I see BNSF is now under Berkshire and owned by what's-his-name? Does this mean there will be Dairy Queen advertising on the locomotives? And, OH ! all you wise investors go out and buy some shares in Berkshire-Hathaway,, on friday they were listed at $108,850.00 PER SHARE !!! Sure keeps the peasants away from the stock market eh? ?
I think Tatans needs to lay off the sauce...
Mechanical Department "No no that's fine shove that 20 pound set all around the yard... those shoes aren't hell and a half to change..."
The Missabe Road: Safety First
Berkshire-Hathaway BRK.A on the New York Stock Exchange traded Friday at @ $105,000 per share, they traded 4500 shares, did you get any???? by the way, Warren Buffet makes $100,000 per year as CEO and still lives in the same house he grew up in, in Omaha.
coborn35 I think Tatans needs to lay off the sauce...
Or change his name to "yesterdays news tomorrow"
Warren Buffet earned his way by being intelligent, and living modestly. Not sure what your issues are with people that have been successful, maybe get off your duff and dive in for your share?
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Those are the voting shares. If you want to invest at a slightly lower price, you might be able to if the board did this stock split of their "class B" stocks. The split would bring them down to about $65 per share.
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
That's all from capital appreciation, such as by saving and reinvesting the earnings. Famously - and almost uniquely - B-H has never paid a dividend. So it's mainly for people who are investing for the long-haul, not the quick payouts, nor the widows and orphans, nor people who need a regular, and dependable income stream.
The price issue is why the Class B shares were created about 5 - 10 years ago, at exactly 1/30th of the value of the Class A shares. Now - specifically to accomodate the smaller shareholders of BNSF in the acquisition, like me - the Class B's are being further split by a factor of 50, which gets us to the range that Larry/ tree68 mentioned. This is something that Buffett would have resisted otherwise - someplace he said something about preferring to keep the 'culture' or mindset of the investors who had to pay those big bucks to get into the game. But now even the 'peasants' can participate - see what changes the railroad has wrought, yet again ?
- Paul North.
tatans I see BNSF is now under Berkshire and owned by what's-his-name? Does this mean there will be Dairy Queen advertising on the locomotives? And, OH ! all you wise investors go out and buy some shares in Berkshire-Hathaway,, on friday they were listed at $108,850.00 PER SHARE !!! Sure keeps the peasants away from the stock market eh? ?
Dave
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Geared SteamWarren Buffet earned his way by being intelligent, and living modestly. Not sure what your issues are with people that have been successful, maybe get off your duff and dive in for your share?
In your outrage, I think you missed the OP's point about Mr. Buffett. Here's a tremendously successful CEO by any measure, yet he draws a very modest salary of only $100K, which isless than 1/100th the compensation drawn by mr. Rose, the current BNSF CEO.
C&NW, CA&E, MILW, CGW and IC fan
A very, very minor correction. His current house is not the residence he grew up in, but the house that he and Susie purchased early in their marriage. A complete, well footnoted history of Mr. Buffet's life is available in the book The Snowball, by Alice Schroeder. It is an authorized biography, but at this time the author and the subject are not communicating with one another, as it seems Ms. Schroeder detailed a little too much of Mr. Buffet's personal life.
The book is a laboreous read, nearly 900 pages. Well worth it if you are a WB admirer, as I am. While Mr. Buffet does draw a very modest salary, no doubt he receives considerable other income from sources outside BH. Obviously, his wealth is considerable and in the form of BH stock. Speaking of stock, Paul's description above is accurate, except that all shares are "voting", if I recall correctly.
The A stock has never split, nor paid a dividend, as stated. Thus, the stock price can be very accurately compared to the original price when Buffet assumed control.
One must wonder about the policy of never paying a dividend. At some point, just as it was recently prior to the purchase of BNSF, a very large amount of cash will be on hand. Investment opportunities, as Buffet has stated, are fewer with high possible returns. So BH will either lower it's standards for returns or do something else with the $$$.
A person like WB will be rare to find going forward, as will his sidekick Charlie Munger.
Ed
schlimmIn your outrage,
Outrage? I'm not the one that missed!
Paul_D_North_Jr That's all from capital appreciation, such as by saving and reinvesting the earnings. Famously - and almost uniquely - B-H has never paid a dividend. - Paul North.
That's all from capital appreciation, such as by saving and reinvesting the earnings. Famously - and almost uniquely - B-H has never paid a dividend. - Paul North.
"B-H has never paid a dividend." Not quite a true statement. Since Warren Buffett assumed control of Berkshire Hathaway over 4-decades ago, he paid a dividend once; but, I don't recall what year. On more than one occasion, he's said that move was a mistake.
From what I've read, Mr. Buffett really enjoys allocating capital -reinvesting the Berkshire Hathaway profits if you will - within the wholly owned subsidiaries. Also, Mr. B figures that he will do better for the stockholders over the long run by investing the profits BH generates into solid opportunities that will generate long-term returns better than the U.S. Treasury Dept. 10-year note.
