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一位高管做了简短的电话交谈后，富豪投资家沃伦•巴菲特(Warren Buffett)陷入60年职业生涯当中最敏感的境地。曾经是接替巴菲特担任伯克希尔•哈撒韦公司(Berkshire Hathaway Inc.)首席执行长热门人选的大卫•索科尔(David Sokol)，1月中旬给巴菲特打了电话，建议由伯克希尔收购化学公司路博润(Lubrizol Corp.)，并对巴菲特说，他个人持有该公司的股份。
伯克希尔后来同意收购路博润，让索科尔的交易仓位增值300万美元。伯克希尔直到本周索科尔辞职才批露他的股票仓位。索科尔说，他希望集中精力用家族资金做投资。
路博润被收购之前，证券交易委员会(Securities and Exchange Commission)已经在调查。据一位知情人士说，证交会有可能着手调查与索科尔股票交易和伯克希尔收购路博润有关的情况。
伯克希尔B类股周四下跌1.83美元至83.63美元，跌幅2.1%。
巴菲特周三发表声明说，他和索科尔当时都认为收购路博润“不存在任何不合法的情况”，索科尔辞职与此无关。巴菲特拒绝进一步置评。
但此事到头来还是有可能让巴菲特恼火。他有一句名言说，树立声誉要20年，败坏声誉只要五分钟。他在周三的声明里面说，此事第一次提及的时候，他没有要求索科尔提供更多相关信息。
索科尔辞职前担任伯克希尔旗下中美能源控股公司(MidAmerican Energy Holdings)董事长。他在周四现身CNBC电视台说，我认为我没有做过任何错误的或不道德的事。他还说，以后他还会这样做。
索科尔说，伯克希尔旗下公司的高管应当可以投资伯克希尔不知晓的公司。他举例说，伯克希尔几年前投资中国汽车生产商比亚迪(BYD Co. Ltd.)之前，副董事长查理•芒格(Charlie Munger)就已经购买了该公司股份。
索科尔1月中旬第一次向巴菲特提出收购路博润的想法。一位知情人士说，索科尔对巴菲特讲，这家公司估值偏低，对于伯克希尔来说或许是绝配。
在简短的通话中，索科尔告诉巴菲特他持有路博润的股票。巴菲特没有问他是什么时候买进的，也没有问他花了多少钱。
此人说，巴菲特打电话给芒格，给他讲了此事，并提到索科尔持有路博润的股票。据一位知情人士透露，巴菲特和芒格对此都没有在意。
巴菲特不能肯定路博润的利润率是否能维持下去。他没有采纳收购该公司的想法。
不过，后来索科尔与路博润首席执行长汉布里克(James Hambrick)见了面，获得了该公司利润率的乐观情况，之后巴菲特对收购变得更加感兴趣。他与汉布里克会面，有关收购的讨论开始升温。
3月13日，伯克希尔董事会批准了斥资90亿美元收购路博润的交易。几天后，伯克希尔首席财务长汉堡(Marc Hamburg)打电话给索科尔。据一位知情人士透露，汉堡说，沃伦告诉我你持有一些路博润股票，你能详细说说吗？
索科尔在电话中向他讲了买股票的事，并向伯克希尔的一个外部律师提供了同样的信息。汉堡走到巴菲特的办公室，向他进行了转述。
据一位知情人士透露，巴菲特打电话给芒格，说他们两人现在有个新的问题要解决。
此人说，巴菲特对芒格说，他想考虑一下该如何处理这种情况，表示索科尔在路博润的持股可能会给伯克希尔的面子带来问题。
巴菲特说，他会在原定3月19日开始的长达一周的韩国和印度之行期间考虑此事。巴菲特是和微软联合创始人盖茨(Bill Gates)一起去的印度。
巴菲特返美之后，他收到了索科尔的辞呈。两天后，巴菲特宣布了索科尔辞职的消息，同时披露了令人震惊的路博润交易。
SERENA NG / SUSAN PULLIAM
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
A brief phone call with a top executive has landed billionaire investor Warren Buffett in one of the most sensitive positions in his 60-year business career.
David Sokol, once a leading contender to succeed Mr. Buffett as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., called Mr. Buffett in mid-January, suggesting that Berkshire buy chemicals company Lubrizol Corp., and told Mr. Buffett that he personally owned shares of the company.
Berkshire later agreed to buy Lubrizol, triggering a $3 million gain in Mr. Sokol's trading position. Berkshire didn't disclose Mr. Sokol's stock position until he quit this week, saying he wanted to focus on investing his family's money.
Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission─which already had been examining trading ahead of the Lubrizol deal─is likely to launch an inquiry into the events surrounding Mr. Sokol's stock trading and the Lubrizol deal, a person familiar with the matter says.
Berkshire's Class B shares fell $1.83, or 2.1%, to $83.63 on Thursday.
In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Buffett said that he and Mr. Sokol didn't believe the Lubrizol purchases were 'in any way unlawful' and that his resignation was unrelated to that issue. Mr. Buffett has declined further comment.
The incident nonetheless could prove nettlesome for Mr. Buffett. Among his most-famous sayings is: 'It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.' He said in his statement Wednesday that he didn't ask Mr. Sokol for more information on the trades when the issue first came up.
Mr. Sokol, who had been chairman of Berskshire unit MidAmerican Energy Holdings, said in a CNBC-TV appearance Thursday: 'I don't believe I did anything wrong or unethical,' adding that he would 'do it again tomorrow.'
He added that executives of Berkshire units ought to be able to invest in 'companies Berkshire has no knowledge of,' pointing to the purchase by Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger of shares of Chinese automaker BYD Co. Ltd. before Berkshire invested in the company several years ago.
