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Berkshire Hathaway( Warren Buffet) has a habit of investing in companies with a proven record. I'm pretty sure that BNSF won't have a pile of major changes or that---not like some investors have done--
And the really ironic part??? Warren Buffett and his company are both based in Omaha Nebraska. Why is that ironic you might say?? Well it just happens to be the home of the largest rail road in the United States, the Union Pacific Rail Road!!!
This has been "in the works" for a while. Notice they had 22% before. People got talking a while back about them buying, and BNSF stock prices rose. Now they're paying a premium, 31.5% at that, I kind of wish I had bought some stock. This is good for BNSF, but bad for anyone who had hoped to invest in BNSF.
Not sure how this will affect BNSF's dividend payout. If they're wholly owned by Berkshire, do they stop paying? If so, that saves BNSF money.
This was a big story on Fox Business Channel today. They interviewed the CEO of BNSF ( I don't recall his name ) and they asked him if he expected any upper level BNSF people to be replaced. His replay was Buffett told him he didn't know a thing about running a railroad but he did know when to buy a good asset. It was also mentioned that Buffet is a Lionel collector to which the BNSF CEO replied " Well now he owns about 120,000 freight cars and over 6000 locomotives. I hope he finds room for them."
It was reported Buffet bought the railroad via BNSF shares for $100 cash each plus some stock. At 2:00PM BNSF stock was up $21.60 per share to $96+.
BH doesn't come in a shake management up. The folks running the show today will be there tomorrow. I'm not too sure what BNSF's credit rating is but they will now have access to BH's credit line (was AAA) and they'll be able to operate with lower interest rates.
Myself and about 1000 other BH employees who are about to be furloughed are wondering if there will be a bridge program between us and BNSF. One can hope!
And the really ironic part??? Warren Buffett and his company are both based in Omaha Nebraska. Why is that ironic you might say?? Well it just happens to be the home of the largest rail road in the United States, the Union Pacific Rail Road!!!
haha yea, you know what else is ironic? that "Berkshire" also owns stock in UP and NS...to be more precise, 9.56 million shares of Union Pacific and 1.93 million shares of Norfolk Southern...crazy stuff..i wish i had that kinda money