It has been widely reported, and as Reuters is reporting, that Warren Buffett now feels David Sokol deceived him and broke the law. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that this apparently serious enough for the Board of Directors of Bershkshire Hathaway is considering filing a lawsuit against David Sokol. For David Sokol what appears to the be the most problematic is the revelation that he
Tag: Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett (pronounced /?b?f?t/; born August 30, 1930) is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as “legendary investor, Warren Buffett”, he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.[6] He is consistently ranked among the world’s wealthiest people. He was ranked as the world’s wealthiest person in 2008 and is the third wealthiest person in the world as of 2011. Buffett is called the “Wizard of Omaha”, “Oracle of Omaha” or the “Sage of Omaha” and is noted for his adherence to the value investing philosophy and for his personal frugality despite his immense wealth. Buffett is also a notable philanthropist, having pledged to give away 99 percent of his fortune to philanthropic causes, primarily via the Gates Foundation. He also serves as a member of the board of trustees at Grinnell College.
Berkshire Hathaway’s Board of Directors Report on David Sokol
Thanks to our friends at the Wall Street Journal I found a copy of Berkshire Hathaway’s Board of Directors Audit Committee Report on David Sokol’s trading in the shares o Lubrizol. A copy of the report can be found here: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/Berk_Board.pdf
I am going to read through the report, the Berkshire Memo on Insider Trading and be back with my comments in the next day or so. I’ll let you know what I think happened and what I think lies in store for Mr. Sokol.
A Little Bit More on Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and David Sokol
This weekend saw the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting. Obviously the hot topic of conversation; David Sokol. So, I thought I would take a few quick minutes to comment on some of the recent items in the press and items posted to our main site.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Warren Buffett claims David Sokol misled him: http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/05/01/warren-buffett-on-david-sokol-no-question-he-misled-me/
It appears that following those remarks by Buffett, David Sokol’s attorney decided to issue a statement defending Sokol, and criticizing Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2011/04/30/david-sokol-defends-himself-against-warren-buffett/
Mason Kirby (on Behalf of Berkshire Hathaway) v. David Sokol and the Berkshire Board
Thanks to our friends at Bloomberg we have found we have found a copy of the Mason Kirby lawsuit over the David Sokol, Lubrizol trades. A copy of which can be found here: http://media.bloomberg.com/bb/avfile/r3SCX27MJMSg
I’ll be back later with some additional comments once I have had a chance to read the complaint in greater detail.
Berkshire Hathaway: Insider Trading Policies and Procedures
Thanks to our friends at the Wall Street Journal we found a copy of the Berkshire Hathaway memo on Insider Trading Policies and Procedures. A copy of it can be found at the following link: http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/BerkApr6_2011.pdf
A Look at David Sokol’s Trades and The Fallout
It has been a couple of weeks since Warren Buffett’s startling announcement that David Sokol bought shares of Lubrizol for his personal account ahead of Berkshire’s acquisition of the company. For a time it looked like Warren’s efforts to get out in front of the issue with the press had been successful. However, last week Reuters reported on April 19th, that “Berkhire, Buffet Sued Over Sokol’s Trades.” I thought that now might be a good time to take a look at Mr. Sokol’s activity, what he has done wrong, and