What Sokol’s Departure Means for Buffett: The Web Weighs In
"Perception is more important than reality."
So begins Andrew Ross Sorkin's New York Times piece on the David Sokol resignation. And that essentially sums up the debate this morning.
The business world has been captivated by the unexpected departure Wednesday of one of Warren Buffett's key executives at Berkshire Hathaway, a man who was seen as a strong contender to replace the Oracle of Omaha when he finally steps aside.
"After watching David L. Sokol on Thursday morning on CNBC as he tried to explain some potentially questionable trades he made in Lubrizol before Berkshire Hathaway bought the company, I was struck by what appeared to be a remarkable lack of appreciation for the way the public would perceive his actions," Sorkin writes. Read on in The Perception of the Sokol Situation.
Elsewhere, Bloomberg takes a look at Sokol's defense of his buys.
"David Sokol, who resigned yesterday as a top manager at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said he did nothing unethical when he bought stock in a company that he later proposed as a takeover target to Chairman Warren Buffett." Keep reading in Sokol Denies Wrongdoing in Lubrizol Stock Purchases.
Coverage naturally is widespread, but we wanted to provide some of the more interesting views on the Sokol situation and what it could mean for him, for Buffett and for Berkshire.
Here then, is a sampling of today's Sokol articles, blogs and opinions:
--Departing Berkshire Exec Wants to Start Own Firm - AP
--Kass: Buy Berkshire - TheStreet
--Buffett Successor List Gets Shorter - The Wall Street Journal
--Better Legal Advice for Sokol (No, He Was Not "Trapped") - Barry Ritholtz, The Big Picture
--Surprise Resignation of Leading Buffett Successor Raises Unanswered Questions - CNBC
--Matthews Says Buffett Statement on Sokol 'Inadequate' - Bloomberg TV
--Buffett Biographer Alice Schroeder on the Most Likely Buffett Successor - The Motley Fool
--Sokol to CNBC: I Shouldn't Have Told Buffett I Liked Lubrizol - CNBC
--What David Sokol's Departure Means for Berkshire Hathaway - StreetAuthority
--The Future of Berkshire Hathaway: Why Sokol Doesn't Matter - 24/7 Wall St.
What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comment section below or send us an email at breakoutcrew@yahoo.com.
