Berkshire News Briefs - 2/3/18

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan are creating a new healthcare company to tackle the 'hungry tapeworm' of rising costs

Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase are creating a new business designed to lower healthcare costs for US-based employees in a move that could shake up the managed-care industry.

The companies were not specific about what kind of enterprise they aim to create, noting only that they wanted to improve employee satisfaction while reducing costs, according to a joint release. Still, the news was enough to send shares of managed-care providers lower. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Utility Unit Shuffles Top Executives

Berkshire Hathaway is shuffling the executives in charge of its utility unit after promoting Greg Abel to oversee all of Berkshire's non-insurance businesses.

Abel's promotion to vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway was announced Wednesday. Following that move, Berkshire promoted MidAmerican Energy CEO William Fehrman to replace Abel at Berkshire Hathaway Energy. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Energy includes MidAmerican, PacifiCorp, NV Energy and several other utilities.

With Fehrman moving up to oversee Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Des Moines, Iowa-based MidAmerican promoted Adam Wright to be its new CEO. [...]

Ajit Jain Reports $109 Million Stake in Berkshire Hathaway

One of Warren Buffett’s top deputies has amassed a stake in Berkshire Hathaway Inc. valued at more than $100 million.

Ajit Jain, the insurance executive who was named a vice chairman of Buffett’s conglomerate earlier this month, disclosed the holdings in a regulatory filing on Thursday. A large portion of the stake is held by a foundation and trusts in his family’s name, and his wife also owns some of the shares. Jain directly controls about $22 million of the stock. [...]

Potential Buffett Heir Reveals What May Be Just the Start of His Berkshire Stake

[...] A regulatory filing on Friday shows Abel indirectly holds about $2.1 million of stock in the Omaha, Nebraska-based company. But a separate disclosure last year noted an agreement that could catapult his holdings higher. That filing showed he could convert a stake in Berkshire’s energy business into more than $400 million of stock in the conglomerate.

The new filing was triggered by his promotion last week to vice chairman for non-insurance operations at Berkshire, a position that will put him in charge of businesses ranging from BNSF Railway to Dairy Queen. [...]

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway had an amazing 2017. 2018 isn’t looking too bad, either.

[...] The Jain and Abel ascension followed a momentous 2017 for Berkshire Hathaway that saw the company’s “A” shares break $300,000 per share. It closed at $320,000 on Thursday, but you can still buy the Berkshire “baby B” shares for $213.

Also last year, Berkshire’s cash-on-hand surpassed $100 billion as Buffett/Munger scurried to find new investments. The Republican tax plan that became law late last month gifted a one-time, $37 billion windfall to Berkshire shareholders, which helped raise the stock price.

Not least of all, Buffett won a $1 million, decade-old bet with a hedge-fund bigwig. Buffett said he could do better than a portfolio of hedge funds by investing in boring, index fund over 10 years. Buffett gave the money to Girls Inc., one of his favorite charities.

So where does Berkshire Hathaway go from here? [...]

Iscar Wants to Expand Galilee Factory, but It Can’t Find Workers

Iscar, the Israeli maker of machine tools owned by U.S. billionaire investor Warren Buffett, wanted to build an additional plant at its headquarters in the Galilee town of Tefen. Eli Cohen, the minister of economy and industry, was there to help with an offer of a 50-dunam (12.5-acre) site at no cost.

Cohen wanted to ensure that as Iscar grows, it grows in Israel, rather than just overseas. But it doesn’t look like the plant will be built after all, and that’s because there aren’t enough skilled workers to hire, sources close to the company told TheMarker. [...]

New headquaters, expanding workforce at Guard

Berkshire Hathaway Guard Insurance, having moved its headquarters to downtown Wilkes-Barre’s Public Square, is now in the process of filling about 170 jobs it says have been made possible by the move.

The project, which began late last year, is well underway with many departments having moved to the building at 39 Public Square, which Westguard Insurance Co. purchased for just over $5 million in November, according to Guard officials. [...]

GUARD’s annual sales have grown sixfold to approximately $1.2 billion since 2007, and the insurer had run out of space for its more than 675 employees, most of them working in five different spots in the downtown.

Wilkes-Barre, wanting to retain the company, facilitated a $1 million Local Share Account grant to help the project. The state added another $855,000 grant. [...]

Your Next Running Shoes Will Be Custom-Built for You

[...] biomechanical assessment, part of a service and philosophy that Brooks calls Run Signature, has long been in use by the company to help guide its customers to the best-fitting shoe in its arsenal. But the options so far have been limited to what Brooks can sell off the shelf.

Now Brooks, the top brand in specialty running with 25% of the shoe market, according to the NPD Group, wants to take that a step further. The company is working with tech stalwart HP to marry a runner’s gait information with a three-dimensional foot scan generated by HP’s new FitStation device. HP’s technology can measure pressure along the foot as it lands in each stride. The data help Brooks determine how much polyurethane to inject in a shoe’s sole to achieve the right density for as many as 30 zones of your foot.

At a time when Adidas, Nike, and other sportswear companies limit footwear customization to color and material, Berkshire Hathaway–owned Brooks seeks to create running shoes with customized performance elements as well as build data-rich digital customer profiles. [...]

Philanthropist Susie Buffett to help launch Navy's newest littoral combat ship into fleet

The Navy's newest Independence-class littoral combat ship will join the nation's fleet Saturday with a commissioning ceremony in San Diego, and the future USS Omaha has close ties to the family of Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett.

Susie Buffett, an Omaha philanthropist and the billionaire's daughter, is serving as the ship's sponsor. [...]

Warren Buffett is expected to attend along with other prominent leaders from Nebraska. [...]

Back in 2015, she formally christened the future USS Omaha at the Austal USA shipyard in Mobile, Alabama, with a bottle of bubbly. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/10/18

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. News Release

On January 9, 2018, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Board of Directors voted to increase the number of directors comprising the entire Board of Directors from twelve to fourteen. Gregory E. Abel and Ajit Jain were then elected to serve as Directors to fill the resulting vacancies on the Board of Directors. In connection with their election to the Board of Directors, Warren E. Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway’s Chairman and CEO, appointed Mr. Abel to be Berkshire Hathaway’s Vice Chairman – Non-Insurance Business Operations and Mr. Jain to be its Vice Chairman – Insurance Operations. [...]

Warren Buffett: 'I feel terrific,' and moves toward succession are not related to my health

Warren Buffett told CNBC on Wednesday the appointment of two new vice chairs at Berkshire Hathaway is "part of a movement to succession over time," and has nothing to do with any change in his health. [...]

"They are the key figures," Buffett said. "They both have Berkshire in their blood."

"There is not a horse race at all," he added. "They both have their areas of specialty."

