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 - 10/31/14

Halloween Edition! (Make your own spooky sounds for ambiance while you read this.)

The Pampered Chef Names Tracy Britt Cool Chief Executive Officer (BusinessWire)

The Pampered Chef, Ltd., a Berkshire Hathaway company, today announced that it has appointed Tracy Britt Cool as Chief Executive Officer, effective November 1, 2014. Cool, 30, has been with Berkshire Hathaway for five years, serving as Financial Assistant to the Chairman. In this role, her responsibilities included conducting investment research, analyzing acquisition opportunities, and advising Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries in various industries. Cool will continue to serve as chairman of Berkshire Hathaway companies Benjamin Moore, Larson-Juhl, and Oriental Trading Company, and will remain on the board of the H.J. Heinz Company.

The Education of Warren Buffett’s protégé (Fortune)

Tracy Britt Cool has spent the last five years getting schooled on spotting talent and running a business. Now she’s the newest female CEO in the Berkshire portfolio. [...] Buffett’s giving Cool, now 30, her first big operating role. On Monday, the Oracle of Omaha announced that Cool will become the CEO of Pampered Chef on November 1, replacing founder and current chief Doris Christopher, a home economics teacher who started the Pampered Chef in 1980 by selling kitchen tools from her basement. Christopher will remain at the company as chairman.

Warren Buffett's newspaper division sells direct mail marketer (Omaha World-Herald)

Warren Buffett’s newspaper division has sold its direct mail marketing company. BH Media Group of Omaha sold World Marketing Inc. to Milwaukee businessman Robert M. Kraft and an investment group for an undisclosed amount. [...] World Marketing’s corporate headquarters and administrative operations in La Vista are moving to Milwaukee. Offices and production facilities will remain in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas and St. Louis. Altogether, the company has 450 employees. World Marketing processes more than 1 billion pieces of mail a year for clients including American Airlines, Kraft Foods, Bristol-Meyers Squibb and Blue Cross Blue Shield.[...]

Buffett’s NetJets China Growth Slowed by Austerity Moves (Bloomberg)

NetJets Inc., the aviation unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will need about five years to make self-sustaining the chartered jet business it began last month in China, as government officials shun private jets. The Chinese Communist Party’s austerity measures are dragging on growth for private aviation, which also faces an economic slowdown and a lack of general aviation airports, said Robert Molsbergen, president of NetJets’ executive jet management unit. “Typically a lot of the flying in China was done by Chinese officials and that basically is almost all gone,” Molsbergen said [...]

Berkshire Hathaway Names Mary Rhinehart Chairman of Johns Manville (BusinessWire)

(Not surprising, since she was already CEO and President, which is why Tracy Britt Cool gets the top headline this week while this one is tucked in the middle.)

Johns Manville (JM), a Berkshire Hathaway company and global building products manufacturer, today announced that Mary Rhinehart has been named Chairman of the company. Rhinehart was appointed as JM President and Chief Executive Officer in November 2012. [...] Rhinehart has held a variety of roles during her 35-year career, including as general manager of several Johns Manville business units. Before being named CEO, she was Chief Financial Officer, providing her breadth of experience in all financial operations of the company, including M&A. From human resources to supply chain management, Rhinehart’s wide range of responsibilities have also encompassed global business management and strategic business development.

Berkshire’s BNSF to Add Surcharge on Older Oil Tank Cars (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co. plans to apply a $1,000 surcharge for each older crude tank car, denting profits for shale drillers in North Dakota. The railroad owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is the first major U.S. operator using fees to encourage shippers to scrap the puncture-prone older cars. The charge, which goes into effect Jan. 1, would add about $1.50 a barrel to the cost of transporting oil on them.

Berkshire Hathaway's QSR Chain Dairy Queen Seeks Partner For India Foray (DealCurry)

(QSR = "Quick Service Restaurant")

US based ice cream and QSR chain, Dairy Queen is looking for a partner to foray into the Indian QSR market. The unit of Berkshire Hathaway’s is planning to open its burger chain in the country. The company was said to be in talks with Reliance Retail Ltd. for launching its dairy business in the country, however the deal did not consummate.

50 Warren Buffett Quotes That Will Make You a Better Investor (Fool)

Free e-Book (PDF) from the Motley Fool.

Warren Buffett's success is inspiring. The fact that his ascent has not been successfully replicated is confounding. His nearly 20% annualized returns may go uncontested in the investing hall of fame. What's more, his disarmingly simple philosophy has been freely shared for others to mimic. The pages of this book seek to explain the very best of Buffett's advice.

Berkshire News Briefs - 4/14/14

A group of MBA students from Western University of Canada's Ivey Business School recently traveled to Omaha to meet Warren Buffett, and were nice enough to publish their notes on-line. There are many interesting business and non-business questions and answers. Here's an excerpt of one of the non-business ones:

Question # 8: How would you rate your own success on a scale of 1-10? Answer # 8: I don't believe I'm very different from others. I still eat the same food, have a good time when I go out with friends, just like others, the only difference is I travel a little better now. I take my jet when I travel. Success for me is doing what you love and are passionate about and as long as you are doing what you like you'll stand out and outperform. If I have to rate myself I'll always believe I'm a 10. I feel that the way the rich often show off their wealth as a form of "elephant bumping". Buying another house would only be an inconvenience, I’d feel obligated to stay in it instead of my current home which is quite comfortable. For example, I don’t like yachts. They only offer the opportunity to do things with greater difficulty at sea, where I feel trapped, that I could have easily done on land (at the Y) for a fraction of the cost. Ultimately, money is not the ultimate measure of success, but rather, it is how many loved ones you have around you.

Toombs nails a billion for MiTek (St. Louis Business Journal)

(This is from 2012, but I saw it this week, and I found it interesting)

As important as the Berkshire purchase was, even more critical to MiTek’s growth was a seed planted in 1990. That’s when the company, at the recommendation of Dave McQuinn, a young MiTek software developer, bought a new software called Microsoft Windows and became an early beta site. [...] With MiTek’s proprietary software, called Sapphire and developed at a cost of more than $100 million, builders who work with MiTek’s customers get three-dimensional computerized structural drawings that detail every part - all MiTek parts, of course - needed to build a structure at the minimum cost. “We sell them everything except the lumber, delivery trucks and forklifts,” Manenti said. [...] Software as sophisticated as Sapphire provides what Buffett calls a moat, a protection against potential competitors. “I don’t care how much you spend on software. You can’t do it in a year,” said McQuinn, 57, now the company’s vice president of software development. “Software takes time, and we have a 10-year head start. We have 80 engineers adding code to this software right now.” Currently MiTek is putting the software into mobile technology.

