Obama Didn’t Save GM; He Put it on Buffett’s Life Support
My GM insider reported back in this morning with some goodies about Warren Buffett, GM’s tanking shares, and the November election.
News broke 10 days ago or so that Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway) bought 10 million shares of GM common stock (~$256 million):
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway built new positions in General Motors and Viacom during the first three months of 2012.
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A) holds roughly 10 million shares in General Motors (GM, Fortune 500) or roughly $256.5 million worth, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission Tuesday.
GM’s stock price has tanked since the November 2010 IPO, losing over a third of its value, dropping from $33/share to $22.07 currently:
Buffett is usually something of a weather vane for other investors, but he’s not necessarily a very risk averse guy, and has a history of a few big flops (not like $256 million is a lot of money to him).
Im trying to think of how many SEC based investment disclosure regulations that sort of collusion would violate.
Neither. Buffett isn’t interested in using his wealth to prop up Obama. He thinks that GM will survive and it’s dropped to such a point that he’s willing to buy it. This is his standard modus operandi. It’s the same as when he picked up B of A a few years ago. He is personally responsible for increasing his shareholder’s wealth. Reading his Letters to the Shareholders makes this readily apparent. He’s willing to lose $256m in an error, but, he’s not going to give it away. It’s not his money to give, and he knows it.