Buffett and his 94-year-old longtime partner, Charlie Munger, are staying in their respective positions as chairman and CEO and vice chairman. [...]

Speculation had centered on Abel and Jain as possible successors, and Buffett told CNBC that elevating them would have also made sense five years ago. He said he decided about six weeks ago to make the move, saying to himself, "why not now." [...]

It was Munger's idea for Abel, Jain, and himself to all have vice chair titles, Buffett said. [...]

Warren Buffett wins $1M bet against hedge funds and gives it to girls' charity

In 2007, the famed billionaire investor made a $1 million bet that an S&P 500 stock index fund would outperform a basket of hedge funds over the course of a decade.

The index fund returned 7.1% compounded annually over the 10-year period, easily beating the 2.2% average return of a basket of funds picked by asset manager Protégé Partners, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Buffett promised to give the prize money to his local affiliate of Girls Inc., a non-profit organization that provides programs designed to inspire "all girls to be strong, smart and bold." [...]

Berkshire Hathaway could gain $37 billion from GOP tax cuts

Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate led by Warren Buffett, stands to gain an potential $37 billion from the GOP's tax cuts, according to new research from Barclays.

"We now estimate Berkshire Hathaway's 4Q book value could be boosted by about $37 billion resulting from the US corporate tax reform due to a decline in its deferred tax liability," analysts at the firm wrote in a report on Monday.

The authors also said the reduction in the corporate tax rate could lift the company's earnings power by as much as 12 percent "in 2018 and beyond," and it could repatriate some foreign profits and use it for investment. [...]

Warren Buffett Shares the Secrets to Wealth in America

I have good news. First, most American children are going to live far better than their parents did. Second, large gains in the living standards of Americans will continue for many generations to come. [...]

This game of economic miracles is in its early innings. Americans will benefit from far more and better "stuff" in the future. The challenge will be to have this bounty deliver a better life to the disrupted as well as to the disrupters. And on this matter, many Americans are justifiably worried. [...]

Warren Buffett's Love for Burger Joints Is Landing Him Billions of Dollars

The financing deal gives RBI the option to redeem some, or all, of Berkshire's preferred stock. It indicated it would fully redeem the stake, plus dividends that have accrued from it. The redemption rate alone is 9.9%, which means Buffett is getting an effective interest payment of $297 million on the original $3 billion in financing.

On top of that are the dividends, which are hefty at 9% per year. This adds $810 million onto his return, which doesn't factor "an additional amount, if necessary, to produce an after-tax yield as if the dividends were paid by a U.S.-based company," according to a recent Berkshire regulatory filing.

On top of that, Buffett's investment vehicle still owns that RBI stake derived from the warrant. At the most recent closing stock price, that holding would be worth over $523 million, even after we net out the exercise price. [...]

Brooks Needs Runners Who Hate to Run

Within a few years of Weber taking over, Brooks became the best-selling brand at specialty stores. Then Fruit of the Loom Inc., which is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., bought the company in 2006. Brooks flew under Berkshire’s radar for a couple of years until Todd Combs, one of Warren Buffett’s investment managers, brought it to his attention. Combs is a triathlete; Ted Weschler, another top Berkshire investment manager, is a marathoner. Buffett may not have realized it, Combs said, but this random shoe company was doubling in size every three years.

Soon after, Buffett met with Weber, who explained his all-­running-only-running strategy. Buffett liked the idea of focusing on a niche market. “He thinks long-term,” Weber says of Buffett, who told him: “Whatever you do, just make the brand stronger.”

So that’s what Weber did. Buffett was so pleased by Brooks’s success that in 2012 he spun it off from Fruit of the Loom, which didn’t have footwear experience. As Berkshire holdings go, Brooks is small, accounting for a sliver of the $24 billion it made in 2016. But for Buffett, it appears to be a source of pride. [...]

Q&A with Lubrizol’s Eric R. Schnur

Q: There are numerous references in company literature to values handed down from its founders. What are those values?

A: Fundamentally, our corporate philosophy comes down to three things. It’s about people and how important they are. I talk to employees at all of our major locations and ask them about the company, its culture and what they would never want to change. The first answer always is our focus on people. They feel the company really cares about people. This is something I felt walking through the door that first day at the pilot plant. There is a focus on safety. You cannot care deeply about people and expect them to work in an unsafe environment. We operate chemical plants. Those can be unsafe environments if you don’t invest in them and have policies and procedures. The last is business and corporate ethics.. Never do anything illegal. When you have thousands of people around the world, that doesn’t mean everyone is acting perfectly every single moment of the day. But we are vigilant about it. We do things the right way. It isn’t just a slogan. We want to move faster and drive quicker decision making, all the things companies our size talk about. But the focus always is on people, ethics and safety. [...]

Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary to remove idle crude oil rail tankers from New York forest preserve after governor's objections

A Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary has decided to remove its idle crude oil rail tankers from a New York forest preserve after the state’s governor objected to their storage there.

Chicago-based Union Tank Car said Tuesday that all 65 cars it has in the Adirondack Forest in northeast New York will be removed by mid-January. [...]

Russell Brands announces layoffs

A total of 75 permanent employees of Russell Brands LLC were notified Friday that they would be laid off. [...] The reduction in force is expected to drop the number of people employed at what is now primarily a distribution center down to around 250 people. [...]

Just six years ago, Russell Brands still had 750 employees in Alexander City. Earlier this year when it was announced that the company would cease manufacturing of athletic team uniforms, company officials said it was unclear how the move would impact the estimated 500 Russell employees who were working in Alexander City at that time. [...]

Oriental Trading CEO who turned company into profitable part of Berkshire dies at 56

Sam Taylor, who guided Oriental Trading Co. from bankruptcy into one of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s local success stories, died more than a year after being diagnosed with a lethal form of brain cancer. He was 56. [...]

Taylor came to Omaha with his family — wife Stephanie and daughters Ashton, Celine and Mallory — in May 2008 to take over the troubled company, which had been saddled with high debt through a series of buyouts and refinancings. [...]

With the turnaround underway, in 2012 Taylor successfully pitched Oriental Trading to Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett, explaining how its La Vista distribution system, catalogs, online sales system and staff could become a profitable part of Berkshire. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/15/17

Buffett's About to Get $3 Billion Back From Burger King Owner

Burger King-owner Restaurant Brands International Inc. is scheduled to redeem $3 billion in preferred shares Tuesday from Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. The money helped the fast-food chain finance its 2014 purchase of Tim Hortons.

The redemption will take away a lucrative investment for Berkshire and add to Buffett’s arsenal for investments and takeovers. At the end of the third quarter, Buffett’s Omaha, Nebraska-based holding company had a record $109 billion in cash. [...]