BNSF Sees Bakken-Area Rail Tie-Up Lasting Until Year-End (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railway Co., the carrier owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will need the rest of 2014 to untangle train tie-ups in the corridor that serves North Dakota’s Bakken shale region. A system-wide traffic jam, caused by surging grain and crude-oil volumes coupled with harsh weather, is being resolved more quickly on the southern lines linking Chicago and Los Angeles, Chief Executive Officer Carl Ice said yesterday [...] Ice’s forecast underscored the scope of the recovery effort for U.S. railroads after winter storms and rising cargo shipments disrupted operations. BNSF sent 300 additional crew members to its northern region and plans to add 500 locomotives and 5,000 railcars this year to help ease the snarls, Ice said.

Warren Buffett-investee Lubrizol to set up $50 mn CPVC compounding plant in Gujarat (Business Standard)

In what will be Warren Buffett's first investment in Gujarat [India], the Lubrizol Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Thursday announced setting up of a chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) compounding plant in Dahej. To be set up at an investment of over $ 50 million (Rs 300 crore roughly), the upcoming plant is part of the company's previously announced $400 million global expansion of its resin and compounding manufacturing capacity. What's more, according to senior Lubrizol officials, the company is also exploring possibilities of setting up a CPVC resin manufacturing plant in India. "Many of the raw materials required for Lubrizol's specialty chemical product portfolio are produced in GIDC. Hence, Dahej makes sense due to raw material availability and proximity to South Asia, the Middle East and East Africa markets. [...]" said Eric Schnur, president of Lubrizol Advanced Materials and corporate vice president of Lubrizol Corporation.

Berkshire Hathaway Company Providing Private Jets to Chinese Market (Global Herald)

The business structure of Chinese companies is never simple. China generally demands that foreign companies do business by setting up joint ventures with domestic companies.

A new Berkshire Hathaway company, NetJets, is making the final preparations to launch a private jet service in China. The company has announced that it is awaiting final government approval for an operating certificate, which is expected to be granted in mid-2014. [...] NetJets Business Aviation Limited is part of a joint venture with NetJets Inc.; Hony Jinsi Investment Management (Beijing) Ltd, a subsidiary of Hony Capital, a leading private equity firm of China; and Fung Investments, part of the private investment arm of the families of Dr. Victor Fung and Dr. William Fung, the controlling shareholders of the Li & Fung group of companies.

Lessons From Rebranding a Berkshire Hathaway Consumer Business (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Companies spend an enormous amount of time and money creating a new brand, but when it comes time to launch, they often miss deadlines, communicate poorly with everyone involved, and fail to coordinate the multitude of moving parts. Opportunities are lost to delay, and worse, the company’s image is tarnished. [...] That was the challenge creating Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, a new real estate franchise formed when Berkshire Hathaway’s real estate affiliate acquired a majority interest in the Prudential Real Estate network. The Prudential affiliates were free to join the new organization or go elsewhere when their existing contracts expired. In addition, we were acutely aware that poor execution might tarnish the Berkshire Hathaway name, which the company has rarely conferred on consumer businesses.

Berkshire Hathaway sees 38.6% growth in excess and surplus lines in 2013 (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.'s 2013 U.S. excess and surplus lines premiums grew by 38.6% over 2012 to $560.9 million, according to an analysis released by financial information firm SNL Financial L.C. on Monday. Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL said in its report that Berkshire's premium growth represents the largest percentage growth of the top 30 E&S insurers, moving it up five spaces in its ranking to become the 13th-largest E&S writer in the country, and was “well above” the 7.6% increase for the U.S. property/casualty industry as a whole.

Gov. Perry, Warren Buffett attend Katy GEICO ribbon-cutting; 357 new employees added (The Rancher)

Katy is a western suburb of Houston, TX.

Along with Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, GEICO announced Wednesday, April 3, that its Katy claims office has already added 357 new employees towards the goal of 1,000 jobs by 2017. The count is very close to meeting GEICO Chairman Tony Nicely’s 2015 goal of 400 associates.

Buffett Will Steer Investors to Airbnb to Avoid Price-Gouging by Omaha Hotels (WSJ MoneyBeat)

The billionaire investor is planning to mention the website at Berkshire Hathaway Inc.BRKB +0.39%’s upcoming annual shareholders’ meeting on May 3 as a low-cost alternative for shareholders who don’t want to pay the jacked-up rates that Omaha hotels charge while the gathering is taking place every year. [...] According to a recent article in the Berkshire-owned Omaha World-Herald, Mr. Buffett even considered a suggestion by some shareholders to move the meeting to Dallas, a bigger city. However, he was reluctant to leave his beloved Omaha. Instead, he has assigned his financial assistant Tracy Britt Cool to liaise with Airbnb.

Berkshire to Celebrate Cinco de Mayo With Fiesta Ducks (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will sell rubber ducks of Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charles Munger wearing Mexican-themed outfits at the company’s annual meeting, which falls two days before Cinco de Mayo. The “fiesta ducks” sport sombreros, multicolored ponchos and -- in Buffett’s case -- a maraca, according to an advertisement in the visitor’s guide to the May 3 event, which will be held at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska. The souvenirs will be sold by Berkshire’s Oriental Trading party-supply business for $5 a pair. Last year, the unit sold rubber ducks of the executives in business suits.

Not going to the annual meeting? You can buy last year's Buffett & Munger business suit ducks on Oriental Trading's website. $3 for the ducks, but $7 for the shipping? Bah. Amazon Prime has spoiled me.

Oriental Trading will also be selling a Berkshire Hathaway-themed Quirkle game at the annual meeting, but that doesn't make as good of a headline.

Berkshire News Briefs - 3/10/14

Several members of the Berkshire Hathaway Leadership team went on CNBC Monday morning. Warren Buffett, Ted Weschler, Todd Combs, and Tracy Britt Cool were all there. CNBC posted the transcript in this PDF. There's some good info in there, especially in the second half when they start talking to Ted and Todd. I like this bit, in reference to my reading backlog...

BECKY QUICK: [...] We are here in Omaha because-- Berkshire Hathaway's annual letter-- Warren Buffett's annual letter to the shareholders went out on Saturday morning. And, Warren, we've spent some time digesting-- a large annual letter.

WARREN BUFFETT: I get paid by the word.

25 Must-Read Quotes from Warren Buffett's Letter to Shareholders (Fool)

"Forming macro opinions or listening to the macro or market predictions of others is a waste of time. Indeed, it is dangerous because it may blur your vision of the facts that are truly important. (When I hear TV commentators glibly opine on what the market will do next, I am reminded of Mickey Mantle's scathing comment: "You don't know how easy this game is until you get into that broadcasting booth.")

