Berkshire News Briefs - 7/7/18

Warren Buffett is big winner after US bank stress tests

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway is poised to net about $1.7bn in dividends after Wells Fargo and other banks in which he is a shareholder sailed through the Federal Reserve’s annual stress tests. [...]

Berkshire is one of the biggest single investors in the financial sector globally. It is the number one shareholder in lenders including Wells, Bank of America and American Express, and has sizeable stakes in several others. [...]

Amazon-Berkshire-JPMorgan Health Venture Takes Aim at Middlemen

The health venture established by Amazon.com Inc., Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. will take aim at intermediaries in the health-care system as a part of a broad effort to reduce wasteful spending, the venture’s newly named chief executive officer said.

The still-unnamed business will initially seek to develop ways to improve care for the more than 1 million individuals who get health insurance from the three firms. Over time, the venture will make those innovations available freely to other companies, meaning that if it’s successful, its effects could be felt more broadly among the more than 150 million people in the U.S. who get their health insurance through work. [...]

Warren Buffett hands reins of World-Herald, other Berkshire Hathaway newspapers to Iowa firm Lee Enterprises

As the newspaper industry navigates a decline in print circulation and advertising revenue, hometown owner Warren Buffett is assigning the fate of his own BH Media Group to an out-of-town company.

Lee Enterprises of Davenport, Iowa, will manage The World-Herald and the 29 other Berkshire Hathaway-owned daily newspapers, the companies announced Tuesday in a five-year agreement that could bring Lee $50 million over five years.

Berkshire Hathaway's Acquisitive Clayton Lands Arbor Homes

After an 18-month courtship, Maryville, Tenn-based Clayton Properties Group closed on the acquisition of Indianapolis' No. 1-ranked home building firm, Arbor Homes, adding to its 8-state map a 24-year old private builder whose signature stock in trade is a rarity these days: the profitable below-$200,000 site-built home.

The 7th regional site-build jewel in the Clayton crown adds to its suddenly hefty portfolio of regional firms--on pace to deliver as many as 4,500 homes in 2018--gives the Berkshire Hathaway unit fresh headway and a platform to launch further inroads in its goal to provide people priced out of many housing markets with an attainable path to homeownership. [...]

BNSF estimates 230,000 gallons of oil spilled in NW Iowa

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds visited Saturday to authorities assigned to clean up 230,000 gallons of oil that spilled Friday morning into the Little Rock River near Doon in northwest Iowa.

The spill was caused by a derailed BNSF train. [...]

The company reported later Saturday that about 100,000 gallons of the 230,000 gallons of spilled oil had been contained, and that oil would be removed from the immediate area with oil-water separators. [...]

How Warren Buffett and Bill Gates ended up walking into an Old Market store

Warren Buffett and Bill Gates didn’t just wander into an Old Market nostalgia store the day after the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in May, with “Little Brown Jug” playing in the background.

No, some of Gates’ staffers had been to Omaha in the past and were fascinated by Larry Richling’s Fairmont Antiques & Mercantile store/Hollywood Candy, 1209 Jackson St., and its combination of candy store, memorabilia collections, soda fountain and more.

The Gates group decided that it would be just the place for an episode of Gates’ video blog, showing the two friends having a good ‘ol time in Omaha. [...]

Berkshire Investment News - 5/2/13

Investors earn handsome paychecks by handling Buffett's business (Omaha World Herald)

Todd Combs, 42, and Ted Weschler, 51, are expected to receive bonuses exceeding $50 million each based on their investment results in 2012, evidence that they and Buffett made the right choices when they connected. Combs and Weschler discussed how they came to work for Buffett in interviews for a new World-Herald book, “The Oracle & Omaha: How Warren Buffett and His Hometown Shaped Each Other.”

Berkshire's Weschler, Combs pay tribute to 'terrific town' (Omaha World Herald)

Todd Combs could do his job from almost anywhere. Hired in 2010 as an investment manager to back up Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Combs brought his wife, April, to Omaha to see whether they should move from Connecticut. They made the move. [...] Ted Weschler is a commuter to Omaha, not a full-time resident, for his job as a money manager for Warren Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. “Omaha is a terrific town,” Weschler said. [...] But Weschler still has his office above a bookstore in Charlottesville, Va. He and his wife, Sheila, and daughters live on a 104-acre farm where they moved into the home of their dreams in 2011. And he also works in Omaha several days most weeks [...]

Warren Buffett checks in on his Coke investment (USA Today)

Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway's CEO and largest shareholder, made a surprise appearance at Coca-Cola's annual meeting on April 24, 2013. The billionaire investor gave an on-stage interview with Muhtar Kent, chief executive officer of Coca-Cola (KO). Buffett advised Kent to stay ahead of the competition by studying the history of what made other companies fail. "I like to study failure. We want to see what has caused businesses to go bad, and the biggest thing that kills them is complacency," Buffett said at the Atlanta-based meeting.

Warren Buffett-Backed Chinese Automaker BYD Says Profit Quadrupled In 1st Qtr (Forbes)

BYD, a Chinese manufacturer of autos, batteries and phone components 10% owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, said yesterday evening net profit quadrupled to 112.4 million yuan, or $18.1 million, in the first three months of the year as sales recovered from a decline last year.

BYD to Produce Electric Buses in California in U.S. Push (Bloomberg)

BYD Co., the Chinese automaker partially owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., is preparing to make electric buses in California as the company seeks to bolster its visibility in the U.S. The company will open facilities in Lancaster, California, on May 1 that will assemble electric buses, Marketing Director Sherry Li said. BYD’s K9, which is 12 meters (39 feet) long, can run 155 miles (249 kilometers) when fully charged, which can take as little as three hours, according to the company.

Lee Enterprises refinances Pulitzer Notes with Berkshire Hathaway (WSJ)

Lee Enterprises, Incorporated, a major provider of local news, information and advertising in 50 markets, has reached agreement with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to refinance $94 million of long-term debt known as the Pulitzer Notes. [...] "We very much welcome Berkshire Hathaway's continued investment in Lee, which is now represented in all elements of our capital structure," said Mary Junck, Lee chairman and chief executive officer. "We and Berkshire share a strong belief in the enduring value of our business and the opportunities for growth in local markets such as ours. This financing will reduce our interest costs and allow the company to repay debt at an even faster pace." Warren E. Buffett, chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway, said: "Lee fits our definition of locally focused newspapers serving indispensable information in markets with a deep sense of community. We view a larger stake in Lee as a good investment for Berkshire Hathaway shareholders."

Buffett's first tweet: 'Warren is in the house' (The Telegraph)

America's most famous investor had amassed 60,000 followers less than an hour after opening his account on Thursday afternoon. He passed 100,000 followers within two hours.[...]

Although it remains to be seen how often Mr Buffett will tweet, his pithy wisecracks and homespun investment advice could prove well suited to the 140 character messages that Twitter allows.

Follow @WarrenBuffett on Twitter.