After Decades of Hints, Buffett’s Heir May Now Be More Apparent

Keeping the successor’s identity a secret also gives the board more flexibility. Circumstances can change, after all, and probably have during the long period Berkshire’s board has been weighing its options. These days, however, most arrows are pointing toward one man. [...]

Abel has steadily expanded a utility holding company in Iowa into a colossus in the energy industry. It runs several power companies throughout North America and the U.K., interstate natural gas pipelines, and giant wind and solar farms. It’s a big part of Berkshire that stands to get only bigger, Buffett said in May, adding that it’s “hard to imagine a better-run operation.” [...]

Buffett's Fruit of the Loom Tries on Subscription Underwear

Warren Buffett’s Fruit of the Loom is joining the subscription craze.

Guys can now get their boxer briefs from the Berkshire Hathaway Inc.-owned brand through a new subscription service called Fruit to Your Door. Shoppers can buy a six-pack of skivvies, among other products, and have them re-ordered every six months at a 30 percent discount. The program, available for men’s and women’s garments in the U.S., can also be gifted. [...]

What's Geico Really Worth to Berkshire Hathaway?

Few success stories are as important as Geico, which has grown by leaps and bounds since Berkshire acquired it 1996. But as Buffett wrote in his 2010 letter to shareholders, Geico has never been written up to reflect its success and is carried at a mere $1.4 billion premium to its book value.

What would Geico be worth if Berkshire were willing to sell it? We can use a method Buffett laid out in his 2010 letter to shareholders to estimate its value. [...]

Warrren Buffett urged to take old oil tankers out of Adirondacks

An Adirondack conservation group is urging billionaire investor Warren Buffett to remove obsolete oil tankers now being stored indefinitely on a rail line in the Adirondacks.

Adirondack Council Executive Director William Janeway wrote last week to the Nebraska-based investor asking that rail cars owned by subsidiaries of Buffett's sprawling Berkshire Hathaway company be removed from the line.

Owned by Union Tank Car Co. and North American Tank Co., the graffiti-scarred cars are being stored in Warren and Essex counties on a line owned by a Chicago-based company. [...]

Warren Buffett scores a quick $230 million with DaVita deal

UnitedHealth is paying $4.9 billion for a division of DaVita, the kidney dialysis center operator that counts Berkshire as its biggest shareholder, with a 20 percent stake. The one-day paper profit to Berkshire is more than $231 million.

The deal is for DaVita Medical Group, which operates 300 clinics and a handful of outpatient surgical centers in six states. [...] The rest of DaVita will be left to focus on the kidney care business. [...]

Berkshire began investing in DaVita in 2011. The stock has been a favorite of Berkshire portfolio manager Ted Weschler, who has a personal stake in the medical services company of 2.2 million shares, according to FactSet.

But it hasn't always been a slam dunk. At the end of 2011, DaVita shares traded at about $38, rising to $75 by the end of 2014. But they are down 20 percent since then, closing on Tuesday at $60.93. [...]

Duracell Appoints Thom Lachman to CEO of the Duracell Company

Duracell and its parent company Berkshire Hathaway announced today that Thom Lachman has been promoted to CEO of the Duracell Company, Inc., effective January 1, 2018. Roberto (Bobby) Mendez will take over Lachman’s former role, being promoted to President of Duracell North America. [...]

Lachman joined Berkshire Hathaway as a member of Berkshire Hathaway’s Duracell Transition Team on November 1, 2015, and has served as Duracell’s President of North America since March 1, 2016. Before coming to Berkshire Hathaway, Thom gained over 30 years of experience with Procter & Gamble (P&G). His last role as President of P&G Canada was preceded by a role leading the North America integration of the Gillette acquisition. [...]

Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway’s Marmon to Retire in 2018

Frank Ptak, a longtime executive at one of the largest units of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said in an interview that he plans to retire at the end of 2018.

Mr. Ptak has overseen industrial conglomerate Marmon Holdings Inc. since 2006. He said his preferred successor is Angelo Pantaleo, the current chief executive of Duracell, another Berkshire business.

Earlier Thursday, Duracell said Mr. Pantaleo will become president and chief operating officer of Marmon on Jan. 1. He will also become Duracell’s chairman. [...]

Munich Re to take majority stake in aviation insurer

Munich Reinsurance Co. will hold a majority stake in Global Aerospace Underwriting Managers Ltd. after agreeing to buy an additional 11% of shares in the London-based aviation insurance provider.

Following the purchase from National Indemnity Co., a unit of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Munich Re will own 51% and National Indemnity will own 49%

Katy Perry drops in on Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett met another celebrity when Katy Perry came to town last week for a concert — or was it the other way around?

Her Instagram account showed the two chatting in Buffett’s office and noted that they talked about cryptocurrency. [...]

Our musicologist, Kevin Coffey, reports that at the concert, Perry told the Omaha crowd that she had had lunch with “your governor, Warren Buffett.” [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 3/22/16

Warren Buffett’s Compensation in 2015 (BRK Rumors)

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger both made $100k in salary last year, but Buffett's personal security detail counts as compensation too, bringing him up to $470k. CFO Marc Hamburg made $1.36 million; Berkshire Hathaway Energy CEO Greg Abel made $41 million. Berkshire only pays its board of directors between $2700-$7000.

Warren Buffet’s salary for remained unchanged at $100,000, the same level it has been at for more than a quarter century.

However total compensation has crept up 1% from the previous year due to increased costs associated with keeping Buffett safe. [...]

Warren Buffett remains in control of 19% of all of Berkshire Hathaway’s outstanding stocks and wields 33% of its voting power. Forbes reported on March 15, 2016 that Buffett is worth $66 billion. [...]

Warren Buffett On Investing, Bubbles, Crashes, And Everything In Between (Fool Singapore)

"[T]he only way you get a bubble is when basically a very high percentage of the population buys into some originally sound premise and –- it’s quite interesting how that develops –- originally sound premise that becomes distorted as time passes and people forget the original sound premise and start focusing solely on the price action."

Lots of local stories, which put together, point to a big expansion coming this year for Dairy Queen:

Dairy Queen franchise seeks to add nearly 100 locations this year, with up to 10 new locations in NH

Dairy Queen plans to expand in Spartanburg [SC] County

Dairy Queen plans Vermont expansion for 2016

Dairy Queen targets Amherst, Worcester in major 60-store Massachusetts expansion

Unhappy Teamsters talk strike again at NetJets (Columbus Dispatch)

Two months after NetJets pilots got a generous five-year deal after months of picketing and creating bad publicity for the private jet firm, labor unrest is starting to brew on a new front.

Teamsters members who work in areas such as fueling, catering and dispatching for NetJets are threatening "another serious labor dispute" for the company. [...]