Berkshire Hathaway buys AA Party Rentals (The Herald of Everett WA)

I do so love these little tuck-in acquisitions.

AA Party Rentals with locations in Mountlake Terrace and Tacoma was acquired by nationwide events company CORT in a deal anounced Thursday. AA Party Rentals has been providing rental equipment and services in the greater Seattle and Tacoma markets for more than 40 years. [...] CORT is a Berkshire Hathaway company.

Buffett’s Berkshire Reaches $300 Billion Market Cap (WSJ)

Warren Buffett didn’t grow Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s net worth faster than gains in the S&P 500 index over the last five years, but the gigantic conglomerate recently crossed another milestone: passing the $300 billion mark in market capitalization for the first time. [...] Berkshire is already among the top 10 largest U.S. companies by market capitalization, and in recent years, has made the top-five list often. At $300 billion, its position among America’s most-valuable companies doesn’t change much. On Friday afternoon, Apple topped the list with $475 billion; followed by Google with $409 billion, Exxon Mobil close on its heels with $405 billion; Microsoft at fourth place, and ahead of Berkshire, at $316 billion.

The Best Warren Buffett Coverage You Haven't Read (Fool)

A link to more links!

For value investing disciples around the world, the annual release of the Berkshire Hathaway Letter to Shareholders is an interesting mix of fanaticism, jubilation, conversation, and conjecture. For those of us who just can't get enough, here are three reads you probably haven't seen that are interesting and uniquely insightful into the Oracle of Omaha's mind.

Here's Why Warren Buffett Is Betting Big on Renewable Energy (Fool)

Buffett's success is also his ability to acknowledge that sometimes things do change and that new competitive advantages can and must be built. MidAmerican Energy has been doing just that for the past nine years, working with companies like Siemens, SunPower, and Vestas to add renewable energy to its mix in a big way. Renewables are becoming a huge -- and growing -- part of Berkshire's competitive advantage at MidAmerican.

Brokerages to Join the New Real Estate Network During 2014's Second and Third Quarters (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, the new real estate brokerage network operated by HSF Affiliates LLC, today announced the signing of 22 additional affiliates to the network. Several signees come from Prudential Real Estate’s Gibraltar Circle of Top 50 brokerages based on overall production. Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices now accounts for more than 26,000 agents and 700 offices in 33 states since it began transitioning affiliates in September.

Canada Tomato Law Saves Former Heinz Plant From Buffett Closing (MoneyNews)

A bit unfair to call this a "Buffett Closing"...

Canada’s insistence that tomato juice be extracted from “sound, ripe, whole” tomatoes instead of paste — a higher standard than in the U.S. — has partially saved an H.J. Heinz Co. plant marked for closing by Warren Buffett’s private-equity partner. A group of Ontario investors announced last week they plan to run the century-old plant and take over producing and distributing tomato juice for Heinz in the Canadian market. The move spared 250 of the 740 workers slated to lose their jobs in Leamington, Ontario, widely known as the tomato capital of Canada.

Berkshire spends $77 million to add to DaVita stake (NASDAQ)

Berkshire Hathaway is still buying up shares of DaVita. Most recently, Warren Buffett's firm bought 1,159,858 shares of the company's common stock on Feb. 24 for $66.58 per share. All told, Berkshire paid $77,679,440 to increase its holdings by 3.2%.

Berkshire News Briefs - 2/28/14

Berkshire Seen Reporting Record Profit as U.S. Rebounds (Bloomberg) http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-27/berkshire-seen-repo...

If you're reading this after Saturday, note that this was a pre-earnings prediction...

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will probably post record full-year profit showing how Chairman Warren Buffett’s five decades of acquisitions positioned his company to benefit from a rebounding U.S. economy. Net income was at least $18 billion in 2013, according to analysts at Nomura Holdings Inc. and Keefe Bruyette & Woods. That compares with $14.8 billion in 2012, the previous record. Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire said it will release its annual report March 1 at about 8 a.m. New York time.

Warren Buffett Just Bought Another Million Shares of This Company (Fool)

Twelve months ago, Berkshire held zero shares of Exxonmobil. Phillips 66 and ConocoPhillips -- at about $1.4 billion each -- were Berkshire's largest energy holdings. After last year's spending spree, ExxonMobil now stands as Berkshires sixth-largest stock position, in a statistical tie with long-held Procter and Gamble as 4% of Berkshire's stock portfolio. During the same period, Buffett largely sold out of ConocoPhillips, with Berkshire now holding 11 million shares versus more than 80 million held in 2008. Most of the remaining stake in Phillips 66 -- largely received when the company was spun out of ConocoPhillips in 2012 -- will also disappear from Berkshire's portfolio this year, when they're traded back to Phillips 66 in exchange for the company's flow enhancer business.

BNSF to move into tank car ownership with safer oil fleet (Reuters)

BNSF Railway Co plans to move into tank car ownership and buy its own fleet of up to 5,000 new crude oil tank cars with safety features that exceed the latest industry standards, the unit of investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said on Thursday. The unusual step by one of the largest U.S. railroads aims to reduce the risks of moving crude by rail after several recent accidents, including one involving a BNSF train in North Dakota in December.

Berkshire Investors Lacking Data Take Buffett on Faith (Bloomberg)

For years, chemical maker Lubrizol filed annual reports with securities regulators that ran 80 pages or more, detailing everything from its inventory to pension obligations. Today, investors would have to do math to figure out the company’s earnings in public filings. The difference is that Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bought Lubrizol in 2011 for about $9 billion and now lumps together the results with those of several other manufacturing businesses. [...] The disclosure is “sufficient for his shareholder base at the moment,” said Jeff Matthews, a Berkshire investor and author of books about the company. “Once he’s gone, people are going to say, ‘What’s here? What do I really own?’”

Business Wire Halts Direct Feeds to High-Speed Traders (Bloomberg)

Business Wire, the distributor of press releases owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will stop letting high-speed trading firms purchase direct access to its service. After consulting with Buffett, a billionaire known for holding onto investments for decades, Business Wire decided to avoid the reputational hit from an association with high-frequency traders, who often enter and exit positions in less than a second.

Buffett Toy Bet Expands to Dentists With SmileMakers Deal (Bloomberg)

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to buy SmileMakers from Staples Inc., adding a provider of toys to dentists, doctors and teachers. SmileMakers will be acquired by Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s Oriental Trading Co. unit, which sells party and craft supplies, the business said today in a statement. [...] Taylor said Spartanburg, South Carolina-based SmileMakers will offer products from Oriental Trading. The target firm is credited with creating the “treasure box” concept to reward children for enduring dental procedures, according to the statement, which didn’t disclose terms. Oriental Trading said the deal is expected to be completed by the middle of April.

