Warren Buffett Worried About Potential for ‘Huge Losses’ in Booming, but Still Tiny Cyber Insurance Market

Warren Buffett worried about Cyber insurance market

One of the messages that Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway’s top insurance executive, Ajit Jain, sent to investors during the company’s recent annual shareholder meeting in Omaha was that cyber insurance, while currently profitable, still has too many unknowns and risks for Berkshire, a huge player in the insurance market, to be fully comfortable underwriting.

Berkshire Shareholders Vote to Keep Buffett as Chairman, Reject Climate Disclosures

Berkshire Hathaway 3Q earnings

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. shareholders on Saturday rejected proposals to have an independent chair replace Warren Buffett and require his company to disclose more about its climate-related risks and efforts to improve diversity. Shareholders supported letting Buffett keep both the chairman and chief executive roles by a nearly 6-to-1 margin, Berkshire said at its annual meeting… Continue reading Berkshire Shareholders Vote to Keep Buffett as Chairman, Reject Climate Disclosures

Berkshire Rejects Shareholder Call to Replace Warren Buffett as Chairman

Berkshire Hathaway 3Q earnings

Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Friday urged the rejection of four shareholder proposals recommending that it replace Warren Buffett as chairman, report on its plans to handle climate risk and reduce greenhouse gases and improve diversity. The company, run by Buffett since 1965, also said the 91-year-old received $373,204 in compensation for 2021, down from $380,328… Continue reading Berkshire Rejects Shareholder Call to Replace Warren Buffett as Chairman

Berkshire Hathaway Lost $49.7 Billion in First Quarter Stung by Coronavirus

Berkshire Hathaway 3Q earnings

Warren E. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway swung to a $49.7 billion loss in the first quarter, the conglomerate reported on Saturday, reflecting the toll that the coronavirus has inflicted on one of America’s best-known investors. The loss — compared with a $21.7 billion profit during the same quarter a year ago — was driven by the… Continue reading Berkshire Hathaway Lost $49.7 Billion in First Quarter Stung by Coronavirus

Berkshire Hathaway Will Shut Some Businesses, Stay Cautious in Coronavirus ‘Typhoon’

Berkshire Hathaway 3Q earnings

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will close some smaller businesses and is positioning itself conservatively as it rides out the coronavirus pandemic, Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger said in an article published on Friday. “We’re like the captain of a ship when the worst typhoon that’s ever happened comes,” the 96-year-old Munger said in an… Continue reading Berkshire Hathaway Will Shut Some Businesses, Stay Cautious in Coronavirus ‘Typhoon’

Warren Buffett Protege Todd Combs Named Geico CEO

Geico workforce reduction

Geico, the auto insurer owned by Berkshire Hathaway, on Monday named Todd Combs as its chief executive officer, expanding the role of one of Warren Buffett’s portfolio managers, who is widely seen as a potential Buffett successor. Combs, 48, will take over on Jan. 1, 2020, replacing Bill Roberts, a 35-year Geico veteran who became… Continue reading Warren Buffett Protege Todd Combs Named Geico CEO

California Puts Former Berkshire Insurance Unit Under State Control

CDI and insurance lobbyists

California regulators seized an insurer formerly owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the latest twist in a continuing dispute about whether its sale of the company violated that state’s insurance regulations. The California Department of Insurance said Tuesday that California Insurance Co., one of the insurance companies owned by workers’ compensation insurer Applied Underwriters,… Continue reading California Puts Former Berkshire Insurance Unit Under State Control

Buyout of Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Unit Under Scrutiny

Stock photo of a beautiful young woman’s face very close up. She’s looking at a complicated set of holographic, see-thru numbers. The numbers are also reflected in her spectacles.

A former insurance subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sparred with the California Department of Insurance on Monday about whether its recent sale violated state insurance regulations. Applied Underwriters, a workers’ compensation insurer, said Wednesday that its co-founder Steve Menzies and Quadrant Management bought the company, including the 81% owned by Berkshire, for $920… Continue reading Buyout of Berkshire Hathaway Insurance Unit Under Scrutiny