09 March 2015

Warren Buffett on Investment Bankers, Arrogance, Bureaucracy, Complacency

Warren Buffett wants Berkshire-Hathaway to make acquisitions in the $5 billion to $20 billion range, but purchases could be even bigger with partners, such as Brazil's 3G Capital which received $3 billion from Berkshire to help its Burger King unit buy Canadian donut chain Tim Hortons, creating Restaurant Brands International Inc. Buffett has said that he expects to work with 3G Capital on more activities.

Buffett says 'sprawl' is good, but may not be good enough | Reuters: "He also questioned the wisdom of deferring too readily to investment bankers who advise what to buy and sell. "Investment bankers, being paid as they are for action, constantly urge acquirers to pay 20 percent to 50 percent premiums over market price for publicly-held businesses," he wrote. "A few years later, bankers - bearing straight faces - again appear and just as earnestly urge spinning off the earlier acquisition in order to 'unlock shareholder value,'" he added... Berkshire is sitting on $63.27 billion of cash and its most recent purchases have been comparatively small... Though [Berkshire] does shed... some businesses - the textile company that gave Berkshire its name was closed in 1985 - Buffett said spinoffs "make no sense," citing tax reasons and a belief that businesses are worth more within ... Berkshire than on their own. Buffett said his eventual successor at Berkshire... will need to monitor those businesses closely, and as Berkshire grows larger fend off the "arrogance, bureaucracy and complacency" that can destroy seemingly indestructible companies...."

more news below

No comments:

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Mediocre Entrepreneurs | TechCrunch: " . . . . persistence is not the self-help cliche “Keep going until you hit the finish line!”. The key slogan is, “Keep failing until you accidentally no longer fail.” That’s persistence." - James Altucher

Both Sides of the Table

Venture Capital Dispatch

Startup News

Entrepreneur News

Angel Investor News

Venture Capital News

Venture Capital Survey

Business - SiliconValley.com

silicontap.com - Silicon Valley High Tech News

DealBook - NYTimes

You're the Boss - NYTimes

Bucks - NYTimes