Oriental Trading's offer for SmileMakers wins out in the end (Omaha World-Herald)

Same story, interesting take (as always) from the Omaha World-Herald...

When Staples Inc. put SmileMakers up for sale last October, Oriental Trading CEO Sam Taylor told The World-Herald, he put together a presentation, including a price range, for Oriental Trading Chairwoman Tracy Britt Cool to discuss with Buffett, CEO of Berkshire, Oriental Trading’s parent company. Buffett quickly OK’d a price toward the low end of the range, and Taylor made the offer, which has not been disclosed. The investment banker who was brokering the deal soon called to say that several private equity funds had bid significantly higher. Taylor’s group was out of the deal even before he got to meet SmileMakers’ managers. [...] But a few days after Thanksgiving, the banker called again. Seems some of the private equity investors had dropped out and the others had lowered their bids to Berkshire’s level or below. Was Oriental Trading still interested? “Absolutely,” Taylor told him, at the original Buffett-approved price.

Shaw departing area rug business (Home Accents Today)

Shaw Industries is exiting the area rug business, the company announced in early January. In conjunction with the announcement, the Dalton, Ga.-based company, which is wholly owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc., revealed plans to convert its Ringgold, Ga., rug facility into a state-of-the-art luxury vinyl tile manufacturing facility. "The economics of the rug business today simply do not allow for future growth or encourage further investment," said Vance Bell, chairman and CEO in a statement. [...] Shaw plans to invest more than $100 million in its new luxury vinyl tile manufacturing facility and when complete, the investment is expected to generate 200 new jobs in the Ringgold area. This investment follows $250 million in other recent expansion announcements by Shaw in carpet tile, hardwood flooring, yarn extrusion, and distribution.

Heinz to close two plants (Just Food)

Heinz has announced plans to close two plants in Europe as the US food giant continues to restructure its business after last year's sale to 3G Capital and Berkshire Hathaway. The ketchup manufacturer has set out proposals to shut a factory in Turnhout in Belgium and a site in Seesen in Germany. [...] The company, which said the closures would lead to the loss of around 350 jobs, would "consolidate manufacturing and eliminate excess capacity".

Pampered Chef restructures, lays off workers (Daily Herald)

Addison [Illinois]-based The Pampered Chef, which sells kitchenware, said Monday it has laid off workers and restructured its office and distribution center. A spokeswoman at the company, owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., did not provide layoff numbers or when the restructuring occurred. [...] It is one of the largest branded kitchenware companies and direct sellers of housewares nationwide, according to Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway, which acquired the company in 2002.

BofA Reaches Deal With Buffett on Preferred Stake (Bloomberg)

Bank of America Corp., the lender that turned to Warren Buffett in 2011 for a capital injection, reached a deal with the billionaire’s company to change terms so the investment is treated more favorably by regulators. The amendment would allow the bank to count preferred shares with a $2.9 billion carrying value as Tier 1 capital [...] The amendment would force Bank of America to wait at least five years from its approval to redeem the preferred stock. Under the 2011 deal, the bank was able to redeem the preferred stake at any time as long as it paid a 5 percent premium. Berkshire gets 6 percent annual interest on the securities. Under the revised deal, Buffett agreed to give up a dividend provision that gave him the right to recover missed payments.

RSA’s Hester Taps Buffett, Unveils Share Sale to Rebuild (Bloomberg)

After less than a month on the job, RSA Insurance Group Plc Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester announced a stock sale and tapped Warren Buffett for reinsurance to help strengthen the insurer after its scandal in Ireland. [...] RSA also bought a 550 million-pound reinsurance policy from Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. It’s now “very hard for them to downgrade us,” Hester said on a conference call today. [...] Buffett, 83, and his reinsurance chief Ajit Jain have assumed obligations from other insurers including CNA Financial Corp. and American International Group Inc. seeking to cut risk or narrow their focus. The contracts give Berkshire more funds to invest and make acquisitions.

Allstate Fights Back Against Geico With Esurance and Clever Marketing (The Street)

Allstate has seen customers come and go over the years to rivals like Geico, a unit of Berkshire Hathaway. Geico, known for its clever commercials, is now seeing competition for online customers from its competitor Allstate. [...] Geico has long been known for its catchphrase: "15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance." This motto and an aggressive advertising campaign powered Geico to be one of the leaders in online care insurance. Berkshire Hathaway bought Geico in 1996 and has controlled it ever since. To compete in the same online market, Allstate decided to also go the acquisition route. In 2011, Allstate bought Esurance for $1 billion. The largest publicly traded U.S. home and auto insurer, Allstate is now using Esurance to take on Geico directly.

Berkshire News Briefs - 1/31/14

Berkshire Is Said to Face Start of U.S. Systemic-Risk Scrutiny (Bloomberg)

Regulators are starting to scrutinize Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. to determine whether it is important enough to the financial system to require Federal Reserve supervision, according to two people with knowledge of the matter. The U.S. Financial Stability Oversight Council staff’s study of Berkshire doesn’t mean the panel is inclined to designate the Omaha, Nebraska-based company, said the people, who requested anonymity because the work isn’t public. Any decision could be months away, they said. The company’s reinsurance operation is the world’s fourth-largest.

Buffett Leans on 29-Year-Old Cool to Oversee Problems (Bloomberg)

Now 29, [Tracy Britt] Cool is one of Buffett’s most-trusted advisers, traveling the country to assist a constellation of companies too small to command her boss’s direct attention. The billionaire said his confidence in Cool is one reason he agreed to buy party-supply seller Oriental Trading. In 2012, she was named chairman of that business and three other units, including paint company Benjamin Moore. [...] “If you have 60 or 70 children, you’re going to have one or two that are going to be problems from time to time,” said Buffett, who focuses on acquisitions, large stock bets, insurance and the railroad. “Part of her job is to make sure that, where there is some area where the companies can benefit from some interaction, they actually do benefit. I’ve never done anything along those lines.”

4 things to know about Warren Buffett adviser (USA Today)

One of the rising stars — perhaps the rising star — at Berkshire right now is a 29-year-old woman named Tracy Britt Cool. Buffett hired her right out of Harvard Business School, and over the course of five years, she has become one of the most interesting and increasingly important people in the business world. Here are a few things to know about Cool.

The Dairy Queen® System Expands Global Footprint (MarketWatch/Business Wire)

The Dairy Queen® system, the international retail treat category leader and part of Berkshire Hathaway , has recently re-entered Taiwan, and also plans to open the first DQ® locations in Vietnam and Guyana during 2014, which will bring the number of countries outside the U.S. where the Dairy Queen system has a presence to 24.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance To Acquire Noel Group's MyAssist Inc. and Insure America LLC (Business Wire)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance today announced that it has signed an agreement to purchase from Noel Group the assets of MyAssist Inc., a live-agent personal-assistance and telematics service provider, and Insure America LLC, a niche program administrator which provides insurance products to the travel industry.

