What Steve Jobs' Resignation Shows Us About Post-Buffett Berkshire Hathaway
Warren Buffett will turn 81 years old on August 30. Rational investors are concerned with risks, no matter how morbid they may seem. Just how large is the key-man risk associated with Warren Buffett’s eventual death? What impact should we expect his death to have on the price of Berkshire Hathaway ( BRK.A ) stock?
Fortunately, the recent resignation of Steve Jobs has provided a case study in how the market responds to the departure of iconic CEOs. Apple ( AAPL ) shares dropped less than 2% upon learning that Steve Jobs had resigned as CEO. This drop occurred against at 1.5% decline in the broader market, and is remarkably mild for a response to headline news. This is a victory for proponents of market rationality.
This result can be projected onto Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. First, the perceived value associated with Warren Buffett’s leadership as a fraction of the Berkshire’s total value must be assessed relative to the perceived value of Steve Job’s leadership as a fraction of Apple’s total value. In the collective consciousness, is Warren Buffett more of Berkshire Hathaway than Steve jobs is of Apple?
This question was addressed using Google Insights for Search. Scaled search frequencies over the past 12 months for “Warren Buffett,” “Berkshire Hathaway,” “Steve Jobs,” and “AAPL” were queried. The following search ratios were calculated:
Based on this crude assay, Steve Jobs and Warren Buffett command roughly the same mind-share relative to their companies. (If you are reading this and you have a better way of gauging relative mind-share, please comment on this article and suggest your method.)This rough estimate indicates that a drop in Berkshire Hathaway’s share price upon Warren Buffett’s death would be similar to the drop in Apple’s share price since Steve Jobs announced his resignation. A guesstimate for Berkshire’s drop would be mild, near 2%.
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Fortunately, Buffett is not the Pope of finance. He makes mistakes, and is a mere mortal both in the sense that he will one day cease to live and in that he has limitations. If he sticks his finger in a cup of Coca-Cola, it doesn't leave a dent.
Nigeria's erudite priest, Monsignor Matthew Hassan Kukah, who was recently appointed Bishop of Sokoto Catholic Diocese by the Vatican yesterday met with the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican, in Rome. The Papal meeting, LEADERSHIP reliably
Rob Van Dam and The Pope were evenly matched in the early going of their match, as The Pope countered RVD's rolls and splashes with kicks. Pope landed a flying fist drop from the top rope, and RVD came back with a kick to the face. Pope tapped out of
These ruminations were inspired by the (for any Mac devotee – this emphatically includes me, though I can't afford the full battery of devices) sad news of the resignation through illness of Steve Jobs, the creator of Apple as we know it.
If Apple fans are a "Church of Mac," Steve Jobs was the pope. Now his resignation leaves "fanboys" sensing a void, The Wall Street Journal reports. And Bloomberg reports that Apple could start taking over more companies. Ahead of an IPO,
Potpourri of Papal and Child Abuse News, August ... - Popes and Papacy
, Two years after he said in writing that ‘it was on the verge of publishing a list of priests accused of abuse (in the Boston archdiocese),’ finally gets around the publishing an incomplete of 159 priests — with the names of another 91 withheld. In addition, he also omitted about 40 names of priests from religious orders — he himself belonging to an order. So the actual list of pedophiles is closer to 290, if not greater. Read the . The list was supposedly made available on the Boston Archdiocese Web site at 2 pm, Eastern on Thursday, August 25. I couldn’t get through to the Web site till close to 3:30. Yes, I was obviously not the only one trying. But, I also suspect that they throttled down their network access to limit the volume. His fans, with Father John in the foe, tell me that the bearded will be the one that tries to curtail this crime in Boston and in Ireland. Well, I for one, am not impressed given that the Irish situation, with rogue bishop Magee in the forefront, is going from bad to diabolical.
Anura Guruge Please refer to yesterday’s post on how Magee finally resurfaced, at his home in Mitchelstown, County Cork, Ireland, and acted really contrite — like the Catholic he is supposed to be. Well, I am glad and relieved that I was not alone in thinking that his brief, predictable comments were flaccid, to say [...]
Anura Guruge Texas-resident, Juan Carrillo, the author of ‘As I Passed Him: A Prophecy within Our Times,‘ send me an e-mail last night (just after my post on the Lord’s rain on the pope’s parade) about Honduran, papabile cardinal Óscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga’s three catecheses for the World Youth Day 2011 in Madrid, Spain. You [...]
by Anura Guruge Benedict XVI (#266), in Madrid (Spain) for World Youth Day 2011 (amidst continuing protests even by some Catholic priests), set out to curry favor with the boisterous locals by announcing, today, in Madrid’s Cathedral, in front of 6,000 Mass celebrants that he will make Spain’s St. John of Ávila (1500 – 1569) [...
Popes Resign Papacy - Bookshelf
The papacy, its historic origin and primitive relations with the Eastern churches
THE PAPACY; WITTI THE EASTEE15T CHUEOHES. DT THE ABBE GUETTEE, DD, Author or "A History of the Gai.i.ican Church," etc., etc., no. ...The Bad Popes
Let yourself be swept up by this colorful, panoramic story of seven men who ruled the Church of Rome at seven critical periods in the 600 years leading up to ...The papacy
This book chronicles the institution of the papacy and its influence on the culture, politics, and economy throughout the decline of the Roman emparie, ...The popes, histories and secrets
The Popes, a concise biographical history
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Popes and Papacy by Anura Guruge
Popes and papacy related information by Anura Guruge dealing with the next pope, papabili, papabile, conclaves, papal names and errors in book about popes.
The Last Pope To Resign, Pope Gregory XII On July 4, 1415 ...
Pope resignations and papal abdications, a detailed exposition by Anura Guruge the author of 'The Next Pope'
Papal Resignations: Can a Pope Resign or Be Removed? History ...
Like any secular monarch, the pope is elected for life - but that does not mean that it is impossible for a pope to step down while still alive. ...
Papal Resignations: Which Popes Have Resigned?
Determining just which popes have resigned is actually difficult because the records of church history are in such disarray for so many centuries. ...
Can Popes Resign?
Can Popes Resign? (The following was written in response to a ... Clement 1 -- said to have renounced papacy after being exiled (97 AD) but no real ...