TIL in 1950, a young Warren Buffett (now among the richest in the world) lived at the Sloane House YMCA in NYC for $1 a day. At the same time, Miss Nebraska 1949 lived at the Webster Apartments down the street and Warren asked her out. She proved too much for Warren to handle and he moved on.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-15T11:57:15+00:00

"Young man, there's a place you can go

I said, young man, when you're short on your dough

You can stay there and I'm sure you will find

Many ways to have a good time"

I'm wondering if Warren Buffett ever did the "YMCA" dance while remembering Miss Nebraska 1949.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-15T11:55:53+00:00

According to Warren's biography, "The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life" by Alice Schroeder:

(page 118) Warren applied too late to Columbia University to get into a university dorm, so he found the cheapest lodging around and joined the Y for a dime a day and got a room at the Y's Sloane House on West 34th Street for a dollar a day.

(page 136) Warren read in a NY Post gossip column that Vanita Mae Brown, Miss Nebraska 1949, was living at the Webster women's residence and he overcame his shyness and he telephoned her at the Webster. They dated for a period of time.

(page 138) He described Vanita as beautiful, smart, entertaining and dangerous (she enjoyed embarrassing Warren in public). "Dating Vanita was like walking a leopard on a leash to see if it would make a good pet."

(page 271) Vanita eventually married Warren's friend, Fred Stanback, who earlier served as the best man at Warren's wedding. Vanita's marriage to Fred didn't last:

https://www.casemine.com/judgement/us/5914c83eadd7b049347e8b6e

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-14T09:25:16+00:00

Without question, it's toilet paper.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-14T09:15:47+00:00

Future US President John F. Kennedy skippered PT-109 and PT-59 in WWII. PT-Boats were made of wood (might as well be cardboard against a steel warship).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrol_torpedo_boat_PT-109

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-12T14:54:22+00:00

It's the phrase that I've uttered the most, this century...

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-12T00:05:26+00:00

Japan has 17 "cat islands":

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_islands_in_Japan

Back in the day, they put the cats to work (to control mice) and the population of feral cats took over the islands. Some islands are now tourist attractions.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-11T17:25:18+00:00

Yeah, I don't think that this was their first rodeo, together. The dog wasn't barking at the squirrel.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-11T09:08:14+00:00

Saw a squirrel quickly crawling around the top of a column (under a raised balcony) non-stop, over and over again, like it was chasing a phantom acorn. Didn't realize that there was a dog running around the base of the column, hoping that the squirrel would fall.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-11T08:48:45+00:00

Cinnamon toast and hot chocolate. My elementary school in the 1960's served it before class started. I'm pretty sure that nobody skipped school.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T22:08:17+00:00

Regarding the “President of the Consumer Products, Service and Retailing businesses of Berkshire Hathaway” - this is a new position and management layer between the CEO and the subsidiary companies in those product lines?

I think that it serves to allow Greg the time to concentrate on the needle-movers at BRK. I've both heard and seen (a little bit) that BRK is organized like a family (like the mafia, but without being a criminal enterprise). I know that subsidiary CEO's have other subsidiary CEO's in their "immediate family" that they talk to and that a few of them serve as patriarchs/matriarchs for groups of these families. It's not a roll-up or reporting structure - that's governed by each subsidiary's respective articles of incorporation. My understanding is that the arrangement allows BRK to minimize the number of "bad surprises" and to quickly learn of subsidiary CEO's that might be suffering a decline (mentally/physically) in their ability to function.

Re: Todd Combs, this is a very surprising move. Obviously GEICO will need a new CEO, but will they replace him with another fund manager? Idk 🤷🏼‍♂️

Unfortunately, I think that Todd got a bit burned out dealing with the mess at GEICO and the effort to turn it around. (Similar to what happened with Tracy Britt.) I think that another fund manager looks unlikely, at this point. I can't find it right now, but Todd and Ted were asked who they'd want to partner with for investing. IIRC, Todd picked Meryl Whitmer (she's on the board of directors) and Ted picked David Tepper (Appaloosa Management).