Buffett's Berkshire acquires MyAssist in-car concierge service used by Mercedes, Ford (Auto News)

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is betting on a service that helps companies including Ford Motor Co. and Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz provide live, in-car support to drivers. [...] For Mercedes-Benz, MyAssist provides personalized trip assistance from human attendants using "location-aware technology" from Verizon Communications Inc.

BNSF Wins Appeal of U.S. Rule Lowering Coal Rail Rates (Bloomberg)

BNSF Railroad Co., the carrier owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., won an appeal of a U.S. Surface Transportation Board ruling that its rates for shipping Western coal were too high. [...] The board, which regulates railroad rates,originally ordered BNSF to repay $345 million to shippers represented by the Western Fuels Association Inc. and Basin Electric Power Cooperative Inc. The court today directed the board to explain why its decisions were reasonable, in addition to weighing more data.

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Expands into Builder’s Risk Segment (Insurance Journal)

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance (BHSI) is expanding its property capabilities to include builder’s risk insurance. [...] “These new capabilities enable us to round out our construction offering, bringing large-scale capacity and technical underwriting experience to large projects” [...]

Buffett's $1 Billion Safe Bet on NCAA (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway has insured a $1 billion prize by Quicken Loans Inc. that would pay the winner $25 million a year over the next 40 years, or one lump sum of $500 million. It’s by far the largest payout offered for predicting the National Collegiate Athletic Association's tournament -- Fox Sports recently put up $1 million for the same feat, and Yahoo’s contest would have paid $5 million. With the odds of filling out a flawless, 64-team bracket about 1 in 9 quintillion, Buffett’s money appears to be safe. For reference, you’d have a better chance at hitting four straight holes-in-one or winning three consecutive Powerball lotteries.

Warren Buffett Offering $1 Billion For Perfect NCAA Bracket (The Onion)

“The winner at my office gets a Chili’s gift card. So it’d be pretty sweet if I could win this one too.”

Berkshire News Briefs - 12/27/13

GEICO Passes Allstate to Become 2d Largest U.S. Auto Insurer (Insurance Journal)

Based on third quarter reports, GEICO Corp. has surpassed Allstate Corp. to become the nation’s second-largest private auto insurer. According to data compiled by SNL, GEICO logged $4.89 billion in direct premiums written during the third quarter of 2013, while Allstate recorded $4.65 billion in premiums. State Farm remained firmly in the number one position with $8.7 billion.

More GEICO news at the bottom of this post...

Berkshire grew E&S premiums by 27.6% in third quarter (Business Insurance)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. grew its U.S. excess and surplus premiums by about 27.6% year over year in the third quarter, which was higher than the property/casualty insurance industry's overall 5.29% increase, according to an analysis released Tuesday by Charlottesville, Va.-based SNL Financial L.C. “Industry watchers have been keeping a close eye on Berkshire following the company's announcement in June that it was forming a new division devoted specifically to U.S. E&S business,” said SNL in its analysis. SNL noted that Berkshire ranked within the top 15 in the third quarter, “although its direct premiums written are still a long way from companies like American International Group Inc., Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. and W. R. Berkley Corp.” Berkshire ranked 13th on SNL's list of third-quarter 2013 market share of U.S. E&S insurers, up from 15th spot in third-quarter 2012.

Fitch: E&S Market Will Feel Impact of Berkshire's Entrance in Coming Quarters (Property Casualty 360)

While Berkshire’s aggressive entrance into the excess and surplus lines space earlier this year through the hiring of top American International Group employees didn’t “significantly alter” the market through the third quarter of 2013, ratings agency Fitch says it expects pricing implications related to this expansion “to materialize in coming quarters.” [...] The report said the formation of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance in the second quarter of 2013 “adds tremendous capacity to an already overcapitalized market, which will likely limit rate hikes and lead to more intense competition in 2014.”

'Buffett's Alpha' Misses The Real Source Of Growth In The New Berkshire Hathaway (Seeking Alpha)

Like many other value investors and Buffett followers I paid passing attention to the headlines and summary articles on "Buffett's Alpha" by Andrea Frazzini, David Kabiller, and Lasse H. Pederson. The summaries were all roughly the same: Buffett achieved smashing success, trouncing the market, but he did so by a simple strategy of buying cheap, low-beta, high-quality stocks and levering his portfolio up by a 1.6 ratio. A secondary observation was that the public holdings of Berkshire Hathaway had outperformed its private holdings (companies owned outright). [...] When glancing at public articles on the "Buffett's Alpha" paper I had lazily let the public-versus-private-holdings assertion pass unexamined until a comment by X.L on my recent article "The Big Five: Which Would You Be Willing to Own If They Closed The Market for 20 Years" raised the question.

Warren Buffett's Biggest Winners (Fool)

It's been almost exactly one month since Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced its latest stock holdings -- and The Motley Fool decided to check in on how the portfolio of the Oracle of Omaha's company is doing. Buffett has had a solid run since the end of September, and based on the roughly $92 billion that Berkshire held, the company has seen the value of its holdings grow by a little more than $4.5 billion, a return of almost 5%. That narrowly trails the S&P 500's return of 5.5% over that same time period. Of course, Buffett's investing ability isn't characterized by 55 days of returns, but Berkshire Hathaway has had a number of remarkable performers since September.

Wind Power Rivals Coal With $1 Billion Order From Buffett (Bloomberg)

The decision by Warren Buffett’s utility company to order about $1 billion of wind turbines for projects in Iowa shows how a drop in equipment costs is making renewable energy more competitive with power from fossil fuels. Turbine prices have fallen 26 percent worldwide since the first half of 2009, bringing wind power within 5.5 percent of the cost of electricity from coal, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., yesterday announced an order for 1,050 megawatts of Siemens AG wind turbines in the industry’s largest order to date for land-based gear.

Berkshire’s MidAmerican Names Caudill NV Energy President (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. named Paul Caudill president of NV Energy after completing its purchase of the Nevada utility whose chief executive officer will step down next year. Caudill, 59, had been president of MidAmerican Solar. He'll work with NV Energy CEO Michael Yackira, who plans to retire in June from the Las Vegas-based provider of electricity and natural gas, the companies said today in a statement. NV’s solar projects include facilities near Primm, Nevada and in North Las Vegas.

