Weak generic answer on rail competition
Charlie bailed him out
12 Likes
“ Weak generic answer on rail competition.”
Same conclusion.
Future AMs are going to be boring without Warren and Charlie.
6 Likes
I thought Greg did fine.
What he’s saying is BNSF is investing in customers, while trying to improve/at the cost of efficiency or other wall st metric. He tries hard not to attack his competitor directly but it’s clear to me he’s not apologetic about bnsf’s performance . In fact I think he’s basically saying bnsf is doing better then unp.
5 Likes
Agreed, contrast that to Ajit’s answer, Ajit was more direct and provided a timeline when he expects GEICO will catch up. Ajit may or may not be interested in the job, Greg may be more circumspect, a required character for CEO, but my vote will be for Ajit to be Berkshire CEO.
2 Likes
my vote will be for Ajit to be Berkshire CEO
I thunk he did not want the job. It seems to me that, unless he has changed his mind, it would be a bad idea to give the job to someone who does not want it.
1 Like
it would be a bad idea to give the job to someone who does not want it.
You don’t want to marry someone who doesn’t want to marry… as far as the job, I think whether someone wants it or not has nothing to do with how well they can do the job, or even do the job. Someone wanting it doesn’t mean he is the right guy…
May be it is Ajit’s unwillingness to move to Omaha… or may be something else.
I think that Greg’s “investing in customers” comment was meant to please both customers and those who set rates. But, I too was disappointed in his not giving a more responsive answer. This was his opportunity to articulate his mastery of one of the biggest operations under his direction.
I thought Ajit had complete command of the businesses under him (reminds me of younger Warren). And his answers were sharp, direct, to-the-point, and completely analytical without any corporate mumbo-jumbo.
I too was disappointed with Greg’s answer on the railroad. It was just generic (I dare say almost meaningless) that you normally hear from a non-Berkshire executive who grew up in sales. What worries me more (and I don’t know if this is the case or not) is if the answer is reflection of his lack of deep command and understanding of one of the two largest units under him from an operational point of view. He does seem to have complete command of BHE related issues unlike his BNSF answer.
2 Likes
I think Greg has to learn how Warren changes the topic when he doesn’t want to answer the question. It seems to me they disagree on the other Railroads tactics.