Berkshire Hathaway | featured news

Warren Buffett believes David Sokol clearly violated Berkshire Hathaway’s ethical standards when he bought stock in Lubrizol before recommending that Berkshire buy the chemical company.

Berkshire Hathaway said Wednesday that a former top executive who many believed might one day succeed Warren Buffett as CEO violated the company’s insider trading and ethics policies by buying stock in a chemical company Berkshire is acquiring and failing to disclose key details.

Berkshire Hathaway has agreed to acquire the specialty chemical company Lubrizol for $9 billion in cash in one of the largest acquisitions in the conglomerate's history.

The one man Berkshire Hathaway Risk Committee and Chief Risk Officer, 79 year old Warren Buffett, says that directors of major banks are "derelict" if they don't "insist that [their] CEO bear full responsibility for risk control. If he's incapable of handling that job, he should look for other employment. And if he fails at it -- with the government thereupon required to step in with funds or guarantees -- the financial consequences for him and the board should be severe."

A strong stock market and a steady stream of premiums from its vast insurance holdings helped Berkshire Hathaway Inc. bounce back last year from a rough 2008 but the company underperformed the broader market, results released early Saturday showed.

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc has struck a deal to buy the rest of railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp for $26 billion, Buffett's biggest acquisition ever.

It's 12 months later and Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is $3 billion richer. One year ago today, on September 23, 2008, with the financial world still reeling from the collapse of Lehman Brothers just days before, Buffett stunned Wall Street with a massive vote of confidence for Goldman Sachs.

Berkshire Hathaway's net sank 96% in the fourth quarter. Warren Buffett warned of a bubble in the Treasury market.