20-something Buffett protégé freezes paint firm pensions (NY Post)

It’s not just the temperatures that have dipped below freezing at Benjamin Moore headquarters. The 130-year-old paint brand, struggling under the ownership of billionaire Warren Buffett, told employees at its Montvale, NJ, offices last week it has frozen their pension plans, even as it continues to fire workers, as first reported on nypost.com. The lumps of holiday coal come courtesy of Buffett’s 29-year-old financial assistant, Tracy Britt Cool, whom he installed last year as chairman of Benjamin Moore after taking the rare step of firing a former CEO.

Johns Manville Adds Commercial and Residential Mineral Wool Insulation to Product Offering (Business Wire)

Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company and leading building products manufacturer, has added commercial and residential mineral wool to its full spectrum of insulation products, allowing customers to meet an even broader range of project demands. JM mineral wool insulation offers a variety of performance benefits in both commercial and residential construction. With a high melting point in excess of 2000°F, mineral wool can help delay fire spread, create quieter buildings and homes, increase privacy between rooms and reduce heating and cooling costs by keeping structures warm in winter and cool in summer.

MiTek Announces SAPPHIRE™ Build, Software Suite for Production Home Builders (Business Wire / Vancouver Sun)

MiTek Industries, Inc. (MiTek), a Berkshire Hathaway company, and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, software, equipment and services for the building components industry announced today the introduction of SAPPHIRE Build, a suite of business and workflow management software tools for production home builders. MiTek’s recent acquisition, Kova Solutions, LLC, provides the functional core and framework for SAPPHIRE Build, which is now an end-to-end integrated solution. [...] The introduction of SAPPHIRE Build is the integration of two MiTek solutions that are already in the market: MiTek Blackpoint™ software and Kova. Now they are integrated into a single, re-branded platform.

Warren Buffett donates $10m to Rambam Hospital (Globes)

US billionaire Warren Buffet has donated $10 million to Rambam Hospital in Haifa. The contribution was announced by his close friend Eitan Wertheimer at an event last weekend to celebrate 75 years since the hospital's establishment. Wertheimer has been a close friend of Buffett since the sale of the family's precision tool developer and manufacturer Iscar Ltd. to the American's company Berkshire Hathaway. In May 2006, Berkshire Hathaway bought 80% of Iscar for $4 billion, and in May this year it exercised an option to buy the remaining 20% for $2.05 billion.

Hot Doughboy: Pillsbury Mascot Crashes Geico Commercial (ABC News)

Move over, gecko. A new commercial for Geico stars not the insurer's famous lizard but the Pillsbury Doughboy. Huh? How can that pairing possibly make sense? [...] The TV spot, by the Martin Agency of Richmond, Va., is the most recent in Geico's "Happier Than ..." series of commercials, each of which asks "How happy are people who switch to Geico?" In this case, the answer is: "Happier than the Pillsbury Doughboy on his way to a baking convention."

The commercial is here on YouTube, with nearly 1.9 million views.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/21/13

Berkshire Hathaway Subsidiary to Buy U.K. Beverage Business for $1.1 Billion (Fool)

Marmon, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, today announced it will acquire the beverage dispense and merchandising divisions of IMI plc, a U.K-based engineering firm, for $1.1 billion. After regulatory approval, it is expected the deal will be closed in the early part of next year. [...] The retail dispense business in total has approximately 3,100 employees that will transfer with the acquisition by Marmon. Last year it had revenues of approximately $675 million and operating profit of approximately $100 million. Marmon, which is an industrial subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, has approximately 160 manufacturing and servicing business that are independent from one another. It employs 17,000 people had revenues exceeding $7 billion last year.

IMI Sells Dispenser Business to Berkshire for $1.1 Billion (Bloomberg)

IMI’s decision in March to explore options for its soda-pop dispenser, used by Coca-Cola Co., PepsiCo Inc. and McDonald’s Corp., prompted Marmon to make an unsolicited approach, it said today in a statement. Shareholders of the Birmingham, England-based IMI will receive 620 million pounds ($991 million) of the proceeds, with an additional 70 million-pound pension contribution planned. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire will use IMI’s beverage dispensers and mixers, which are also benefiting from growing demand for chilled beers served on tap, to boost the retail and food operations of its Marmon business. IMI chief executive officer Martin Lamb, who is preparing to step down after 13 year in the role, is disposing of the business to fully focus on selling fluid technologies and control systems for chemical plants as well as the oil and gas industry.

Buffett Adds Stocks in Pension Handoff to Lieutenants (Bloomberg)

Billionaire Warren Buffett is betting that his deputy investment managers can find value hiding in a corner of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: its $10.4 billion in pension assets. Todd Combs, 42, and Ted Weschler, 52, have been building stock portfolios with funds they oversee for defined-benefit plans at Berkshire subsidiaries, including railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. The strategy saves Buffett’s company fees it would pay to outside asset managers and could reduce the need for contributions to the pensions. [...] Reallocating pension assets is one way Buffett, 83, can assign more funds to Weschler and Combs without liquidating some of his own long-held investments. [...] The amount of funds the deputies oversee more than doubled to about $5 billion each, the billionaire wrote in March. Combs and Weschler were each hired in the past three years.

Two Brazilian Brothers to Pay Nearly $5 Million in Insider Trading Case (NY TImes)

The bet came on Feb. 13, just a day before Berkshire Hathaway and the investment firm 3G Capital announced a $23 billion takeover of Heinz. The trade went through a Swiss Goldman Sachs brokerage account owned by an entity based in the Cayman Islands. [...] The S.E.C., which acted quickly in February to freeze the assets in the Swiss account, has now amended its complaint to name two Brazilian brothers as the culprits. The brothers — Rodrigo and Michel Terpins — agreed to pay nearly $5 million to settle the charges. Michel Terpins, 36, set the chain of events in motion, according to the S.E.C. After receiving a confidential tip that the Heinz deal was looming, the agency said, he alerted his brother. Rodrigo Terpins, 40, then served as the trader. While vacationing at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., the S.E.C. said, he bought nearly $90,000 in options contracts in Heinz. News of the takeover deal sent Heinz’s shares, and the value of the options contracts, soaring. According to the S.E.C., the brothers’ positions rose nearly 2,000 percent and they reaped over $1.8 million.

MiTek Acquires Kova Solutions, LLC (Business Wire)

MiTek Industries, Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway company , and the world’s leading supplier of advanced engineered structural connector systems, software, equipment and services for the building components industry announced today that it has acquired Kova Solutions, LLC. Kova offers business process and operational management software for residential production builders that integrates and controls the entire business operations with one complete end-to-end system. [...] “The addition of Kova expands MiTek’s software offering very effectively into the builder side of the residential construction market. Kova is a complement to our current SAPPHIRE software offering and a key addition to the MiTek family,” stated Tom Manenti, Chairman and CEO of MiTek.

