Editor’s Note: Related tickers: Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC (NYSE:BNI), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)
With more than $100,000 of his sister’s money burning a hole in his billionaire pockets, Warren Buffett is trying to decide how to spend it, and enlisting more than 4,000 students to help him make the costly call. Warren and his older sister Doris launched a massive open online course Monday called Giving With Purpose, designed after a class being taught at more than 30 universities, including Northeastern. Through the course, students are allowed to dish out $10,000 after evaluating several nonprofits and learning about effective giving.
Warren Watch: Billionaire Koch brothers make deal-making pitch to rival Buffett’s (Omaha)
One of Warren Buffett’s pitches goes like this: If you’ve built up a great business and want to find a permanent, favorable home for it while you continue to be in charge, give Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) a call. “We can promise complete confidentiality and a very fast answer — customarily within five minutes — as to whether we’re interested,” Buffett promises each year in his annual letter to shareholders. Now another Midwestern conglomerate, led by a pair of billionaire brothers from Wichita, Kan., is making the same pitch: Koch Industries Inc., privately owned by Charles and David Koch and the subject of a recent Wall Street Journal article.
Buffett makes annual stock donations to charities (TwinCities)
Billionaire Warren Buffett is giving five charities more than $2.6 billion worth of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) stock as part of his overall plan to give away his fortune gradually. Buffett announced the annual gifts Monday. The biggest block of Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) stock worth $2 billion is going to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Buffett also gave 1.75 million shares to his own foundation and 1.2 million shares to each of his three children’s foundations. The Class B shares were up 46 cents at $115.42 in midday trading Monday.
What Actors Can Learn From Warren Buffett (Backstage)
There’s a saying that “Life is life,” which essentially means everything is the same. There are universal principles to success. Unfortunately many actors forget that anything worth having usually takes a lot of time and effort including—and maybe especially—acting. Since I got an MBA long before I got into acting, many of my friends work in more traditional business areas like marketing and finance. Not surprisingly, to get a high profile job at one of the more prestigious investment firms requires doing all the right things in the right order.
A simulation tech company Warren Buffett should find exceptional (TheGlobeAndMail)
Computer Modelling Group Ltd., a 35-year-old Calgary-based firm, develops reservoir simulation technologies that are used by more than 500 oil, gas, and consulting companies across the world. It has a $900-million market cap. …Computer Modelling Group has increased earnings per share by $0.55 over the past decade while retaining $0.54 in earnings, making for a 101.6-per-cent return on retained earnings, which the Warren Buffett-based model considers exceptional. It has averaged a 35-per-cent return on equity over past decade, part of why the Buffett-based model has some interest in it. It also offers a 3-per-cent dividend yield, unusual for a firm in its industry, and has a strong 86 relative strength.
1 Explosive Risk Warren Buffett Should Be Worried About (Fool)
Crude oil shipments by railroad have grown by a staggering 28,000% over the past five years. That growth has been a great profit driver for railway companies, and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) which controls Burlington Northern Santa Fe, LLC (NYSE:BNI). Those profits, however, could be at risk in light of the tragic railway disaster in Canada which involved crude oil being shipped by train. …The fact remains that we’ve seen an increase in incidents by rail this year. This past March, a Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE:CP) train hauling crude oil derailed and spilled about 30,000 gallons of crude oil in Minnesota.
Mexican President Peña Nieto Meets Billionaires Bill Gates And Warren Buffett In Sun Valley (Forbes)
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto met Thursday with the world’s richest man, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) cofounder Bill Gates, and with fellow billionaire Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) CEO Warren Buffett, to discuss opportunities for investing in Mexico. The meeting took place July 11 during the Allen & Co. annual conference at the Sun Valley Resort in Sun Valley, Idaho. Neither side elaborated on the content of the conversation. The resort is hosting corporate leaders for the 31st annual media and technology conference, where some of the wealthiest and most powerful executives in media, finance, politics and technology gather for a week-long meeting.
Warren Buffett & Brad Pitt Working Main Street (2Paragraphs)
Small town mayors all over the country have been busy seeking votes — not for re-election but to win Benjamin Moore’s “Main Street Matters” contest. Benjamin Moore & Co. (owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)) just announced the winners: 20 North American towns will each receive a free fresh paint job for their respective downtowns. As a major corporate sponsor of actor Brad Pitt’s charitable organization Make It Right, which builds green homes for communities in need, Benjamin Moore was able to get Pitt as the “Main Street Matters” campaign spokesperson. Inspired by peeling paint and the video with Pitt’s voiceover, small business owners, college students, mayors and lots of other folks got on board (and online) to urge people to vote for their hometowns.