Mr. Sokol first pitched Mr. Buffett on the idea of buying Lubrizol in mid-January. Mr. Sokol told him Lubrizol was undervalued and might be a good match for Berkshire, a person familiar with the matter says.
In the brief call, Mr. Sokol told Mr. Buffett he owned Lubrizol shares. Mr. Buffett didn't ask when he purchased the stock or how much he had spent.
Mr. Buffett called Mr. Munger and told him of the pitch, and mentioned that Mr. Sokol held Lubrizol stock, the person says. Neither Mr. Buffett nor Mr. Munger was concerned, a person familiar with the matter says.
Mr. Buffett was uncertain that Lubrizol's profit margins could be sustained. He didn't bite on the idea of buying the company.
But after Mr. Sokol met with James Hambrick, Lubrizol's CEO ,and received bullish information about the company's profit margins, Mr. Buffett became more interested. He met with Mr. Hambrick and discussions picked up.
On March 13, Berkshire's board approved a $9 billion deal to buy Lubrizol. A couple of days later, Berkshire's Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg called Mr. Sokol. 'Warren told me you own some shares of Lubrizol. Can you give me the details?' Mr. Hamburg said, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Sokol recounted the trades to him over the phone and gave the same information to an outside attorney for Berkshire. Mr. Hamburg walked over to Mr. Buffett's office and relayed it to him.
Mr. Buffett called Mr. Munger, saying the two now had a new issue to address, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Buffett told Mr. Munger he wanted to think about what to do about the situation, figuring that Mr. Sokol's Lubrizol stake could pose an appearance problem for Berkshire, the person said.
Mr. Buffett said he would consider it while he was on a scheduled weeklong trip starting March 19 to Korea and then India, the latter with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
After he returned, he received a resignation letter from Mr. Sokol. Mr. Buffett announced the resignation-with the startling disclosures about Lubrizol-two days later.
SERENA NG / SUSAN PULLIAM
本文涉及股票或公司
David Sokol, once a leading contender to succeed Mr. Buffett as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., called Mr. Buffett in mid-January, suggesting that Berkshire buy chemicals company Lubrizol Corp., and told Mr. Buffett that he personally owned shares of the company.
Berkshire later agreed to buy Lubrizol, triggering a $3 million gain in Mr. Sokol's trading position. Berkshire didn't disclose Mr. Sokol's stock position until he quit this week, saying he wanted to focus on investing his family's money.
Now, the Securities and Exchange Commission─which already had been examining trading ahead of the Lubrizol deal─is likely to launch an inquiry into the events surrounding Mr. Sokol's stock trading and the Lubrizol deal, a person familiar with the matter says.
Berkshire's Class B shares fell $1.83, or 2.1%, to $83.63 on Thursday.
In a statement Wednesday, Mr. Buffett said that he and Mr. Sokol didn't believe the Lubrizol purchases were 'in any way unlawful' and that his resignation was unrelated to that issue. Mr. Buffett has declined further comment.
The incident nonetheless could prove nettlesome for Mr. Buffett. Among his most-famous sayings is: 'It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.' He said in his statement Wednesday that he didn't ask Mr. Sokol for more information on the trades when the issue first came up.
Mr. Sokol, who had been chairman of Berskshire unit MidAmerican Energy Holdings, said in a CNBC-TV appearance Thursday: 'I don't believe I did anything wrong or unethical,' adding that he would 'do it again tomorrow.'
He added that executives of Berkshire units ought to be able to invest in 'companies Berkshire has no knowledge of,' pointing to the purchase by Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger of shares of Chinese automaker BYD Co. Ltd. before Berkshire invested in the company several years ago.
Mr. Sokol first pitched Mr. Buffett on the idea of buying Lubrizol in mid-January. Mr. Sokol told him Lubrizol was undervalued and might be a good match for Berkshire, a person familiar with the matter says.
In the brief call, Mr. Sokol told Mr. Buffett he owned Lubrizol shares. Mr. Buffett didn't ask when he purchased the stock or how much he had spent.
Mr. Buffett called Mr. Munger and told him of the pitch, and mentioned that Mr. Sokol held Lubrizol stock, the person says. Neither Mr. Buffett nor Mr. Munger was concerned, a person familiar with the matter says.
Mr. Buffett was uncertain that Lubrizol's profit margins could be sustained. He didn't bite on the idea of buying the company.
But after Mr. Sokol met with James Hambrick, Lubrizol's CEO ,and received bullish information about the company's profit margins, Mr. Buffett became more interested. He met with Mr. Hambrick and discussions picked up.
On March 13, Berkshire's board approved a $9 billion deal to buy Lubrizol. A couple of days later, Berkshire's Chief Financial Officer Marc Hamburg called Mr. Sokol. 'Warren told me you own some shares of Lubrizol. Can you give me the details?' Mr. Hamburg said, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Sokol recounted the trades to him over the phone and gave the same information to an outside attorney for Berkshire. Mr. Hamburg walked over to Mr. Buffett's office and relayed it to him.
Mr. Buffett called Mr. Munger, saying the two now had a new issue to address, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Mr. Buffett told Mr. Munger he wanted to think about what to do about the situation, figuring that Mr. Sokol's Lubrizol stake could pose an appearance problem for Berkshire, the person said.
Mr. Buffett said he would consider it while he was on a scheduled weeklong trip starting March 19 to Korea and then India, the latter with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
After he returned, he received a resignation letter from Mr. Sokol. Mr. Buffett announced the resignation-with the startling disclosures about Lubrizol-two days later.
SERENA NG / SUSAN PULLIAM
本文涉及股票或公司
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