Benjamin Moore names veteran retailer as CEO (North Jersey News)

Benjamin Moore, the Montvale-based paint maker, has hired retail veteran Michael Searles to be its third chief executive officer in two years, the company said Monday. Searles, 64, who has spent 40 years leading retail companies such as Kids "R" Us, Wilson's Leather and Factory 2-U Stores Inc., replaces Robert S. Merritt, whose departure from the company was announced Sept. 27.

Finishing touch: Benjamin Moore's Newark paint plant reopens following Hurricane Sandy (NJ News)

It has been nearly a year since Hurricane Sandy sent 6 feet of water rushing into the Newark plant from the banks of the Passaic River, damaging or destroying millions of dollars worth of equipment and shuttering the facility. As for the 130-year-old paint maker, recent events have dulled the shine from its premium brand paint. Benjamin Moore, which has less than 10 percent market share, has cut its workforce by 15 percent in recent years, and this month hired its third chief executive in two years. The news was brighter last week, when the company’s latest CEO Michael Searles joined with Britt to celebrate the Newark manufacturing plant’s official reopening. [...] The building’s high-tech paint-filling lines recently returned to service as have the plant’s 55 employees, who average a quarter century on the job.

Buffett GE Profit Trails Wall Street Bets as Warrants Expire (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s $3 billion bet on General Electric Co. during the 2008 financial crisis is proving less profitable than similar wagers by Chairman Warren Buffett on Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. Berkshire is poised to get about $260 million in GE shares through warrants Buffett received as part of a capital injection into Fairfield, Connecticut-based GE.

Why Buffett's $10 Billion Haul Won't Be the Last (Fool)

Warren Buffett's investing genius pays off once again. Berkshire Hathaway has now racked up a whopping $10 billion profit on investments made during the financial crisis. That's no small sum, although against the backdrop of a company worth more than $280 billion, it isn't a game-changing sum, either. But focusing on the total return really misses the point: Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is poised to do this time and time again.

Buffett’s Back Bench (WSJ)

This is a slideshow of 10 of the top executives from Berkshire Hathaway's many subsidiaries.

At 83 years old, Warren Buffett has not publicly named his successor. Some analysts and investors are also concerned about succession and retention at Berkshire Hathaway subsidiaries after Mr. Buffett is no longer in charge. Here are some of Mr. Buffett’s lieutenants.

'Cool' enough to be Warren Buffett's successor? (Upstart Business Journal)

[...] if Tracy Britt Cool is the mysterious new chief executive officer, how might she overcome scrutiny this week over executive turmoil at paint maker Benjamin Moore & Co., one of four Berkshire Hathaway portfolio companies that she’s appointed by Buffett to oversee? [...] In recent years, she’s been given major responsibilities, like chairing the boards of New Jersey-based Benjamin Moore, Omaha’s Oriental Trading Co., the Denver insulation maker Johns Manville and Atlanta custom framer Larson-Juhl. In 2012, Fortune Magazine named her to its 40 Under 40 list, and earlier this year, she was a Forbes 30 Under 30 winner in the finance category.

Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate

Finally, many of the Prudential Real Estate agencies that Berkshire Hathaway's HomeServices bought over the past year officially changed their names to "Berkshire Hathaway Real Estate" recently, but I've gotten tired of posting all those little, local real estate business stories. Just keep in mind that the re-branding is in full swing.

Berkshire News Briefs - 10/10/13

Scripps News investigates lawsuits involving Berkshire Hathaway (Scripps)

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. of Omaha, Neb., has become one of the most powerful forces in asbestos and pollution litigation in the world. Insurers such as American Insurance Group, CNA Financial Corp. and Lloyd's of London have paid Berkshire to assume their risk for tens of billions of dollars in future asbestos and pollution claims. That money, known as "float," has proven to be a great source of investment income for Berkshire. But instead of paying people like Charles Lute, Berkshire subsidiaries are accused in lawsuits across the country of delaying or denying payments. Rather than paying victims, the suits claim, Berkshire is holding onto the cash, the float, to keep its money invested. "They wanted to hit the projected numbers in the books of business so they could maximize their return on investment," said one former claims executive under oath.

Here's the full Scripps report, including Berkshire's response.

Ford, Berkshire Hathaway subsidiary settle insurance dispute (Cleveland News 5)

(There's a 1:30 video version of the story here too, if you want a summary.)

The Ford Motor Co. announced Monday it settled a lawsuit with Berkshire Hathaway Inc. subsidiary National Indemnity Co. for $22.1 million -- $2 million more than the automaker sued for in the dispute related to unpaid claims from rollover deaths. [...] “We filed the complaint because we were experiencing no pay and slow pay,” Oostdyk said, claiming National Indemnity intentionally delayed paying Ford’s claims as part of a larger pattern of wrongful conduct. [...] In this instance, Oostdyk said, Ford wanted to send a message, and refused in negotiations to settle the claim until National Indemnity agreed to let it announce the amount of the settlement. New York asbestos attorney Joe Belluck said the scrutiny of Berkshire’s business practices leading up to the publication of the Scripps investigation “likely played a part” in the Ford settlement before a public trial.

Moving on to better news...

Buffett Makes Sweet Profit Off Mars Investment (Wall St. Cheat Sheet)

Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett has logged a lot of wins in the wake of the late-2000s crisis. During the crisis itself, the firm served as a white knight investor to major companies with a need for a huge amount of cash, and fast. [...] One of the companies that Berkshire lent money to was Mars Inc., which in 2008 needed to finance the $23 billion purchase of Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. Buffett loaned Mars $4.4 billion and purchased a minority interest in Wrigley for $2.1 billion at a discount to the buyout price. [...] The Wall Street Journal reports that Berkshire is set to bank a profit of at least $680 million from the deal. Berkshire sold the notes back to Mars at about 115 percent of face value plus interest.

Buffett's $2.15 Billion Payday (Fool)

On Tuesday, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway was set to become the sixth-largest external investor in Goldman Sachs by grabbing a stake in the banking giant worth around $2.15 billion. Oh, and did I mention Buffett scored the position for free? You read that correctly. That's right. For his mammoth stake in Goldman Sachs, Buffett paid absolutely nothing.

Warren Buffett protégé in trouble at Benjamin Moore (NY Post)

Tracy Britt, a handpicked favorite of Buffett who has an office down the hall to his at Berkshire’s Omaha headquarters, was tapped last year to tackle Benjamin Moore’s sliding market share and serves as the company’s chairman. Late last month, sources said, Britt led a Friday afternoon conference call with Benjamin Moore employees, surprising them with the news that CEO Bob Merritt had abruptly left the company after just 14 months on the job. [...] The bombshell exit of Merritt, a former restaurant exec tapped last year to reverse a tailspin at Benjamin Moore, is a rare embarrassment for Buffett, who had fired Merritt’s predecessor, Denis Abrams, just 15 months earlier. The reason for 61-year-old Merritt’s departure couldn’t be confirmed, but some insiders say he appears to have clashed with Britt.

