(May 2, 2015) A newspaper exposé has Buffett defending Berkshire subsidiary Clayton Homes from accusations it steers buyers into loans they can’t pay back. He also backs large job cuts at newly-acquired Kraft Heinz, explains why he doesn’t “talk up” Berkshire’s investments, reveals his most memorable failure, and advises aspirational businesspeople to stay away from business school.
Berkshire's per-share book value increased 8.3 percent in 2014, lagging the S&P's 13.7 percent gain for the company's third straight loss. But Berkshire's stock price was up 27.0 percent, its third straight win against the S&P. In his annual letter celebrating 50 years of running the company, Buffett wrote that owning more large businesses with static carrying values was widening the gap between Berkshire's book value and it's all-important, but hard to measure, intrinsic value. But, he said, over time "stock prices and intrinsic value almost invariably converge."
READ 2014 LETTER (DATED FEB. 27, 2015)