MidAmerican Energy announces grants (Messenger News)

Sixty-five Iowa cities and community organizations are receiving grants totaling $205,000 through MidAmerican Energy's Trees Please! energy efficiency program. [...]

The program provides grants to communities to fund tree planting projects in public areas such as parks and roadways. Since 1998, MidAmerican Energy has awarded more than $3.6 million in funding.

Mobile app purchase propels GEICO to 14 million policies in force (Business Wire)

With the touch of a screen on his smartphone, Christopher Stevens made GEICO history, propelling the company to the 14 million policies-in-force milestone. The Hixson, Tenn., native purchased the record-breaking policy after buying a new car the day before Valentine's Day. [...]

Meet the winners of Warren Buffett's March Madness contest (Yahoo Finance)

"It’s been a heck of a weekend," says Kevin Wills, who works at insurance company USLI in Wayne, Pa., and found out Friday that he was a co-winner of the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) March Madness contest for employees.

Wills and Robert Keller, who works at Berkshire-owned Geico, will split $100,000. Both men had perfect brackets through the first 15 games of this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament, until Middle Tennessee State University, a 15-seed, toppled Michigan State, a 2-seed, on Friday night. In other words: Warren Buffett’s big contest didn’t even last two full days. [...]

Berkshire News Briefs - 3/1/16

CNBC transcript of Warren Buffett on 'Squawk Box' (CNBC)

I never know what markets are going to do. There's never been a time in my life when I know what markets are going to do over a long period of time. They're gonna go up. But in terms of what's going to happen in a day or a week or a month or a year, even, I never felt that I knew it then and I never felt it was important. I will say that in ten or 20 or 30 years, I think stocks will be a lot higher than they are now. [...]

Duracell leaves P&G fold (Cincinnati)

Duracell is no longer part of Procter & Gamble or one of its storied billion-dollar brands after the closing of the Cincinnati-based company's sale of the iconic battery brand.

P&G has closed on its previously announced sale of Duracell to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway. P&G invested $1.8 billion into the outgoing brand as it prepared to exit the business unit. In exchange, Berkshire Hathaway tendered 52 million P&G shares worth more than $4 billion back to the consumer products giant. [...]

California, Buffett-owned utilities promoting cooperation among western electrical grids (Chicago Tribune)

California has more renewable energy than it can handle.

Elsewhere in the United States, states with extra power hand it off to neighbors when they need it. That's not happening in the West, where cooperation among electrical grids has historically been an issue. The result: Individual providers can find themselves shutting down their extra power rather than sending it elsewhere. [...]

California and utilities owned by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc., including PacifiCorp and NV Energy Inc., are now on a mission to end that thinking as quickly as possible.

Warren Buffett Is Paying This Executive $41 million (Fortune)

The energy unit of Warren Buffett‘s Berkshire Hathaway on Monday said Gregory Abel, its chairman and chief executive, saw his compensation jump 48% last year to nearly $41 million, reflecting a large incentive award. [...]

Abel, 53, has led Berkshire Hathaway Energy since 2008, and expanded it through a series of acquisitions. Many investors and analysts believe Abel, who has taken on a greater public role at Berkshire, is a top candidate to eventually replace Buffett as Berkshire Hathaway’s chief executive.

Railroads’ freight volume decline continues (Omaha World-Herald)

Rail freight volumes for Union Pacific and BNSF Railway have continued to slump so far in 2016, after a disappointing 2015 that has led to job furloughs and sliced capital spending. [...]

At Texas-based BNSF, owned by Omaha’s Berkshire Hathaway, volumes are down 3 percent in the same period. Top decliners have been metallic ores, coal and crude oil. [...]

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has changed in S&P's eyes (CNBC)

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's is formally acknowledging what Warren Buffett watchers have known for years: Berkshire Hathaway has transformed itself from an insurance holding company to a full-fledged corporate conglomerate. [...]

Word of the shift accompanies S&P's announcement that it is no longer considering a possible one- or two-notch downgrade of Berkshire's credit rating.

Warren Buffett just announced a $1 million March Madness contest for Berkshire Hathaway employees (Business Insider)

Warren Buffett just announced a crazy new March Madness contest for Berkshire employees.

Speaking with CNBC's Becky Quick on Monday morning, Buffett announced that Berkshire Hathaway employees would be able to win $1 million a year for life if they could pick a perfect NCAA Tournament bracket up until the Sweet 16. [...]

12 humorous lines from Warren Buffett’s latest shareholder letter that will leave you chuckling (Bit-of-News)

“If you want to guarantee yourself a lifetime of misery, be sure to marry someone with the intent of changing their behavior.”

Here, Buffett is actually using a quote from his business partner Charlie Munger to demonstrate that he isn’t a micro-manager when it comes to subordinates. He puts capable managers in charge of his businesses and stays out of their way.

Berkshire News Briefs - 7/10/15

Warren Buffett Re-Examines Reinsurance (WSJ)

The obscure business of reinsurance has always been one of Warren Buffett’s favorite money makers, but a changing landscape has led his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to adjust its strategy. [...]

Berkshire is pivoting toward parts of the insurance industry it feels look more promising than reinsurance, putting the company in the unfamiliar role of upstart.

“What was a very lucrative business is no longer a very lucrative business going forward,” Ajit Jain, a longtime top lieutenant to Mr. Buffett and a potential candidate to succeed him as chief executive, said in an interview. Berkshire will pursue reinsurance deals when they make sense, he said. “But since the reinsurance business isn’t going to offer as many opportunities for the foreseeable future, we feel like we should go down the food chain.” [...]

The new focus is on commercial insurance through Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, and a new initiative called Berkshire Hathaway Direct, copying GEICO's strategy of using the internet to market insurance directly to small and midsized businesses.

Warren Buffett Will Celebrate July 4th With A New Stock: The Kraft Heinz Company (Forbes)

On Thursday, Heinz’s takeover of Kraft Foods closed. The new company will begin trading on the Nasdaq under ticker ‘KHC’ on Monday, July 6.

Ahead of the deal’s closing, Kraft Heinz announced that 3G executive Bernardo Hees will become CEO of the combined company, while Heinz CFO Paulo Basilio will assume the same role with the merged company. [...]

Kraft Heinz’s board will consist of eleven directors, including Berkshire’s Warren Buffett, Greg Abel and Tracy Britt Cool, and 3G Capital executives Jorge Paulo Lemann and Marcel Telles.

Buffett’s Kraft Heinz Bet Valued at $24 Billion in Debut (Bloomberg)

This makes Kraft Heinz BRK's second largest holding, after Wells Fargo ($26B).