Berkshire Hathaway unit TTI buys Lod-based Ray-Q (Globes)

On Friday, TTI, Inc. an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway, announced the acquisition of Lod-based Ray-Q Interconnect. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Ray-Q was founded in 1969 as a Raychem subsidiary based in Israel with offices in Turkey and India. It provides high quality electrical interconnect solutions to military, aerospace and other high-reliability product industries. TTI is a specialty distributor of passive, interconnect, electromechanical and discrete semiconductor components. [...] Ray-Q employs approximately 70 associates and counts among their customers virtually every major defense contractor.

Warren Buffett's pick for Borsheims CEO took six-year break on rise to the top (Omaha World-Herald)

In fall 2004, Susan Jacques, president and chief executive of Borsheims Fine Jewelry, ran into Karen Goracke at a soccer game. Goracke had been a watch buyer at Borsheims until leaving in 1998 to tend to her growing family. “I said, 'Why don't you come back and work part time?' ” Jacques recalled. [...] Now Goracke has been chosen by Warren Buffett to be the Berkshire Hathaway-owned retailer's president and chief executive starting Dec. 31. [...] Jacques is leaving Borsheims after 31 years, including 20 years as president and CEO, to head the Gemological Institute of America, a Carlsbad, Calif.-based nonprofit organization that offers gem and jewelry education and oversees industry standards.

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.

Berkshire News Briefs - 6/14/13

Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurer Open for Business (Insurance Networking)

Berkshire Hathaway announced today that Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, its recently formed commercial P&C insurance group, has commenced operations, underwriting property, casualty, professional and executive liability insurance and programs for customers in the United States. [...] The new Berkshire venture is focused primarily on U.S. excess and surplus lines insurance, according to the insurer, due to the growing importance of this market segment in providing tailored solutions to customers.

Warren Buffett Embraces an Old Love (Fool)

It didn't take long after Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway welcomed four former AIG executives into the fold that it introduced a new, specialty insurance arm to the world. Based in Boston, Mass., the new entity will sell commercial insurance products encompassing property & casualty, as well as professional liability insurance. [...]

Peter Eastwood, president of the new insurance arm, has hired 40 people in just six weeks, with staff housed not only in Boston, but also New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Atlanta. Some of those employees include former workers at both AIG and CNA Financial. Eastwood says the new company will focus first on areas of coverage that current providers aren't supplying, adding that much work has been done in writing property and casualty policies, and that the insurer will be wading into high-risk areas, as well.

Eastwood: Despite New Market Dynamics, More 'Float' for Buffett is Possible (Property Casualty 360)

Peter Eastwood, president of Berkshire Hathaway Specialty Insurance, says the influx of alternative capital in the form of catastrophe bonds and sidecars, as examples, has a “market cycle-dampening effect,” and he doesn’t expect the types of dips and spikes in rates associated with prior market cycles. [...]

Eastwood is part of the new capacity into the marketplace, having left AIG with executives David Bresnahan, Sanjay Godhwani and David Fields to join Berkshire. He says it was Godhwani who “convinced” Buffett’s insurance lieutenant, Ajit Jain, that despite the above dynamic, the executives could lead an operation to take advantage of Berkshire’s “tremendous balance sheet” in a more “permanent, long-term-focused way”—providing underwriting returns, and investment returns on what Buffett terms “float”—the pool of premiums held before paying claims.

Berkshire Disclose More Details On Insurance Losses After SEC Pressure (ValueWalk)

Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in its letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission that the insurance major agree to provide disclosures in future filings of the significant catastrophe losses for their insurance group as a whole. The company would also provide such disclosures for each of its underwriting units to the extent that such losses are significant. [...] Considering the magnitude of catastrophe losses to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s underwriting results, the Securities and Exchange Commission asked the company to provide additional information on the amount it spends on disaster claims.

A Rising Star Emerges at Berkshire (WSJ)

When Tracy Britt arrived in Omaha, Neb., in 2009 to meet with Warren Buffett, she brought a Harvard M.B.A., a glittering resume and a boatload of ambition. But she also brought the famed investor a gift to highlight their shared Midwestern roots: a bushel of corn and a batch of tomatoes. [...] The seed Ms. Britt planted that day yielded quick results: a job for Ms. Britt as Mr. Buffett's financial assistant at Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Almost four years later, it has blossomed further, with Ms. Britt emerging as one of Mr. Buffett's top lieutenants and even serving as chairman of four companies within his $284 billion conglomerate.

Charlie Munger's 18 Biases That Cause You to Fool Yourself and Make Bad Decisions (Fool)

Almost 20 years ago, Berkshire Hathaway vice-chairman Charlie Munger gave a talk called "The psychology of human misjudgment" at Harvard. He's given dozens of talks since, but I don't think any match its wisdom and usefulness. [...] For the impatient, the talk discusses about 18 separate biases that cause people to fool themselves make bad decisions. I've summarized them here, along with a few comments from Munger.

Ex-billionaire Charlie Munger on recent donations: 'I won't need it where I'm going' (Omaha World-Herald)

Charlie Munger has taken himself out of billionaire status. “I'm deliberately taking my net worth down,” the vice chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. told The World-Herald. “If it's not below a billion, it soon will be.” Actually, his two latest donations, a total of 200 shares of Class A Berkshire stock worth $34.6 million, leave him with 5,674 shares worth about $980 million. [...] Last month, the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, Calif., received $32.7 million worth of his stock to help fund its new education and visitors center. Munger said the Huntington's goal is to build the best museum store in the world. He has been a supporter for several years and values the library's humanities collection and research. He also gave $1.9 million of his Berkshire stock to the Marlborough School, a college preparatory school for girls in Los Angeles.

Three Things I’ve Learned From Warren Buffett (LinkedIn)

The first thing people learn from Warren, of course, is how to think about investing. That’s natural, given his amazing track record. Unfortunately, that’s where a lot of people stop, and they miss out on the fact that he has a whole framework for business thinking that is very powerful. For example, he talks about looking for a company’s moat—its competitive advantage—and whether the moat is shrinking or growing. He says a shareholder has to act as if he owns the entire business, looking at the future profit stream and deciding what it’s worth. And you have to be willing to ignore the market rather than follow it, because you want to take advantage of the market’s mistakes—the companies that have been underpriced.