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	<title>Betabeat &#187; Warren Buffett</title>
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		<title>Betabeat &#187; Warren Buffett</title>
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		<title>Rap Genius Cofounder Is Soliciting Diss Tracks About Warren Buffett, Tells 82-Year-Old Investor to Suck His @$%*</title>

		<comments>http://betabeat.com/2013/02/rap-genius-cofounder-is-soliciting-diss-tracks-about-warren-buffet-tells-82-year-old-investor-to-suck-his/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 Feb 2013 16:45:20 -0400</pubDate>
					<link>http://betabeat.com/2013/02/rap-genius-cofounder-is-soliciting-diss-tracks-about-warren-buffet-tells-82-year-old-investor-to-suck-his/</link>
			<dc:creator>Nitasha Tiku</dc:creator>
				
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://betabeat.com/?p=80069</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/screen-shot-2013-02-21-at-4-22-28-pm.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-80070" style="margin:5px 10px;" alt="Screen Shot 2013-02-21 at 4.22.28 PM" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/screen-shot-2013-02-21-at-4-22-28-pm.png?w=300" width="300" height="143" /></a></p>
<p>Mark Zuckerberg is hardly the first billionaire <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/02/rumor-roundup-rap-genius-cofounder-cant-stop-wont-stop/">turned off by the antics</a> of Rap Genius cofounder Mahbod Moghadam. As Betabeat learned while <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/10/rap-genius-andreessen-horowitz-ben-horowitz-internet-talmud/">reporting a featur</a><a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/10/rap-genius-andreessen-horowitz-ben-horowitz-internet-talmud/">e</a> on the startup's $15 million investment round from Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. Moghadam's career in tech began only after he yapped his way out of an internship with Warren Buffet.</p>
<p>In the midst of the recession, Mr. Moghadam was given a year off--with reduced pay--from the law firm Dewey &amp; LeBoeuf. Only Berkshire Hathaway <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/10/rap-genius-andreessen-horowitz-ben-horowitz-internet-talmud/">found his personal blog</a>, Beneficent Allah, where he wrote a <a href="http://beneficentallah.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html">satirical billable memo</a> referencing the “Ballstate Insurance Company." Allstate was a client of Dewey's, the offer was rescinded and long story short, Mr. Moghadam now gets to <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/02/rumor-roundup-rap-genius-cofounder-cant-stop-wont-stop/">dine with Nas</a>.<!--more--></p>
<p>Not content with his good fortune, however, Mr. Moghadam has decided to use his company to <a href="http://rapgenius.com/discussions/20432-Rap-genius-contest">launch a contest soliciting diss tracks</a>--<a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/11/rap-genius-byron-crawford-yet-another-diss-video-byron-crawford/">something of a habit</a> with this guy--about Mr. Buffett. As Mr. Moghadam later explained, "Warren Buffett is a little bitch tho. I can't believe he bought a RAILROAD with CASH. it's like 'hey! warren! there's this thing.. it's like the NEW railroad! it's called the INTERNET!'fucking grandpa, setting the US economy back, hustling goldman sachs, true scumbag."</p>
<p>Here is an unedited version of the gChat conversation about the contest:</p>
<blockquote>
<div>4:11 PM <strong>Mahbod:</strong> <a href="http://rapgenius.com/discussions/20432-Rap-genius-contest" target="_blank">http://rapgenius.com/discussions/20432-Rap-genius-contest</a></div>
<div>4:12 PM dude we've got beef with warren buffett now!</div>
<div>  doo you think we can take that mufucka down??</div>
<div>4:14 PM <strong>me:</strong> are you still salty about the internship?</div>
<div>  why do you want to take him down?</div>
<div>4:15 PM <strong>Mahbod:</strong> you nailed it!</div>
<div>  also from a philosophical perspective I hate that fool</div>
<div>  furthermore my ex-gf's mom is friends with him</div>
<div>4:16 PM also he brags about eating at mcdonalds</div>
<div>  sooo many reasons! I loathe him</div>
<div>  I actually really LIKE mark zuckerberg</div>
<div> <strong>me:</strong> what's wrong with mcdonald's?</div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> but warren buffett I legit hate</div>
<div>  it is unealthy/gross!</div>
<div>4:17 PM <strong>me:</strong> why are you always telling people to suck your dick? <a href="https://twitter.com/RapGenius/status/304518057798295552" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/RapGenius/status/304518057798295552</a></div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> yeah I should stop that</div>
<div>  this one was a playful allusion to my zuck "faux pas"</div>
<div>4:18 PM <strong>me:</strong> did you take a vyvanse today?</div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> not.....yet...</div>
<div>  but now that you said that I just might</div>
<div>4:19 PM <strong>me:</strong> zuck got prickly about his photo being taken again: <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/02/sergey-brin-google-glass-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-google-wearable-tech/" target="_blank">http://betabeat.com/2013/02/sergey-brin-google-glass-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-google-wearable-tech/</a></div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> I had sushi with kurupt last night so I feal really chipper</div>