Warren Buffett helped take over H.J. Heinz in 2013 and facilitated its combination with Kraft Foods Group Inc. this year. His prize: a stake of about $24 billion in the new company, which began trading Monday.

Kraft Heinz closed at $72.96 at 4 p.m. in New York trading. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns about 325 million shares, or roughly a quarter of the company, after investing approximately $9.5 billion over the transactions to acquire common stock.

Berkshire Hathaway’s MedPro Group to Acquire PLICO Insurance (BusinessWire)

PLICO, Inc. (PLICO), one of the Southwest’s premier healthcare liability insurers, the Oklahoma State Medical Association (OSMA), and Berkshire Hathaway’s MedPro Group (MedPro) today announced the signing of definitive agreements for the sale of PLICO to MedPro. The boards of each have approved OSMA’s sale to MedPro of 100% ownership of PLICO in an all-cash transaction, which is subject only to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter. [...]

Based in Oklahoma City, PLICO serves approximately 2200 healthcare providers in Oklahoma; it has annualized gross written premiums of about $30 million and had statutory surplus of over $60 million at year-end 2014. PLICO’s principal operations will remain in Oklahoma City, where it was founded in 1979.

Berkshire Hathaway's Forest River fined for safety reporting violations (Omaha World Herald)

A manufacturer owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to a civil penalty and stricter oversight for not reporting safety information properly, the U.S. Department of Transportation said Thursday.

Forest River Inc., based in Elkhart, Indiana, agreed to a $5 million cash penalty and an additional $30 million in “deferred” penalties that would be levied if it violates a 25-page safety enforcement agreement with the department.

The agreement cited reporting violations involving loose wiring on 726 camper trailers that could cause fires and a lack of fresh air exhaust vents in furnaces on 200 other campers that could cause fires or carbon monoxide exposure. The campers were manufactured last year.

Buffett Scores Cheapest Electricity Rate With Nevada Solar Farms (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Nevada utility has lined up what may be the cheapest electricity in the U.S., and it’s from a solar farm.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s NV Energy agreed to pay 3.87 cents a kilowatt-hour for power from a 100-megawatt project that First Solar Inc. is developing, according to a filing with regulators.

That’s a bargain. Last year the utility was paying 13.77 cents a kilowatt-hour for renewable energy. The rapid decline is a sign that solar energy is becoming a mainstream technology with fewer perceived risks. It’s also related to the 70 percent plunge in the price of panels since 2010, and the fact that the project will be built in Nevada, the third-sunniest state.

International Dairy Queen Opens Newest International Location in the United Arab Emirates (BusinessWire)

The Dairy Queen® system, part of Berkshire Hathaway, has officially re-launched in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the opening of a DQ Grill & Chill® restaurant. The UAE is now the 26th country outside the U.S. and Canada with a DQ® presence. [...] Bajco Gulf, LLC is scheduled to develop a minimum of 20 new locations across the territory over the next five years.

Warren Buffett makes $2.84bn donation to Gates Foundation and charities (The Guardian)

Warren Buffett has donated about $2.84bn of Berkshire Hathaway Inc stock to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and four family charities, as part of the billionaire’s plan to give away nearly all of his wealth.

The 10th annual donation, Buffett’s largest, comprised 20.64m Class “B” shares of Berkshire and increased Buffett’s total contributions to the charities to more than $21.5bn.

Berkshire News Briefs - 3/16/15

This week's post broke down clearly into BNSF and non-BNSF news, so I broke up the post accordingly.

BNSF News

Berkshire's railroad revamps service with billions, fewer cars (Reuters)

Stung by customer backlash over last winter's patchy service, Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF Railways invested billions in shoring up its operations. But in addition to hiring more than 7,000 new workers and spending $5.5 billion on improvements to its 32,500-mile network, the railway also has done something unexpected: it pulled thousands of rail cars off its lines. The strategy appears to have paid big dividends this winter, helping ease congestion on tracks and speed up traffic [...]

CN Rail, BNSF Tackle Accidents as Group Seeks Ban on Oil Trains (Bloomberg)

The accidents bring to four the number of oil train wrecks in North America in the past three weeks, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. The environment group is calling for a halt to transport of oil by rail, which has surged since 2009 with the boom in crude production from shale. [...] North American oil producers have increased their reliance on rail as new pipelines failed to keep pace with a surge of production from shale. The typical rail car carries about 700 barrels of oil, according to data posted on BNSF’s website. The number of oil carloads rose more than 40-fold from 2009 through 2013, when 435,560 carloads were shipped, and kept climbing last year to an estimated 500,000, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Oil refiners resisting BNSF's surcharge on tank cars (Lincoln Journal Star)

The nation's oil refiners are suing BNSF Railway for adding a $1,000 surcharge to crude oil shipments in standard tank cars, to force shippers to switch to safer jacketed cars that are not yet required by federal regulators and are not yet available, according to the lawsuit. [...]

Judge revives railroad collusion suit against Union Pacific, BNSF (Omaha World Herald)

A judge in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia ruled late last month that the 2011 suit by the Oxbow group of mining companies — owned by billionaire Bill Koch — can proceed after being dismissed in 2013. The original complaint was dismissed for failing to state sufficient facts. [...] “They allege that U.P. and BNSF engaged in anti-competitive conduct ... that harmed plaintiffs,” U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman wrote in the opinion. “In short, plaintiffs allege that defendants conspired to fix prices above competitive levels through a uniform fuel surcharge and allocate certain markets to each other, granting U.P. a monopoly in at least one region.” Texas-based BNSF said it will “aggressively defend itself” against Oxbow’s complaint.

Everything Else

Buffett Follows ‘Avarice’ Warning by Keeping $100,000 Salary (Bloomberg)

Buffett, 84, stuck with a $100,000 salary in 2014, as he has for decades, his Omaha, Nebraska-based company said in a regulatory filing Friday. On Feb. 28, in his annual letter, he said the next CEO needs to avoid being greedy. [...] The billionaire has also shown a willingness to provide Wall Street-sized compensation to reward growth at operating units such as insurers and the utility subsidiary. Greg Abel, the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, was paid $27.6 million in 2014, including an $11.5 million cash bonus and $12 million from an non-equity incentive plan. [...] Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg, the only executive whose pay is listed in the proxy other than Buffett or Munger, saw his salary rise about 9 percent to $1.23 million in 2014. [...]

Warren Buffett Just Predicted the Next 50 Years for Berkshire Hathaway (Fool)

Buffett said that the chance of permanent capital loss with Berkshire is the lowest among any single-company investment. But he added a caveat: If the company's valuation is high, say approaching two times book value (it's at about 1.5 times book value now, so not too far off), it could be years before investors realize a profit. In other words, Berkshire has never been, and will never be, a good "traders' stock." The company has one of the most shareholder-friendly business models in the world, but it is geared exclusively toward long-term investors. As a result, Buffett recommends that investors should look elsewhere for investment options if they plan to hold their shares for less than five years.

