Warren Buffett News: Bill Gates, American International Group, Inc. (AIG) & More

Warren Buffett Embraces an Old Love (DailyFinance)
It didn’t take long after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) welcomed four former American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) executives into the fold that it introduced a new, specialty insurance arm to the world. Based in Boston, Mass., the new entity will sell commercial insurance products encompassing property & casualty, as well as professional liability insurance. The public got some insight into Buffett’s plan when the American International Group, Inc. (NYSE:AIG) crew came on board, but the Oracle had been planning this move for some time, telling Bloomberg right before Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A)’s annual meeting, “We would like to get into the commercial-insurance business very big time.”

Warren Buffett — Winnipeg-style (WinnipegFreePress)
Tim Burt was preaching to the choir at a recent luncheon where he was the guest speaker. Like him, most of the attendees were investment analysts. So they were well-versed in Burt’s topic, the basics of value investing — an investment philosophy made famous by Warren Buffett. Considered one of the world’s most successful investors, with the vast wealth to back it up, Buffett earned his nickname the Oracle of Omaha because of his ability to buy undervalued companies that eventually become highly valued ones.

Buffett’s MidAmerican Planning $700 Million Solar Bond Sale (MoneyNews)
Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. may complete a $700 million bond offering this month to finance its $2.74 billion Antelope Valley solar farm in Southern California. The company plans to issue Series A senior secured notes due in 2035, Elizabeth Fogerty, a Fitch Ratings spokeswoman, said by e-mail. Barclays Plc, Citigroup Inc (NYSE:C) and Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc (ADR) (NYSE:RBS) are leading the offering, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Warren Buffett’s Mentor Was A Crappy Hedge Fund Manager (BusinessInsider)
Jack Bogle, the outspoken godfather of index funds and passive investing strategies, didn’t approve of a recent Wall Street Journal article defending hedge funds. In particular, he took issue with the author’s reference to Benjamin Graham, the legendary Columbia finance professor who literally wrote the book on Security Analysis and mentored Warren Buffett. …Citing Benjamin Graham as the first “hedged fund” operator is an especially unfortunate example. “The trick,” Mr. Rice writes, was Graham’s “clever way to make money . . . whether it [the market] continued to rise, or started to fall.”