<div>  oh nooo! LOL</div>
<div>  that dude needs to chillax!</div>
<div></div>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Can't shut up, won't shut up, Rockafella Records . . .</em></p>
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/screen-shot-2013-02-21-at-4-22-28-pm.png"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-80070" style="margin:5px 10px;" alt="Screen Shot 2013-02-21 at 4.22.28 PM" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/screen-shot-2013-02-21-at-4-22-28-pm.png?w=300" width="300" height="143" /></a></p>
<p>Mark Zuckerberg is hardly the first billionaire <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/02/rumor-roundup-rap-genius-cofounder-cant-stop-wont-stop/">turned off by the antics</a> of Rap Genius cofounder Mahbod Moghadam. As Betabeat learned while <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/10/rap-genius-andreessen-horowitz-ben-horowitz-internet-talmud/">reporting a featur</a><a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/10/rap-genius-andreessen-horowitz-ben-horowitz-internet-talmud/">e</a> on the startup's $15 million investment round from Andreessen Horowitz, Mr. Moghadam's career in tech began only after he yapped his way out of an internship with Warren Buffet.</p>
<p>In the midst of the recession, Mr. Moghadam was given a year off--with reduced pay--from the law firm Dewey &amp; LeBoeuf. Only Berkshire Hathaway <a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/10/rap-genius-andreessen-horowitz-ben-horowitz-internet-talmud/">found his personal blog</a>, Beneficent Allah, where he wrote a <a href="http://beneficentallah.blogspot.com/2009_08_01_archive.html">satirical billable memo</a> referencing the “Ballstate Insurance Company." Allstate was a client of Dewey's, the offer was rescinded and long story short, Mr. Moghadam now gets to <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/02/rumor-roundup-rap-genius-cofounder-cant-stop-wont-stop/">dine with Nas</a>.<!--more--></p>
<p>Not content with his good fortune, however, Mr. Moghadam has decided to use his company to <a href="http://rapgenius.com/discussions/20432-Rap-genius-contest">launch a contest soliciting diss tracks</a>--<a href="http://betabeat.com/2012/11/rap-genius-byron-crawford-yet-another-diss-video-byron-crawford/">something of a habit</a> with this guy--about Mr. Buffett. As Mr. Moghadam later explained, "Warren Buffett is a little bitch tho. I can't believe he bought a RAILROAD with CASH. it's like 'hey! warren! there's this thing.. it's like the NEW railroad! it's called the INTERNET!'fucking grandpa, setting the US economy back, hustling goldman sachs, true scumbag."</p>
<p>Here is an unedited version of the gChat conversation about the contest:</p>
<blockquote>
<div>4:11 PM <strong>Mahbod:</strong> <a href="http://rapgenius.com/discussions/20432-Rap-genius-contest" target="_blank">http://rapgenius.com/discussions/20432-Rap-genius-contest</a></div>
<div>4:12 PM dude we've got beef with warren buffett now!</div>
<div>  doo you think we can take that mufucka down??</div>
<div>4:14 PM <strong>me:</strong> are you still salty about the internship?</div>
<div>  why do you want to take him down?</div>
<div>4:15 PM <strong>Mahbod:</strong> you nailed it!</div>
<div>  also from a philosophical perspective I hate that fool</div>
<div>  furthermore my ex-gf's mom is friends with him</div>
<div>4:16 PM also he brags about eating at mcdonalds</div>
<div>  sooo many reasons! I loathe him</div>
<div>  I actually really LIKE mark zuckerberg</div>
<div> <strong>me:</strong> what's wrong with mcdonald's?</div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> but warren buffett I legit hate</div>
<div>  it is unealthy/gross!</div>
<div>4:17 PM <strong>me:</strong> why are you always telling people to suck your dick? <a href="https://twitter.com/RapGenius/status/304518057798295552" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/RapGenius/status/304518057798295552</a></div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> yeah I should stop that</div>
<div>  this one was a playful allusion to my zuck "faux pas"</div>
<div>4:18 PM <strong>me:</strong> did you take a vyvanse today?</div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> not.....yet...</div>
<div>  but now that you said that I just might</div>
<div>4:19 PM <strong>me:</strong> zuck got prickly about his photo being taken again: <a href="http://betabeat.com/2013/02/sergey-brin-google-glass-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-google-wearable-tech/" target="_blank">http://betabeat.com/2013/02/sergey-brin-google-glass-mark-zuckerberg-facebook-google-wearable-tech/</a></div>
<div> <strong>Mahbod:</strong> I had sushi with kurupt last night so I feal really chipper</div>
<div>  oh nooo! LOL</div>
<div>  that dude needs to chillax!</div>
<div></div>
</blockquote>
<p><em>Can't shut up, won't shut up, Rockafella Records . . .</em></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger Won&#8217;t Buy Into Facebook&#8217;s I.P.O.</title>

		<comments>http://betabeat.com/2012/05/warren-buffett-and-charlie-munger-wont-buy-into-facebooks-i-p-o/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 06 May 2012 18:50:44 -0400</pubDate>
					<link>http://betabeat.com/2012/05/warren-buffett-and-charlie-munger-wont-buy-into-facebooks-i-p-o/</link>
			<dc:creator>Steve Huff</dc:creator>
				