Berkshire Hathaway completes Van Tuyl acquisition (Automotive News)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has completed its purchase of the Van Tuyl Group, the largest dealership acquisition in industry history. All aspects of the sale were finalized Monday, and the company has been renamed Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, headquartered in Dallas. The new Berkshire Hathaway Automotive now is the fifth-largest dealership group in the U.S., based on 2013 new light-vehicle retail sales. It has more than $9 billion in annual revenue, the company says. [...] Jeff Rachor, who had been president of Van Tuyl Group, will be CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Automotive.

33 Amazing Numbers From Bershire Hathaway's Golden Anniversary Shareholder Letter (Fool)

$18.3 billion: Berkshire Hathaway's increase in net worth during 2014. That gain in book value is greater than the book value of more than four-fifths of the companies in the S&P 500. 9 1/2: Number of Berkshire-owned businesses that would be listed on the Fortune 500 if they were independent -- the "1/2" refers to H.J. Heinz, which Berkshire owns with 3G Capital. ("That leaves 490 1/2 fish in the sea. Our lines are out.")

Buffett's $1 billion NCAA bet goes bust (CNN Money)

Don't even think about winning $1 billion picking the perfect NCAA bracket this year. And it's not because the odds of winning are infinitesimal. But because the companies behind the contest are too busy suing each other to organize another one this year. [...] The squabbling started last year when a small sweepstakes company called SCA Promotions sued Yahoo for allegedly backing out of a deal to put on the perfect bracket contest. Yahoo counter sued, alleging that SCA spilled the beans when it went to Berkshire to buy insurance that would pay $1 billion in the unlikely event that someone won the contest. In February, Yahoo sent subpoenas to Berkshire seeking information about its dealings with SCA, including all communication between Buffett and SCA about the contest, according to court documents.

Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Report & Letter Roundup

The Berkshire Hathaway 2014 Annual Report and Warren Buffett's Letter to Shareholders was released today. This year's letter, celebrating the company's 50th anniversary of Buffett's ownership, also includes a special letter from Vice Chairman Charlie Munger.

• Buffett and Munger's Letters.
• The Annual Financial Report. This PDF also includes the letters, so if you download this one, you don't need the first link.

Don't have time to read the 148 page annual report? Here are some good articles I have found around the internet today that summarize and highlight.

Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger say their eventual departures won't slow Berkshire Hathaway (Omaha World Herald)

In an essay on the company’s past and future, Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett, 84, said it’s likely to keep growing but not as rapidly as in the past, and he said the company might pay its first dividend sometime in the next 10 or 20 years. Vice Chairman Charlie Munger, 91, writing directly to Berkshire shareholders for the first time, said that his and Buffett’s eventual departures won’t slow down the company and that Berkshire already has executives qualified to be CEO.

Warren Buffett vows never to spin off Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries (Financial Times)

Warren Buffett has vowed never to spin off any of Berkshire Hathaway’s subsidiaries, in a full-throated defence of the “sprawling conglomerate” he has assembled over the past 50 years. [...] “Berkshire is now a sprawling conglomerate, constantly trying to sprawl further,” he said.

Warren Buffett knows who next Berkshire CEO is (CNN Money)

"The board and I believe we now have the right person to succeed me as CEO -- a successor ready to assume the job the day after I die or step down," he wrote in his latest annual letter to investors. Buffett added that the next Berkshire CEO would be someone that already works at Berkshire and is "relatively young." And while Buffett chose to be coy, Berkshire's vice chairman and long-time Buffett friend Charlie Munger seemed to suggest that it's a two-man race to succeed Buffett. Munger, in his own remarks in Buffett's letter, specifically named Berkshire reinsurance head Ajit Jain and Berkshire Energy CEO Greg Abel as "proven performers who would probably be under-described as 'world-class.'"

If you want a summary of the actual financials reported, there's this one:

Berkshire Hathaway net falls, operating profit rises (Reuters)

Net income fell to $4.16 billion, or $2,529 per Class A share, from $4.99 billion, or $3,035 per share, a year earlier. Quarterly operating profit rose 5 percent to $3.96 billion, or $2,412 per share, from $3.78 billion, or $2,297 per share. [...] Book value per share, which Buffett considers a good measure of Berkshire's worth, rose 8.3 percent from a year earlier to $146,186. For all of 2014, profit rose 2 percent to $19.87 billion, or $12,092 per share, while operating profit rose 9 percent to $16.55 billion, or $10,071 per share.

And finally, a really long one where Wall Street Journal writers live-blogged as they read the letter this morning. It's almost shorter to just read the letter than read their notes. But some of their commentary is interesting:

Analysis: Warren Buffett’s Annual Berkshire Letter (WSJ MoneyBeat)

We’ve read everything through a few times now, and one thing about this year’s letter stands out above all else: Mr. Buffett isn’t writing solely for the people who will read the letter this weekend. He’s clearly hoping this document will be one Berkshire’s leaders will look back on for decades to come. Scattered throughout are instructions to the men and women who will oversee Berkshire after he’s gone, even if they’re not always couched that way. For example, when he writes on page 9 that underwriting profitability “is a religion” at Berkshire’s insurance units, it’s a reminder to guard against a slippage in standards in that part of the company. And when he writes on page 28 that Berkshire’s CEO and board will be very careful before using stock to fund a future acquisition, it’ll later serve as a warning for those executives if they ever consider such a maneuver. And lest the board forget, he says that for a Berkshire CEO, “character is crucial.” He also says that “neither ego nor avarice” should drive him to earn as much as other CEOs of big-name companies. Other parts of the letter use far loftier rhetoric to rally the troops and look to the future. Berkshire rests on “a rock-solid formation” of the company’s existing big operating units. “Looking ahead, Charlie and I see a world made to order for Berkshire,” he says. “Our ambitions have no finish line.”

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/24/14

Earnings announcement for BRK/B: Nov 07, 2014 (Nasdaq)

Warren Buffett Puts Wind in Berkshire’s Sails (WSJ)

Through a majority-owned subsidiary, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, Mr. Buffett plans to double the $15 billion already committed to renewable-energy projects through early this year, and he is on the hunt for more utility acquisitions. [...] The energy unit is key to Berkshire’s future—it generates more than 7% of the conglomerate’s earnings, and is likely to climb—while also providing Mr. Buffett a way to invest Berkshire’s ever-growing cash pile. [...] Another reason many Buffett watchers are paying attention: Berkshire Hathaway Energy is run by Greg Abel, a 52-year-old Canadian who is among the younger executives seen by analysts as possibly succeeding the 84-year-old billionaire as CEO.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire equity portfolio goes awry; loses $5 bn since June 30 (Economic Times)

Sharp drops in many of the stocks owned by Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway in recent weeks hit the sprawling conglomerate's equity portfolio hard. The loss on seven of those holdings alone totals more than $5 billion provided Berkshire's stakes have remained the same since June 30, the last date for which they were disclosed. In particular, Berkshire has been stung by large holdings in IBM and long-time Buffett favorite Coca-Cola, both of which tumbled after disappointing third-quarter results. His penchant for energy stocks hasn't helped either, given the damage done to the prices of energy assets by the slumping global oil price.

