The Berkshire Beat: August 22, 2025

All of the latest Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway news!

Happy Friday and welcome to our new subscribers!

Special thanks, too, to those who recently became paid supporters! ❤️

Speaking of which… The annotated transcript for August will go out to paid supporters early next week. And, in this one, Charlie Munger brings straight fire against the wretched excess that caused the Global Financial Crisis.

Charlie never shied away from calling out folly, greed, and incompetence — even at the very best of times. So, when faced with the financial system’s potential meltdown, no one managed to avoid the fire-and-brimstone treatment. This interview is Charlie at perhaps his most withering — with the accounting profession, bankers, regulators, and many more in his crosshairs.

One highlight: When asked if allowing Lehman Brothers to go under was a mistake, the answer was quintessentially Charlie.

I don’t think that was a mistake. I think it actually helps to have one or two go. You need some examples in a big mess. To just save everybody — no matter how awful they were — that would have created just unlimited revulsion in the body politic, so I think the people had to decide that some people were going to be saved and some people weren’t. I think it was correct that they decided they would have two categories — the saved and the unsaved.

So, if you’ve been considering an upgrade, now is the perfect time.

With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, let’s move on to the latest news and notes out of Omaha…

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Berkshire Hathaway has yet to officially confirm or deny the reported Bell Laboratories acquisition that I covered last week, but a sharp-eyed reader dug up some new details that lend credence to the story. To read it firsthand, check out the top comment on last Friday’s newsletter. But, in brief, FlightAware data strongly suggests that Warren Buffett, Greg Abel, and Howard Buffett visited Wisconsin on August 4, as the original report claimed. According to the flight records, a NetJets plane departed Omaha that morning, made stops in Des Moines (Abel) and Decatur (Howard), and then continued on to Madison, Wisconsin. A few hours later, another NetJets flight left Madison and stopped in Decatur, before returning to Omaha. Circumstantial evidence, sure, but certainly indicative of a Berkshire visit to Bell.

Amid all of last week’s 13F hoopla, you might have seen headlines that Berkshire director Chris Davis — featured in Tuesday’s article — sold nearly one-third of his firm’s Berkshire shares. Davis Funds did indeed unload a substantial portion of its holdings in the second quarter, presumably capitalizing on Berkshire’s record highs in April and May, but it was not Chris’s hand at the tiller here. “As a director of Berkshire, Chris has recused himself from the firm’s investment decisions regarding the stock and has not changed his opinion of Berkshire or the stock,” Davis Funds said in a statement to Barron’s. “Mr. Davis’s personal holdings of Berkshire Hathaway remain unchanged, and he has not sold — and will not sell — a single share for as long as he serves on the company’s board of directors.”

In the new episode of William Green’s Richer, Wiser, Happier podcast, author Robert Hagstrom (of The Warren Buffett Way and The Warren Buffett Portfolio fame) shared a fascinating glimpse into the Oracle’s daily routine. Hagstrom asked Buffett’s longtime assistant, Debbie Bosanek, if he watched CNBC during the day. “Well, Robert,” she said, “I’m not sure we would call it watching it. He sometimes has it on, but he never has the sound on. He kind of uses it as a ticker tape and to see if there’s any news coming in.”

GEICO continues to ramp up its advertising and growth strategy — headlined by the recent launch of eight separate ad campaigns. The insurer says that this is the most extensive creative output it has ever rolled out at one time — with ads for more different lines of business than ever before, too. In an interview with Marketing Daily, GEICO’s senior creative directors shed light on the strategy. “This moment represents a meaningful milestone for GEICO,” said Sialoren Spaulding. “After a period of strategic focus on profitability and operational strength, we’re re-entering the spotlight with intention.” In particular, these campaigns seek to redefine value for new customers. “GEICO has always been known for great savings and memorable creativity,” added Tom Perlozzo, “but this next chapter is about reinforcing the idea that value means more: more support, more coverage, more peace of mind.”

Okay, this one is for the true diehards among us. In a filing late last week, Berkshire provided an update on those Occidental Petroleum common stock warrants that it received in return for helping to finance the oiler’s acquisition of Anadarko in 2019. An anti-dilution adjustment has slightly increased the number of Oxy shares issuable upon exercising these warrants — from 83,858,848.81 to 83,911,942.38. And, testing the adage that every penny counts, the exercise price also dropped from $59.624 per share to $59.586 per share. No, this is not exactly earth-shaking news, but I do try to keep everyone informed on both the big wins and the fine print alike.

• If you’re keeping score at home, this is actually the second anti-dilution adjustment on these shares. Originally, Berkshire held warrants for 80 million shares at $62.50 a piece — before an adjustment in 2020 and this current one granted Berkshire the option to buy more shares at a lower price. Of course, this might all be academic as Oxy’s share price now languishes in the mid-$40s and Berkshire isn’t pulling the trigger on more common at even these levels. But a final decision on these warrants is still likely years away.

BNSF Railway has adopted artificial intelligence to revolutionize predictive vegetation management. In layman’s terms, this advanced technology (including LiDAR scanners) forecasts where and when overgrown vegetation might disrupt the railroad’s operations, enabling proactive clearing to ensure seamless performance. With a sprawling 32,500-mile rail network and over 15,000 crossings, maintaining clear visibility for trains and the public is a significant challenge. Especially since vegetation doesn’t exactly grow on a schedule. “This technology will allow us to be more effective in the identification and abatement of vegetation encroachment across our network,” said BNSF’s Steve Thompson. “It will allow us to increase efficiency and allocate our budget to go farther.”

American Express once again claimed the top spot in the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Credit Card Satisfaction Study. In fact, AmEx has now come first six years in a row. The credit card giant excelled across key categories, topping the competition in customer service, rewards earnings, credit card terms, and benefits categories.