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Holy clickbait hit piece. Pro Publica took 2 decades of leaked records and found 1 trade trade where he sold before Berkshire sold and 1 trade where he bought w

Holy clickbait hit piece. Pro Publica took 2 decades of leaked records and found 1 trade trade where he sold before Berkshire sold and 1 trade where he bought while Berkshire bought. This all totaled in less than $100 million, 0.1% of Buffet's current net worth. This is just p-hacking. They have such a glut of data and so little context that they're going to find suspicious-looking things. * The article also mentions he sold some Wells Fargo shares from his personal account after its price rose 20%. According to a Fortune article from April, 2009, Buffett's TV comments on Wells Fargo made the price raise. The article apparently wants you to draw the conclusion that Buffett pumped the stock on TV so he could sell at a profit.

epolanski 3y ago
I don't find even a hint of a clickbait. Man has preached against insider trading for decades, he himself condemned such activities, he himself encoded the rules. He still broke those. As someone who's always thought of Buffet as sort of a role model, it is a sad to see this happen. I have seen him speak and preach about those just too much just to find out it was simply not true. He even made a specific example about not owning Wells Fargo in his personal portfolio and..he did. I can't understand people excusing him, a lie is a lie, no matter how harmless and casts a huge shadow on his reputation, integrity and trustability. I don't even understand the point of having a personal portfolio. It's not illegal or anything. But it's just..odd. It's really baffling how many people jump on the ship of underplaying this, especially with someone like Buffet who's built his personal brand on condemning such a lack of transparency.
- gobuffett 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - epolanski 3y ago
    I can't believe I'm even replying a troll account nor your rampage into defending Buffet or even yourself lying, the wells Fargo thing is like half the article. He said he preferred Wells Fargo, but Berkshire was “buying Wells Fargo stock and that takes me out of the business of buying Wells Fargo,” so he bought shares of Chase for his personal account because it was his second choice. “That’s one of the problems I have,” he said. “I can’t be buying what Berkshire is buying and I’ve got some money around and therefore I go into my second choices or into tiny little companies.” No one's calling him a criminal, rather pointing he's an hypocrite. By the way CNBC and Probublica both asked Buffet for comments and he declined.
- jollofricepeas 3y ago
  Agreed. This piece demonstrates that Buffet is human. AND… It took a lot of courage by ProPublica to put out this piece knowing they would deal with the wrath of the Buffet faithful. No one had any issues when they were reporting on Clarence Thomas. Unfortunately there is quite the cult-like mentality around Buffet. He is worshipped by many who fail to see that while gifted he is no different than any other human. By this I mean he is capable of trading on personal benefit, fear, avarice and ignorance just like any other human being.
- aeternum 3y ago
  Maybe he had Wells in his personal portfolio for awhile, realized it, and then sold. If you look at the chart, it wasn't a particularly good time to sell. The trades that Congress continually make are much more suspect. I don't understand why there's not more focus on those trades where there is blatant corruption.
  - epolanski 3y ago
    > Maybe he had Wells in his personal portfolio for awhile, realized it, and then sold. How's that relevant to him lying about it and being a hypocrite?
    - solarkraft 3y ago
      That it wasn't a lie if he believed his statement to be true. He would consequently also not be a hypocrite for it.
      - epolanski 3y ago
        He literally went in front of CNBC and told the interviewer he owned JP Morgan because Berkshire owned Wells Fargo. And yet, he owned Fargo. We don't even know if there were more instances, because only sales are reported, but not buys.
    - melling 3y ago
      Hypocrisy I say!! Hypocrisy! People love spending their lives looking for it. Ever watch Fox News for 10 minutes. It’s a business model.
- yumbrand 3y ago
  I don't think this is insider trading? Perhaps he benefits from the market flows but none of this is material non public information.
yunohn 3y ago
> This all totaled in less than $100 million, 0.1% of Buffet's current net worth. But also more money than entire families and generations will ever see.
JoeAltmaier 3y ago
SO here's how he can clear his reputation: give the money back.
- Rebelgecko 3y ago
  To who?
  - JoeAltmaier 3y ago
    So this guy can track every trade that Buffet made over his lifetime, but somehow it's hard to figure out who was on the other end of that trade?
    - Rebelgecko 3y ago
      Probably. I know every trade I've made but no idea who was on the other side