Warren Buffett sells more Tesco shares (The Guardian)

Berkshire Hathaway has further reduced its stake in Tesco in the wake of the admission by the investment group’s boss, Warren Buffett, that buying into the troubled supermarket group was a “huge mistake”. In a statement to the stock exchange, Tesco revealed that Berkshire Hathaway had reduced its holding on 13 October to less than 3% – one of the thresholds at which a company must inform the market.

Berkshire Hathaway: 20%+ Undervalued? DCF Calculation (Seeking Alpha)

The intrinsic value of BRK.B is calculated to be $166.94. This represents 22% upside from today's price. Zacks has recently upgraded Berkshire to 1 (Strong Buy) as analyst estimates have moved upwards. Berkshire is well diversified and is strongly equipped to handle adverse macroeconomic conditions. The company has returned an impressive 19.7% average growth in book value for the last 49 years.

Where in the World Is Warren Buffett? Everywhere (Bloomberg)

There's the Warren Buffett of the flavor industry. There's the Warren Buffett of “super-fancy hotels.” There are Buffetts of barges and of bass fishing, of Tampa, Thailand and Turkey. There's even a Warren Buffett of C-block, where a stock-picking, Buffett-quoting convicted murderer has been dubbed the Oracle of San Quentin. [...] while people around the world are anointed "The Warren Buffett of..." this and that, willy-nilly, the 84-year-old investor actually wants his personal brand to take a back seat to the Berkshire Hathaway's.

Berkshire News Briefs - 5/13/14

Greg Abel: The Next Oracle of Omaha? (Bloomberg)

For years, Abel worked in the shadow of his business partner, David Sokol, who was widely thought to be in the race until he resigned in 2011 amid a stock trading scandal. Abel is not in the shadows now. He led Berkshire’s second-biggest acquisition last year, paying $5.6 billion for Nevada’s largest electric utility, NV Energy. And he was named to the board of ketchup maker H.J. Heinz, which Berkshire took private with partners in a $23.3 billion deal in 2013.

NRG Energy Inc. and MidAmerican Energy Announce Completion of World's Largest Solar Farm (Fool)

Clocking in at 290 MW, the NRG Energy, and MidAmerican Energy Agua Caliente joint venture is a new record -- the largest fully operational solar photovoltaic facility in the world. [...] The Arizona solar facility spans 2,400 acres between Yuma and Phoenix, and is capable of powering 230,000 homes at peak capacity. As is most often the case with utility-scale solar projects, all electricity has already been sold to PG&E under a 25-year power-purchase agreement.

Berkshire to Buy SNC’s AltaLink in Buffett Energy Wager (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy unit agreed to buy SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.’s AltaLink for about $C3.2 billion ($2.9 billion) in cash to expand in electricity transmission in western Canada. The deal adds 280 substations and about 12,000 kilometers (7,500 miles) of transmission lines, according to a statement yesterday from the power unit at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire. [...] Founded in 2002, AltaLink owns more than half the transmission grid in the Canadian province of Alberta and serves 85 percent of its population. Net income for the unit was C$161.6 million on revenue of C$534 million last year, according to a regulatory filing. AltaLink said in a separate statement that it will operate under its current name within the Berkshire business and continue to be based in Calgary.

1 Warren Buffet Business Just Revealed How Utilities Can Unlock the Power of SolarCity (Fool)

Even on a good day when utility executives are in a chipper mood, they will probably still describe SolarCity as a "nuisance". The company is the most visible representation of the distributed solar movement, and for many utilities it is a disruption of the business model they have become accustomed to over many years. Several utilities have taken up opposition to distributed solar, but one of Warren Buffets recent acquisitions, NV Energy, is welcoming SolarCity in to Nevada with open arms -- but not for the reason you may think. Let's take a look at what this Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary is doing to go against the grain and explore why this may be happening.

10 Great Buffett Quotes From Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s Annual Meeting (Fool)

Habits are such a powerful force in everyone's life, including good financial habits. Digging yourself out of the holes that financial illiteracy can cause can take a lifetime. ... A big problem is adult financial literacy. It's harder to be smarter unless the schools intercede. A lot can be done on TV and the Internet, but it is really important to have good financial habits, and anything the school system can do will help.

It's Time to Break Up Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway: The Parts Are Worth More Than the Whole (Fool)

If Warren Buffett announced a program of spinning off and distributing most of his operating companies to shareholders, Berkshire stock would soar in value. As Buffett has noted, the fair value of Berkshire is much higher than it's book value. Spinning off the conglomerate's many subsidiaries would bring this value into the light of day.

1 Overlooked Secret to Warren Buffett's Phenomenal Success (Fool)

What's interesting when you study Buffett's portfolio is while he may not like paying dividends, he sure likes receiving them. Buffett's eight largest holdings all together pay Berkshire more than $1.8 Billion in dividends. [...] Scale matters in total returns, IBM's share price has not done all that much in the short time Berkshire has owned its stake, but I think $258 million (and growing) yearly dividend income gives at least some comfort back in Omaha. Berkshire earns over $1 Billion each year from Wells Fargo and Coca Cola alone. That is almost $3m each day. Dividends add life to your portfolio.

Heinz Factory Severance Cost Rises to $93 Million (Bloomberg)

HJ Heinz Co., the ketchup maker taken private by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and 3G Capital, projected severance cost from factory closures will climb to $93 million as the company shutters two European plants. The new figure was disclosed in a first-quarter regulatory filing today and compares with the $63 million sum listed in the annual report for 2013. Heinz said in February that it was planning shutdowns in Seesen, Germany, and Turnhout, Belgium, after last year announcing closures in Florence, South Carolina; Pocatello, Idaho; and Leamington, Ontario.

EcoWater Systems expands green product portfolio (Water Technology)

EcoWater Systems®, a Marmon Water/Berkshire Hathaway Company, has announced the expansion of its commercial business product line through the acquisition of the Controlled Hydrodynamic Cavitation (CHC) technology and operations from VRTX Technologies of Schertz, Texas, according to a press release. CHC is a proven environmentally-friendly water treatment technology used in HVAC, process cooling and refrigeration systems to effectively control scale, biological growth and corrosion without the use of chemicals, the release reported. Adding CHC technology to a cooling tower saves energy, reduces water consumption and maintenance costs and minimizes or eliminates sewer discharge volume, noted the release.

