Buffett on the Spot

What were you thinking, Warren? At his shareholders’ meeting, the oracle will have to answer for his biggest management bungle.

Illustration by Thomas Fuchs

America has a way of elevating its heroes beyond the realm of mere mortals. This has not been an issue on Wall Street, where heroes do not exist. Warren Buffett has been the glaring exception. An Omahan who was not of Wall Street so much as above it and who spoke in cracker-barrel English derived more from Twain than from J. P. Morgan, he fulfilled (I once wrote) America’s secular myth. He was the man from the Plains whose virtue offered an antidote to the corrupt Northeast and to Wall Street in particular. It is a measure of his reputation that a radio interviewer asked me whether Buffett had, until late, behaved in a “near perfect” manner. No flesh and blood, examined up close, can meet such a standard. As the saying goes, “No man is a hero to his valet.” The David Sokol affair, in which an executive of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway was caught in a serious ethical trespass, and in which Buffett failed to deliver a rebuke, has shown us a bit of the great man’s undergarments. The question for the 40,000 shareholders converging on Omaha for Saturday’s annual meeting (a.k.a. Buffett’s “capitalist Woodstock”) is whether the Sokol business tells us anything new, and perhaps dispiriting, about Buffett.

When I was writing a biography on Buffett, in the early ’90s, the trait that most distinguished him was his searing independence. Buffett was a brilliant, socially responsible investor, who engaged with the world only on his terms. He refused to be co-opted or recruited, whether with regard to stocks, philanthropy, or politics. His aloofness often caused associates to suffer disappointment. He zealously protected his time and his money; even his children suffered from the billionaire’s reserve. In a not atypical incident, he could barely lower his newspaper to listen to his teenage daughter’s tearful rendition of how she crashed his car. Friends described how Warren had rebuffed their requests for even small donations, and to causes with which the liberal billionaire sympathized. More fundamentally, associates yearned for a closer emotional connection.

Read the full Article at >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> A Newsweek Site

 

Dubai-based suitor eyes bank in Afghanistan

An Afghan girl walks past Kabul Bank’s main office in Afghanistan’s capital in March. The Alokozay Group, based in Dubai, sees ‘great potential’ in the country’s banking sector.(Musadeq Sadeq / AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — Alokozay Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate, is seeking approval to buy a bank in Afghanistan as authorities there try to restore confidence in the scandal-tainted financial industry.

The CEO of Alokozay’s Afghan operations said in an interview Sunday the family company sees “great potential” in the nation’s banking sector despite nearly a decade of war and the near collapse of the country’s largest private lender amid corruption problems last year.

“We want to bring in professionals and set up a bank that’s basically recognized worldwide,” Jalil Alokozay told The Associated Press. “If someone comes in and has a proper plan and empowers the professionals, then there are lots of opportunities here in Afghanistan.”

Read the full article:>>>>>> Dubai-based suitor eyes bank in Afghanistan – Business – TheChronicleHerald.ca.

 

Cultivating big projects key to entrepreneurial success

Business owners who put out feelers for new projects should keep in mind that it can take a long time for something to happen — but when it does happen, things can move quickly. You’ll want to be ready.

That was the experience of Lesley Armstrong, founder and head of Armstrong Textiles, who has worked on several large-scale projects over the years. One time when the Dartmouth company was exhibiting at the Interior Design Show in Toronto, the architect for the 32-storey Telus building approached Armstrong about creating draperies.

“When a multimillion-dollar highrise is planned, it often takes several years before final details get discussed,” she says. “So you just go about your daily work and try to keep in touch.”

And keeping the machinery oiled is a good idea, Armstrong says.

“Often, when you get the call to proceed with the job, time can be tight, so you have to get in gear pretty quickly. If you have to work long days and seven days a week, that’s what you have to do to get the job done.”

Cultivating big projects key to entrepreneurial success – Business – TheChronicleHerald.ca.

 

Social Networks: A New Hotbed for Hiring Discrimination Claims

As corporate recruiters and hiring managers turn to social networking websites to source and screen candidates for jobs, what constitutes illegal discrimination? Find out what information about job seekers gleaned from social networking websites you can and can’t factor into your hiring decisions in this Q&A with HR expert Jessica Miller-Merrell.

CIO — Social networking websites are fast becoming a staple of corporate recruiting. Depending on which studies you read, anywhere from 39 to 65 percent of companies use social networking websites to identify and screen potential candidates for open positions.

Sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Ning have made it easier and cheaper for recruiters and hiring managers to access a vast and receptive talent pool, says Jessica Miller-Merrell, an HR consultant who specializes in social media. She notes that there are 600 million active users on Facebook alone who spend between six and 12 hours each month on the site.

Social Networks: A New Hotbed for Hiring Discrimination Claims CIO.com.

 

Offshore Banking and Tax Havens Have Become Heart of Global Economy

As millions of Americans prepare to file their income taxes ahead of Monday’s deadline, we look at how corporations and the wealthy use offshore banks and tax havens to avoid paying taxes and other governmental regulations. “Tax havens have grown so fast in the era of globalization, since the 1970s, that they are now right at the heart of the global economy and are absolutely huge,” says our guest, British journalist Nicholas Shaxson. “There are anywhere between $10 and $20 trillion sitting offshore at the moment. Half of world trade is processed in one way or another through tax havens.” Shaxson is the author of the new book, Treasure Islands: Uncovering the Damage of Offshore Banking and Tax Havens. [includes rush transcript]

Offshore Banking and Tax Havens Have Become Heart of Global Economy.