Mr. Sokol resigns from Hathaway

[deziloooooo]

This is my first post here, have been reading post but not participating so if i am out of line for posting this here, just let me know your guide lines.

I came across this and since I am invested a tiny bit in Hathaway, found this interesting.
I was wonderiong if Mr . Sokol, who purchased 90,000 plus shares in January of the the company being considered by Hathaway for purchase, Lubrizol, actually a offer made and the other Board , Lubrizols, now considering, if he just took a gamble, that it would be considered seriously and if turned down by Hathaway , then he just unloads over a short periiod of time , takes his losses , if any , and chalks it up to a good try.
These are people of great wealth and they are able and expect at times to have loses , yet the gains can be considered great thus the risks at times gambles taken.
Do you think that my thoughts are a bit off here.?
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finance.yahoo.com/news/Abrupt-Exit-for-a-Top-Deputy-nytimes-1568388297.html?x=0
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[Click on link to read the article]
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.Abrupt Exit for a Top Deputy to Warren Buffett




ROTESS and SUSANNE CRAIG, On Wednesday March 30, 2011, 10:24 pm EDT

10:15 p.m. | UpdatedDavid Sokol has abruptly resigned from Berkshire Hathaway, the company run by the billionaire Warren E. Buffett, raising major questions about the future stewardship of the conglomerate.

Mr. Sokol, 54, was long considered to be a leading candidate to take over from Mr. Buffett, now 80. The question of succession has been a concern to Berkshire's investors and the many avid followers of Mr. Buffett, who has said he has no plans to step aside anytime soon. The company has given few clues about its plan other than to say it has identified four current Berkshire managers who could become the next chief executive. Now that game plan may have to be tweaked.

The resignation also raises deeper questions about Mr. Sokol's stake in a company that Berkshire is acquiring."

[kman]

Hey deziloooo, Good to see you here.

That purchase by Mr. Sokol is a conflict of interest .Most likely illegal

[verrip1]

Holders of big or baby Berkshires should expect a 10-20% drop after Buffett dies. Buffett IS BH - the holding will never be the same after he's gone. It's scary to invest in something that dependent upon one man.

[rovo]

I don't know about the legality of his stock buy but it certainly looks unethical to me. There are some things you just shouldn't do and this is one of them.

[deziloooooo]

Mar 31, 2011 16:59:40 GMT -5 @wxyz said:

Dezi welcome.

verrip

How true. Berkshire will never be the same when the time comes for Mr B to retire or when his health fails.

I have a small investment as you can imagine, but have had it many years, done really well, still would be fine iff had a 20% drop, really want to pass it on .

[deziloooooo]

Mar 31, 2011 16:39:40 GMT -5 sunrnr said:

Having worked for a company run by Mr. Sokol and having met him and Mr. Able personally, I find it hard to imagine his doing something intentionally illegal. However, from what I've read it does look somewhat suspicious.

We were constantly reminded of and trained on professional ethics. Mr. Buffet said "Before you make decisions, ask your self if it could result in your name being splashed all over the TV and newspapers bringing shame on you, your family and your company."

There's obviously more to the story.

Mr Sokol is a very young man, early 50's, I am sure has been well compensated to say the least and can see him spending 10 years or more getting his house in order for his heirs , philanthropic endeavors, spending 100 % of his business hours on that type of finish to his business years, still vibrant , excited and interested.

[kman]

Mr Sokol is a very young man, early 50's,

I like you even more....Can you come by every day!

[kman]

Looks like it was more cost effective to resign and keep the money after he was caught double dipping. He should have used his off shore account to hide it a little better. Wasn't there a scene in the latest Wall Street movie just like that?

[frankq]

Did any of you guys see the interviews on CNBC with Sokol? I have to say that he didn't exactly make a good case for himself. Looked like some pretty blatent double dipping to me anyway....

[verrip1]

Thing is, for any possible successor, it will take a looooong time to comprehend the Buffett long term strategy. At 80, Buffett doesn't have the time to do it right. He's first got to pick a guy with ethics, then have him be malleable enough to accept the Buffett concepts. Other fund managers have difficulty thinking beyond a one-quarter performance time frame. How is Buffett going to find someone with the guts to invest for a twenty year return? Wharton ain't graduating guys like that.

[deziloooooo]

Mar 31, 2011 20:06:27 GMT -5 verrip1 said:

Thing is, for any possible successor, it will take a looooong time to comprehend the Buffett long term strategy. At 80, Buffett doesn't have the time to do it right. He's first got to pick a guy with ethics, then have him be malleable enough to accept the Buffett concepts. Other fund managers have difficulty thinking beyond a one-quarter performance time frame. How is Buffett going to find someone with the guts to invest for a twenty year return? Wharton ain't graduating guys like that.

I am going to have to come here more often, I so do AGREE with you...good post, and right on, this quarter performance drives me nuts . I am into a lot of funds, to many actually , and one I have had for years, and am not pushing it, but the Baron family,{Ron Baron} they really go long term and hold and hold as long as the companies are progressing, and over all, ups and downs, very happy with them, plus love their newsletters every quarter, interviews with the CEO's of the companies they hold.

With so many of them, if they did the same thing, by the time a newsletter came out, the investment in that company, toast, gone.

[itstippy]

wxyz is dead-on in his post above.

Berkshire shareholders are confident that come what may, Warren Buffet will look after their longterm best interests. They are also confident that he has the brains and guts and ethics to do a good job of it. It's impossible to find another large publicly-held corporation with those qualities at the top. Or a politician. One's lucky to find a spouse with those qualities.

I recall a few years ago when the mainstream financial press ran articles like "Has Warren Buffet Lost His Touch?" The articles focused on Berkshire's recent performance, which was poor compared to other financial giants that were raking in the dough. A year later Berkshire was loaning these high-flyers money to keep them from foundering under a sea of high-risk investments gone sour. And Berkshire extracted their pound of flesh for the loans, too.

Do you suppose Countrywide investors bought their stocks and "financial products" because they had supreme confidence that Angelo Mozilo had their backs?

[itstippy]

Wha? Who turned my Dancing Banker logo into Barney's naughty nephew playing with matches?

FTI, if you're manipulating the board again knock it off! It was bad enough when you wiped out Decoy's karma and made him sad. But making itstippy into a cuddly and adorable juvenile delinquent T-Rex is going too far.

[workpublic]

How true. Berkshire will never be the same when the time comes for Mr B to retire or when his health fails.

same for Apple and steve jobs

[TD2K]

Mr. Buffet said "Before you make decisions, ask your self if it could result in your name being splashed all over the TV and newspapers bringing shame on you, your family and your company."

My company has a similar guideline:

A good test to determine if a comtemplated action is ethical is to ask "Would I want to see it in the headlines tomorrow morning?"

I can't believe he was that stupid.