Dairy Queen CEO: 'People Need To Be Paid A Fair Wage' (HuffPost)

“People need to be paid a fair wage,” Dairy Queen CEO John Gainor told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. [...] And in a clue to his own thinking about the controversy, Gainor told CNN that low wages made it hard to keep good employees. “It takes a lot of time to train people,” he said, speaking at a convention for Dairy Queen parent company Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate owned by Warren Buffett. “You want to make sure you’re paying a very good wage, otherwise you have a lot of turnover.”

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/23/13

Buffett Nets Cool $44 Million in Quiet Media General Deal (MoneyNews)

The merger of Media General and New Young Broadcasting led to a benefit for Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway [...] the story begins with Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway purchasing all of Media General's newspapers, except the Tampa Tribune, in May 2012. Berkshire Hathaway loaned Media General $445 million "to refinance a crushing debt load coming due," Poynter stated. The initial interest rate was 10.5 percent. Berkshire Hathaway got penny-a-share warrants to acquire 19.9 percent of the company. A benefit of the merger: Media General said last week it will be able to refinance its debt "at a considerable savings of interest expense." Poynter reported that Berkshire Hathaway will reportedly be paid a $44 million premium as part of the refinancing. Media General’s shares skyrocketed more than 30 percent the day the merger with New Young Broadcasting was announced, and have roughly doubled in value since Buffett’s investment just over a year ago.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Jumps Over Allstate as No. 2 Insurer (Property Casualty 360)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, led by the group’s auto-insurance subsidiary Geico, leapt over Allstate in 2012 to become the second-largest P&C insurance group based on net premiums written [NPW], according to data from SNL Financial. [...] The Berkshire group saw a 2012 increase in NPW of 12.1 percent—the largest such growth in the Top 20 P&C insurance groups. Berkshire's NPW was about $27.25 billion. Allstate slipped to No. 3, with NPW of about $25.58 billion, which is still a 1.4 percent increase over 2011. State Farm by leaps and bounds retained its title as the largest P&C group in 2012, with nearly $53 billion in NPW.

MidAmerican to issue $700 million in bonds to fund Solar Star projects (Clean Energy Authority)

MidAmerican Solar, a subsidiary of Warren Buffet-controlled Berkshire Hathaway’s Mid-American Energy Holdings Co. is planning to issue $700 million in secured senior notes to support the $2.7 billion Solar Star project, which was formerly known as the Antelope Valley Solar Projects. The bonds, beings issued by Solar Star Funding, LLC, will support construction of the Solar Star projects, which MidAmerican bought from SunPower in January 2013. SunPower is currently building the Solar Star projects, which, when completed in October 2015, will consist of 597 megawatts of AC electric generation. Once complete SunPower will provide ongoing operations and maintenance of the projects, which are co-located in Kern and Los Angeles Counties, Calif.

An Interview with Whitney Tilson (Fool Video with Transcript)

[Whitney Tilson:] The way I value Berkshire is only secondarily as a multiple of book value, because book value is such an incorrect way to look at so many of Berkshire's holdings. Something like GEICO is being carried at book, but it's worth a significant premium to book. [...]

But again, this is a good example of the "I missed it" phenomenon. I think a lot of people look at Berkshire today and just say, "The A shares have run from closer to $100,000 a share to over $160,000 a share in not much more than a year. I've missed it." Well, people have been saying "I missed it" on Berkshire...When it ran from $100 to $1000, they said "I missed it," and then $1000 to $10,000, then $10,000 to $100,000. Each time, they didn't miss it. They just had to wash that thought from their brains, and evaluate it. I value Berkshire, just taking the cash and investments per share, as a little over $120,000 a share. Then I just put an eight multiple on the pre-tax earnings of the operating businesses, about $9000 a share. You take $9000 a share of earnings, times an eight multiple is $72,000 per A share. Add the cash bonds and investments of $120,000 per share, and you get a bit over $190,000 per share of intrinsic value.

Buffett: Tracy Britt isn't Berkshire CEO successor (Omaha World-Herald)

Last week's item following up on a Wall Street Journal profile of Warren Buffett's financial assistant Tracy Britt stretched toward the question of whether she might, someday, succeed him as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Seemed like the logical question to explore, as others have done in print and online. But not exactly, Buffett said in an email (relayed from his computer-less office through his assistant, Debbie Bosanek). [...] Britt's office is a ways down the hall, not next to his, as the Journal article said. The office sequence, in footage away from Buffett's corner office, is Bosanek, Todd Combs, Britt and Ted Weschler. Combs and Weschler manage some of Berkshire's investments.

Berkshire’s Abel, Britt Join Heinz Board After Swann Leaves (Bloomberg Businesweek)

Gregory Abel and Tracy Britt, two of Warren Buffett’s deputies who have been adding responsibilities at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (A), were selected by the billionaire to join him as directors of HJ Heinz Co. [...] They replaced directors including Lynn Swann, the former wide receiver for the National Football League’s Pittsburgh Steelers. [...] Britt is chairman of at least two Berkshire units that replaced their CEOs last year, and Abel has been building the company’s energy business through acquisitions.

iCORE Global Partners with CORT Business Services (National Real Estate Investor)

iCORE Global, a full-service commercial real estate provider, has formed a strategic partnership with CORT Business Services, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. iCORE has been providing commercial real estate services in over 267 major markets worldwide for the past 28 years. Now, iCORE will be able to provide clients with furniture solutions. [...] "With CORT currently servicing over 80 percent of the top Fortune 500 companies, there’s already a significant overlap in our customer base," iCORE Global CEO and Managing Director Samantha Mueting said in a statement.

Berkshire Hires CNA's Fortin for New Insurance Unit (WSJ)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Wednesday it hired CNA Financial Corp. executive Dan Fortin to work for a new insurance unit the company launched in April. Mr. Fortin will serve as senior vice president for executive and professional lines, Berkshire said in a statement. He was previously senior vice president at CNA Specialty and served as interim CEO of CNA Europe in 2009. Mr. Fortin joins a growing group of underwriters moving to Berkshire after several top managers from American International Group Inc. (AIG) departed to set up the new unit in late April. The new unit, called Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, is based in Boston and headed by former AIG executive Peter Eastwood.

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices gets social (Inman News)

The new Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices real estate franchise has rolled out Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. The move comes in advance of broad adoption of the new brand by many Prudential Real Estate and Real Living brands beginning in the third and fourth quarters of this year.