epolanski 3y ago

I don't find even a hint of a clickbait. Man has preached against insider trading for decades, he himself condemned such activities, he himself encoded the rules. He still broke those. As someone who's always thought of Buffet as sort of a role model, it is a sad to see this happen. I have seen him speak and preach about those just too much just to find out it was simply not true. He even made a specific example about not owning Wells Fargo in his personal portfolio and..he did. I can't understand people excusing him, a lie is a lie, no matter how harmless and casts a huge shadow on his reputation, integrity and trustability. I don't even understand the point of having a personal portfolio. It's not illegal or anything. But it's just..odd. It's really baffling how many people jump on the ship of underplaying this, especially with someone like Buffet who's built his personal brand on condemning such a lack of transparency.

gobuffett 3y ago
[flagged]
- epolanski 3y ago
  I can't believe I'm even replying a troll account nor your rampage into defending Buffet or even yourself lying, the wells Fargo thing is like half the article. He said he preferred Wells Fargo, but Berkshire was “buying Wells Fargo stock and that takes me out of the business of buying Wells Fargo,” so he bought shares of Chase for his personal account because it was his second choice. “That’s one of the problems I have,” he said. “I can’t be buying what Berkshire is buying and I’ve got some money around and therefore I go into my second choices or into tiny little companies.” No one's calling him a criminal, rather pointing he's an hypocrite. By the way CNBC and Probublica both asked Buffet for comments and he declined.
jollofricepeas 3y ago
Agreed. This piece demonstrates that Buffet is human. AND… It took a lot of courage by ProPublica to put out this piece knowing they would deal with the wrath of the Buffet faithful. No one had any issues when they were reporting on Clarence Thomas. Unfortunately there is quite the cult-like mentality around Buffet. He is worshipped by many who fail to see that while gifted he is no different than any other human. By this I mean he is capable of trading on personal benefit, fear, avarice and ignorance just like any other human being.
aeternum 3y ago
Maybe he had Wells in his personal portfolio for awhile, realized it, and then sold. If you look at the chart, it wasn't a particularly good time to sell. The trades that Congress continually make are much more suspect. I don't understand why there's not more focus on those trades where there is blatant corruption.
- epolanski 3y ago
  > Maybe he had Wells in his personal portfolio for awhile, realized it, and then sold. How's that relevant to him lying about it and being a hypocrite?
  - solarkraft 3y ago
    That it wasn't a lie if he believed his statement to be true. He would consequently also not be a hypocrite for it.
    - epolanski 3y ago
      He literally went in front of CNBC and told the interviewer he owned JP Morgan because Berkshire owned Wells Fargo. And yet, he owned Fargo. We don't even know if there were more instances, because only sales are reported, but not buys.
  - melling 3y ago
    Hypocrisy I say!! Hypocrisy! People love spending their lives looking for it. Ever watch Fox News for 10 minutes. It’s a business model.
yumbrand 3y ago
I don't think this is insider trading? Perhaps he benefits from the market flows but none of this is material non public information.

yunohn 3y ago

> This all totaled in less than $100 million, 0.1% of Buffet's current net worth. But also more money than entire families and generations will ever see.

JoeAltmaier 3y ago

SO here's how he can clear his reputation: give the money back.

Rebelgecko 3y ago
To who?
- JoeAltmaier 3y ago
  So this guy can track every trade that Buffet made over his lifetime, but somehow it's hard to figure out who was on the other end of that trade?
  - Rebelgecko 3y ago
    Probably. I know every trade I've made but no idea who was on the other side