David Sokol has quit Berkshire Hathaway after making $3 million in a $10 million share buy up in the chemicals company Lubrizol Corp. Mr Sokol had advised Mr Buffet to buy the company, which Mr Buffet did. Today Warren Buffet says he didn’t “feel the Lubrizol purchases were “in any way unlawful.” The SEC may or may not investigate the matter. Subtext of story – Warren looks after his boys. Mr Sokol says his March 28 resignation arose from a desire to “invest his family’s resources.”
Clearly, Mr Buffet loves displaying stories of teaching staff skills to make ‘new money’ to give themselves their own payrise incentives, with his help. Such a Buffet thing to incite – no matter how it’s achieved. Wingmen culture to the days.
Now the drama has begun, with Sokol quitting – who will be Mr Buffet’s successor? Matthew Rose? Ajit Jain or Tony Nicely? Obviously, Mr Buffet pays his actors well. :)
Perhaps to be a bit more Facebook culture aligned, Bill Gates is in the spotlight for his early years developing Microsoft. Gates co-founder of the company Paul Allen is writing a tell-all memoir discussing “the fractious and difficult” relationship of the duo, then was previously known. Normal IT companies issues are discussed in the book, like ‘whose ideas were whose.’ These two friends since high school, could “be at risk” over this book Gates allegedly has not authorized. A draft of the memoir titled, “Idea Man: A Memoir by the Co-founder of Microsoft” was viewed by the WSJ and an excerpt appears on Vanity Fair’s website and will be released April 19. The drama of the book seems to hinge on the fact that when Mr Allen was recovering from cancer he overheard Bill (allegedly) plotting to reduce Mr Allen’s shares in the company with colleagues while eaves dropping outside the room. He said “This is unbelievable! It shows your true character, once and for all.”
Beneath the veneer of all of the billions these lads have earned, this memoir sounds like high school, but perhaps it might incite some kids to be more creative with IT development themselves with such pithy drama being shared. It’s definitely Microsoft’s way of looking Wikileaks savvy too, I suppose.
Meanwhile in biz news Google is offering to add a social twist to Web searches, in a bold offensive to prevent Facebook and other social-networking companies from gaining an upper hand on Web innovation and potential advertising dollars. The FTC and Google have also reached a settlement over government claims that the company violated users privacy and it’s social network, Google Buzz. People signing up to Google Buzz, were not aware that ‘their most emailed peoples email addresses’ were gathered by Google breaching their privacy.
The general rhetoric of information gathering over the years of social networking is that all data is being collected and shared, but at least the government is looking to curb that. Obviously, it’s had enough of TMI overload itself. With both Gates and Zuckerberg (Facebook) being a part of the same trust, aren’t both really on the same team accelerating the social network game, entirely their own way – passing the ball between themselves with set agendas of develop? Perhaps… Of course. Good for them!
~Posted by Horiwood.Com, Hollywood California USA. 3.31.11~
Writers contributing to these stories are Serena Ng and Erik Holm; and Robert A. Guth and Nick Wingfield for the Wall Street Journal.