By Dr. David Kass
In Berkshire Hathaway’s 50th Anniversary (under Warren Buffett’s management) letter to shareholders, Charlie Munger stated that either Ajit Jain or Greg Abel would make an outstanding CEO to eventually succeed Warren Buffett.
I am quoted in two articles in the Omaha World Herald on this letter:
David Kass, a business professor at the University of Maryland and Berkshire shareholder, said he ignores gains and losses on derivatives and investments, calling them “one-time events” that have nothing to do with the day-to-day performance of the conglomerate’s operating businesses.
“It is important to focus on operating earnings,” Kass said. “It’s what Buffett tells us to do.”
David Kass, a business professor at the University of Maryland and Berkshire shareholder, said Buffett appears to be attempting to motivate BNSF with his multiple mentions of Union Pacific, a former stock holding of Berkshire with a headquarters about two dozen blocks from Buffett’s office.
“He might be attempting to stimulate the competitive juices at BNSF,” Kass said. “But it does raise the question of how much the service problems were weather-related and how much they were a result of bad managerial decisions.”
