple's reign is over. Its remarkable three-year hold on the throne of Barron's annual ranking of the world's most respected companies is history. [...] And proving that comebacks are possible even for an 82-year-old CEO, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway came out on top this year, up from a No. 15 finish in 2012 -- the only time in this ranking's nine-year history that it finished out of the top five.

Berkshire, White Mountains Get Symetra Stock in Warrant Deal (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s General Re and a unit of White Mountains Insurance Group Ltd. will each get about $40 million of stock in life insurer Symetra Financial Corp. in a deal to retire warrants granted in 2004. [...] Berkshire and White Mountains led an investor group in 2004 that purchased Safeco Corp.’s life-insurance business, which was renamed Symetra after the deal was completed. They remain the company’s largest investors [...]

Mars Said Seeking to Pay Back 11.45% Notes Held by Berkshire (Bloomberg)

Mars Inc. is seeking financing to pay off the balance of $4.4 billion of bonds provided by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in 2008 to acquire Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co., two people with knowledge of the matter said. [...] Berkshire backed Mars’s $23 billion purchase in October 2008 with the debt financing and an agreement to take a $2.1 billion stake in the Wrigley division once the deal closed. Berkshire would still be left with its equity stake in Wrigley and the preferred shares can’t be sold for another year, one of the people said.

State approves tax breaks to Athenahealth and Buffett company (Boston-dot-com)

The state approved $11.9 million in economic development tax credits Wednesday to 10 companies that promised to create new jobs and invest in local communities, including Athenahealth Inc. and Richline Group Inc., a subsidiary of billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. [...] The council also agreed to award Richline, a jewelry manufacturing company, $400,000 in tax credits to support its growth in Attleboro. Richline, which recently bought a plant in Attleboro, plans to invest $3.6 million in new manufacturing equipment and interior building improvements, along with adding 100 new jobs.

Call a spade a spade (Hindu Business Line)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had recently indicated that it is winding up its online insurance operation in India that was started in 2011. The bad news is that the experiment probably didn’t produce the desired results, but the good news is that the company took the bold decision to pull the plug and move on — at least for now. Obviously, the decision need not imply that the company would not try again. It might try, probably at a later time, using a different entry strategy or business model.

Dairy Queen installs treadmills for employees (Yahoo)

Dairy Queen, best known for candy-infused ice cream Blizzards, has installed a bank of treadmill workstations at its Edina, Minn., corporate headquarters as part of a wellness program aimed to combat "sitting disease," the not-so-technical term for ailments associated with sitting at a computer all day. [...] According to Megan Weizel, manager of the wellness program, the company also is adding showers and locker rooms "so people can freshen up if they exercise on their lunch hour or bike into work"—in part to entice potential new employees. "We're looking at not just these, but our whole wellness program as a recruitment tool," she said.

Take This Online Philanthropy Course And You’ll Get To Give Away The Buffett Family’s Money (Fast Company)

Warren Buffett’s family has a lot of money, and they want your help giving it away. The only catch: you have to participate in the Learning By Giving Foundation’s massive open online course (MOOC). Only then will you have the power to decide where (a tiny piece of) the Berkshire Hathaway fortune should go.