Think Billion$

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Hey Facebook, give me half the company!

Billionaires Need Chemistry ..... too

Monday, April 11, 2011

Fraud case against Facebook goes down in defeat

Winklevoss twins fraud case: Is 'Social Network' saga finally over?

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday that the brothers cannot back out of a settlement with giant social networking firm Facebook over claims that Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea.

Friday, April 8, 2011

Donald Trump campaigns on NBC

Trump--the billionaire real estate tycoon and reality TV figure who is flirting with a 2012 presidential run--again sought to suggest that Obama was not born in the United States.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Warren Buffett has "conned virtually everyone in the press to my knowledge"

Hedge fund manager Michael Steinhardt (MS) appeared on CNBC 4/5/11:

MS: "Here in America's the biggest thing we have to worry about is how long it will take for Buffett to come down to earth where he should have been a long time ago, so people like you begin to realize his reality and get off some cloud."

Q: "What is Buffett’s reality,”

MS: “His reality is that he is the greatest PR person of recent times. And he has managed to achieve a snow job that has conned virtually everyone in the press to my knowledge…and is remarkable that he continues to do it.”

Q: “Really, so outperforming the S&P, I don’t know how many hundred times, over the course of his portfolio…doesn’t matter?”

MS: “Ooo, I’m not sure he’s done that. What he has done, and this is a great measure of the man’s wonder, is that he gave away two and a half cents for the first 70 years of his life- he gave away nothing- and then in one fell swoop gave almost all of his money thoughtlessly, to one guy. And from that moment on became the greatest advocate of philanthropy and pitched all the bumbling billionaires to do the same thing. That takes a special guy having given away nothing and then in one fell swoop ‘boom!’ he gives it all away and pitches the other yo-yos to give it away too. Now what does that say? I think that’s worth reflecting.”

"He has just screwed all those nice old people who saved all their lives to retire and he is paying half of one percent so he could recapitalize the banks... The Journal does not talk about this because those people don't matter...If you listen to Bernanke inflation is low even though you can't help noticing what is really going on. Inflation is so skewed where inflation is commodities is flying and wages inflation is zero so for the average guy in America it is terrible. Not bad but terrible."

Just buy a boat-load of Lubrizol

Thursday, March 31, 2011

The David Sokol - Berkshire Hathaway bookshelf

Pleased But Not Satisfied

Behind the Berkshire Hathaway Curtain: Lessons from Warren Buffett's Top Business Leaders

How to Build a Business Warren Buffett Would Buy: The R. C. Willey Story

Integrity is one of the six commandments painted in stark black and white terms. Mr. Sokol quotes Warren Buffett's statement regarding the subject: "Would I be absolutely comfortable for my action to be disclosed on the front page of my hometown newspaper in an article written by a knowledgeable and thorough reporter and read by my family, friends, and co-workers?" As Mr. Sokol says, "Integrity is not complicated. If it seems to be, you probably do not belong on our team."

Warren Buffett's #2 man is out at Berkshire Hathaway

David Sokol, considered by outsiders to be the most likely candidate to succeed Warren Buffett, resigned from Berkshire Hathaway after front-running shares of a company he suggested Buffett buy.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Carlos Slim, the architect

The Museo Soumaya, the second museum belonging to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, will house more than 60,000 works of art and will open March 2012.

"There will be two architects on this project—one of them will be me" - Carlos Slim

WSJ Article: Emperor's New Museum

Friday, March 18, 2011

Warren Buffett gets billions back from Goldman Sachs

Never doubt Warren Buffett's ability to make money or get his money back. Especially, these days, with government approval.

The Federal Reserve the results of the second round of stress tests for the nation's banks. The capital and balance sheet assessment results in many banks increasing dividends and adding share buy-backs.

In 2008, during the financial crisis, Warren Buffett invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs preferred stock paying a healthy dividend.

Warren Buffett, more specifically Berkshire Hathaway (50,000 preferred shares), now gets that equity returned. Nice work Mr. Buffett.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Yeah! "The Billionaires Issue" is here!

Well, the list has been pre-released for a while. But, this is the issue all billionaire watchers have been waiting for...

It is the March 28, 2011 Forbes "The Billionaires Issue." aka - The Richest People on the Planet.

We already knew Carlos Slim was still number one.

However, the current Forbes issue also informs us about: 1,210 billionaires in 54 countries; the boom in Brazil; China's Wealth Factory; and The Facebook Six.

How happy are we at Think Billion$ ...?

Almost a billion dollars happy!