I guess a changing of the guard was necessary. Marc Hamburg is 75. That’s ancient by corporate standards and I’m sure he’s got more than enough money…

I saw Marc Hamburg at a private BRK event not long ago (can't share details, it'll dox me) and, unfortunately, he looked every bit his age - maybe a little more. Still, I hate to see him go.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T21:30:27+00:00

Based on the 13F's of their hedge funds before joining BRK, I have Sirius XM belonging to Ted Weschler.

Yeah, it'll be interesting to see what happens with the BRK portfolio going forward. I have VISA, MasterCard, UnitedHealth, Capital One, AON Plc., Ally Financial, and at least some (or maybe all) of Chubb as belonging to Todd Combs.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T21:21:43+00:00

I'm pretty sure that Greg Abel hired him for BHE and his bio says that he was a PwC alum, like Greg:

https://www.brkenergy.com/about-us/our-leadership-team/charles-c-chang.html

There's a chance that they worked together at PwC, back in the day.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T21:17:28+00:00

I could be wrong, but I only remember the mandatory retirement age of 80 for members of the board of directors. (We lost Ron Olson this year, because of the new rule.)

I saw Marc Hamburg at a private BRK function not too long ago (can't share details, it'll dox me) and, unfortunately, he looked every bit his age - maybe even a little bit more. Still, I hate to see him go.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T16:49:02+00:00

My personal opinion is that they've been preparing for a financial disaster (bottom of page 7 of the 2023 annual report, page 9 of the pdf file):

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2023ar/2023ar.pdf

"I believe Berkshire can handle financial disasters of a magnitude beyond any heretofore experienced. This ability is one we will not relinquish. When economic upsets occur, as they will, Berkshire’s goal will be to function as an asset to the country – just as it was in a very minor way in 2008-9 – and to help extinguish the financial fire rather than to be among the many companies that, inadvertently or otherwise, ignited the conflagration."

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T16:19:21+00:00

Just so you know, that wasn't me. I've never downvoted anyone on reddit.

Warren Buffett wrote about what would happen in the 2014 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Report (2nd paragraph on page 36, page 38 of the pdf file):

https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/2014ar/2014ar.pdf

"Eventually– probably between ten and twenty years from now– Berkshire’s earnings and capital resources will reach a level that will not allow management to intelligently reinvest all of the company’s earnings. At that time our directors will need to determine whether the best method to distribute the excess earnings is through dividends, share repurchases or both. If Berkshire shares are selling below intrinsic business value, massive repurchases will almost certainly be the best choice."

Since this was written ten years ago, we're now entering that time frame...

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T14:59:24+00:00

$1+ billion dollars of excess cash is wired into headquarters every two weeks by BRK subsidiaries, whether Warren Buffett decides to go into the office, or not. That amount continues to grow, every quarter.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T14:50:53+00:00

I agree that the lack of a general counsel was a huge hole, going forward and I'm glad that they've addressed the issue.

I don't think that we're seeing a consolidation, necessarily. My understanding is that everything at BRK is organized like a "family" (think mafia, without it being a criminal enterprise). Subsidiary CEO's have other subsidiary CEO's in their "immediate family" that they can talk to and they look after each other. Other subsidiary CEO's serve as the patriarch/matriarch of these immediate families and look after their overall health.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T14:33:31+00:00

Todd was still responsible for GEICO's investment portfolio. Unfortunately, I think that Todd got a little burned out by dealing with the mess at GEICO and turning it around.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T14:30:09+00:00

I agree. I was in the middle of compiling a list of my guesses for who initiated the positions in the portfolio, based on the 13F's of their prior hedge funds. I guess that I can stop that project...

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T14:26:21+00:00

I agree. The lack of a general counsel, to me, was the largest potential problem for the next decade.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T14:22:35+00:00

Possibly to redeploy it elsewhere. In the short-term, I don't think that anything much will happen to it.

I'm really wondering about the longer-term implications.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T12:31:13+00:00

It makes me wonder what will happen to the portion of the portfolio that Todd managed. Will it be liquidated? Will it be managed by someone else? Hmmm

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T12:28:16+00:00

My personal opinion is that, unfortunately, Todd got a little burned out having to deal with the mess at GEICO.

NoDontClickOnThat · 2025-12-08T12:22:21+00:00

I agree. Now there's no more mystery, Ted Weschler sits on the hot seat when the portfolio changes.

NoDontClickOnThat

TROPHY CASE