BNSF is really fortunate to have Mr. Buffett's company as an owner. Freed now from having to appease the Wall Street critics, hedge fund sharks, greenmailers, and quick-buck buyout artists, C.E.O. Matt Rose and his team are at last able to devote their energies full time to building real value into their railroad. I should hope they will develop a set of five year and ten year plans for capacity expansion, line changes, and improved customer business practices that will reduce profits in the short term, but position the railroad for an explosion of business and earnings in the future.
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
tatansby the way, Warren Buffet makes $100,000 per year as CEO and still lives in the same house he grew up in, in Omaha.
......And in a conversation he had with "Becky" of CNBC....he commented he didn't even remember what color the carpet was in his bedroom...Didn't pay that much attention to it.
Quentin
Bob-Fryml Paul_D_North_Jr That's all from capital appreciation, such as by saving and reinvesting the earnings. Famously - and almost uniquely - B-H has never paid a dividend. - Paul North. "B-H has never paid a dividend." Not quite a true statement. Since Warren Buffett assumed control of Berkshire Hathaway over 4-decades ago, he paid a dividend once; but, I don't recall what year. On more than one occasion, he's said that move was a mistake. [snip]
"B-H has never paid a dividend." Not quite a true statement. Since Warren Buffett assumed control of Berkshire Hathaway over 4-decades ago, he paid a dividend once; but, I don't recall what year. On more than one occasion, he's said that move was a mistake. [snip]
OK, Bob thanks for the correction/ new info to me. I guess I can accept making the same mistake as Mr. Buffett did . . .
I share your general views about BNSF's future prospects. The one downside is now that I'm about to be involuntarily cashed out, I'll no longer be able to participate in those hoped-for financial gains, and likely no corporate investor's news and publications will be available, either.
Murphy Siding Well, I'd guess the *peasants* that sold their BNSF stock to Berkshire Hathaway probably did allright. What does the storm door reference mean? Is there a Gecko brand storm door?
Hopefully I will - IF the merger is approved as scheduled early next month/ February; and then depending on the relative prices of each share around that time; and the proportion of of the buy-out that is determined to be payable in stock vs. cash, after all of the requests for specific allocations of same are taken into account - the proposed merger concept is for that to be a nominal 60 per cent of B-H stock, and 40 per cent cash, so as to make it a tax-free exchange of shares to the IRS, or some such . . .
The storm door reference didn't resonate with me, either. Here's a link to a list of B-H companies, none of which I immediately recognized as a storm door company - although, a few of these companies in turn have many more subsidiaries of their own:
http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/subs/sublinks.html
Interestingly, a few of those companies are already transportation-related - Marmon Holdings, Inc. has several rail or intermodal subsidiaries, most of which will be familiar to us. See:
http://www.marmon.com/Companies/img/secs/WEB-TRANS_02.jpg
Then there's Xtra Lease / Xtra Corporation, a highway trailer lessor, at -
http://www.xtralease.com/
and McLane trucking/ supply chain / logistics, at -
http://www.mclaneco.com/wps/portal
There may be others, too.
"We don't need no stinkin' peasants": Hays. Anyhoo, Berkshire Hathaway's control will be decided by BNSF (NYSE: BNI) stockholders on 11 Feb 10. We are getting about $100 / share for our BNI stock, or trade in for BRK/B shares, about 3-for-2. The BRK/A shares, at $100k+, are not involved. The front of the new BNSF locos (170 on-order) will feature GEICO's "Gekko", and the sides will have Coca-Cola, DQ, Kraft, J&J, etc., advertising. BNI will disappear from the ticker and BRK/B will be included in the S&P "500". Berkshire Hathaway is controlled by Warren Buffett (not Buffet) and I am very happy with the deal. If you need instant gratification, look elsewhere. BRK stock pays NO dividends. It is for long-haulers, only. Buy some for your grand kids! Sorry, peasants!
Hays
Would YOU tell "Becky", of CNBC, whomever she is, the color of the carpet in your bedroom?
At least she didn't know....
I'll opine that the storm door reference was simply alluding to the many and varying types of companies owned by BH.
If so, a very creative shorthand summary.
tree68 At least she didn't know.... I'll opine that the storm door reference was simply alluding to the many and varying types of companies owned by BH.
You opined right, it's exactly what I meant, included in his repertoire of shoe stores, burger joints, paints, wire, underwear, chemical cheese, etc etc he has massive interests in 2 other railways. btw- - This expression came from Jonathan Winters skit on "Grace L. Ferguson's Airline and Storm door Company"
I worked with a guy who occasionally referred to the [some legitimate sounding business] and Live Bait Company...
BNSFwatcherWould YOU tell "Becky", of CNBC, whomever she is, the color of the carpet in your bedroom?
........If I remember correctly, they were talking {in an interview}, about the fact he still lived in the same house, etc, etc.....
Becky....CNBC early morning finance program.
tatans . . . he has massive interests in 2 other railways. btw- - This expression came from Jonathan Winters skit on "Grace L. Ferguson's Airline and Storm door Company"
Other than NS and UP ? Buffett sold those off when he made this move on BNSF.
OK - still pretty funny - you get the points for remembering it and applying it correctly.
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