David Sokol
Posted on 03/30/2011 4:29:17 PM PDT by Lazlo in PA
In a very surprise move, a longtime lieutenant of Warren Buffett, David Sokol, resigned from his position at Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. Sokol had been considered a possible successor for Buffett’s post as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett also dropped a bombshell in a letter about Sokol: he said Sokol had purchased shares of Lubrizol, a specialty chemicals company which Berkshire announced it is buying, before Sokol convinced Buffett on the merits of the deal.
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
David Sokol
um, does that constitute insider trading? Buying a stock that don’t belong to you and trying to convince others to buy the same stock
Wow,
now that’s a conflict of interest: buy this company...I own lots of shares. Trust me, it’s a good deal ;)
>> um, does that constitute insider trading?
No. He didn’t break any laws.
Sleazy? Maybe. Depends.
On the one hand, if you hired a guy to pick stocks for you, would you want to buy stocks he recommended that he wouldn’t buy himself?
On the other hand, if he only bought his share because he new that after you bought your HUGE share his smaller share would go up...
Sounds like a private matter for Berkshire Hathaway to arbitrate.
Buffet is too old school wasp. It’s just the new capitalism. Make Sokol Commerce Sec.
I would have dismissed this as an inside matter, but the letter Buffett felt the need to write on the matter was unusual. I get the impression that Buffett thinks there is something more to this and he his looking for deniability.
In this case, he knows if Buffet greenlights BH investing in said company, those shares he bought become much more valuable....guilty
Probably suspects this isn’t the first time he’s done this and a investigation into this time will lead to other times.
I’ve never understood the fascination with Buffet and Berkshire Hathaway. It’s basically a type of mutual fund in that they constantly buy companies — but they don’t pay a dividend to the investors. Where’s the cash that the acquisitions throw off? If the parent company owns above a certain percentage of a subsidiary, the dividends back to the parent are taxed at a low rate, or not at all. So — where’s the cash?
Anybody who thinks Buffet is “all that” needs to read Benjamin Graham. When I taught college classes, I recommended that all students study two books: the Holy Bible and the Intelligent Investor.
but, nah, now that I think about it, I'm sure they'd addressed stuff like this. I'm sure it's in his contract to leave his personal account alone so as to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. If it wasn't, Buffett couldn't have fired him.
This is classic insider trading.
The dividends go back into investments. Not everyone wants dividends. Have you looked at the performance of Berkshire B?
Warren in handcuffs, I like it.
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There is a lot more insider info leaked and/or “taken advantage of” by employees than you could ever believe -
One - back several years involved US Surgical stocks - check it out - I knew what was going on well in advance
As for Judges, Justices, and those ‘overseeing’ agency things -
It is not as if they would bend/break the law for financial gains
It is only how much their price is - and how secure and free they remain
This include SCOTUS - I also consider obvious corrupt political bias in decisions to be a bribe or payoff too - Our latest two Justices appointed by Obama and approved by Harry Reid’s US Senate are perfect examples of prime candidates for impeachment, conviction, and removal from the Supreme Court
I would not be upset for over five minutes by faster and more punitive methods
As for Warren Buffett - he was a huge supporter of 0ponzi and backed his TARP and endless bailout scams
- And Buffett has made a ton from doing so since the US economy and major businesses ‘mysteriously’ and ‘unexpectedly’ got a soreass.....
Never steal anything small - ask Lohan and Rich
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Sokol’s on CNBC right now doing some damage control.
No, this is not insider trading. Unethical yes, but not illegal. Sokol bought shares in January for his personal account because he liked the company and its business model. The guy’s rich - him throwing $10 million at a company he likes is nothing.
After looking more closely at the company, he realized it’s a real good business model and would be a good acquisition for BH. Stuff like this happens all the time at all levels of investing when you work on the buyside, and there’s nothing illegal about it.
At this scale (tho’ (when your company is going to acquire a company you recently bought personally) the ethical thing to do would be to divest the personal shares before the acquisition announcement.
Sokol didn’t do that, so bye-bye.
They don't pay dividends because dividends are taxable income. One need not pay taxes on unrealized capital gains. BH has some $34 Billion in cash.
Had a Koch or any conservative done this we would be watching their frog marches on continuous loop play on all the MSMs
I need facts.
What was the timeline between Sokol’s buys and him pitching the company. Did he do/use Bershire’s research to evaluate the purchase?
A corporate insider has different responsibilities than you and I.
The fact that it “happens all the time” does not affect the legality.
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