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.betabeat.com/?p=44041</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_44043" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 370px"><a href="http://www.betabeat.com/2012/05/06/warren-buffett-and-charlie-munger-wont-buy-into-facebooks-i-p-o/warren-buffettgetty/" rel="attachment wp-att-44043"><img class="size-full wp-image-44043" title="warren-buffettgetty" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/warren-buffettgetty.jpg" alt="" width="360" height="240" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Warren Buffett (Getty Images)</p></div></p>
<p>Warren Buffett and his Bershire Hathaway partner Charlie Munger  <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/06/news/buffett-facebook/index.htm">could care less</a> about Facebook's big Initial Public Offering (I.P.O.) Road Show, which drops the needle tomorrow. While Mr. Buffett was somewhat diplomatic in explaining to CNN that his company never buys into offerings, Mr. Munger was as forthright as you might expect an 88-year-old billionaire to be:<!--more--></p>
<blockquote><p>"I don't invest in what I don't understand. And I don't want to understand Facebook," Munger said.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>In fact, it's not only that he doesn't understand it -- it's that he dislikes the whole idea of it.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>"I don't want people putting all this personal stuff into a permanent record when they are 15 years of age. I think it's counterproductive. I just basically don't like it."</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Buffett kept his counsel regarding the appropriateness of using Facebook at all and told CNN that Facebook, Google and Apple are "fantastic companies. But in terms of what they'll be worth five or ten years from now, I just don't know."</p>
<p>Mr. Buffett, a.k.a. "The Oracle of Omaha" may also be thinking back to the dot-com bubble of 12 years ago. Back then the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1217716.stm" target="_blank">billionaire avoided cashing in</a> on the tech stock boom of the late 1990s and ended up seeming almost psychically prescient:</p>
<blockquote><p>"Value is destroyed, not created, by any business that loses money over its lifetime," Mr Buffett wrote.</p>
<p>He was referring to the business model all too many dot.coms employed - to enrich investors through rising share prices rather than profits.</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Buffett has made his feelings about what may be a social media bubble crystal clear as recently as March, when he told Bloomberg that most social media sites--Twitter, Facebook, etc.--"will be overpriced."</p>
<p>"It's extremely difficult to value social-networking-site companies," Mr. Buffett said, "Some will be huge winners, which will make up for the rest."</p>
<p>Facebook is likely hoping they'll be among the winners.</p>
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_44043" class="wp-caption aligncenter" style="width: 370px"><a href="http://www.betabeat.com/2012/05/06/warren-buffett-and-charlie-munger-wont-buy-into-facebooks-i-p-o/warren-buffettgetty/" rel="attachment wp-att-44043"><img class="size-full wp-image-44043" title="warren-buffettgetty" src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/warren-buffettgetty.jpg" alt="" width="360" height="240" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Warren Buffett (Getty Images)</p></div></p>
<p>Warren Buffett and his Bershire Hathaway partner Charlie Munger  <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/05/06/news/buffett-facebook/index.htm">could care less</a> about Facebook's big Initial Public Offering (I.P.O.) Road Show, which drops the needle tomorrow. While Mr. Buffett was somewhat diplomatic in explaining to CNN that his company never buys into offerings, Mr. Munger was as forthright as you might expect an 88-year-old billionaire to be:<!--more--></p>
<blockquote><p>"I don't invest in what I don't understand. And I don't want to understand Facebook," Munger said.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>In fact, it's not only that he doesn't understand it -- it's that he dislikes the whole idea of it.</p></blockquote>
<blockquote><p>"I don't want people putting all this personal stuff into a permanent record when they are 15 years of age. I think it's counterproductive. I just basically don't like it."</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Buffett kept his counsel regarding the appropriateness of using Facebook at all and told CNN that Facebook, Google and Apple are "fantastic companies. But in terms of what they'll be worth five or ten years from now, I just don't know."</p>
<p>Mr. Buffett, a.k.a. "The Oracle of Omaha" may also be thinking back to the dot-com bubble of 12 years ago. Back then the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/1217716.stm" target="_blank">billionaire avoided cashing in</a> on the tech stock boom of the late 1990s and ended up seeming almost psychically prescient:</p>
<blockquote><p>"Value is destroyed, not created, by any business that loses money over its lifetime," Mr Buffett wrote.</p>
<p>He was referring to the business model all too many dot.coms employed - to enrich investors through rising share prices rather than profits.</p></blockquote>
<p>Mr. Buffett has made his feelings about what may be a social media bubble crystal clear as recently as March, when he told Bloomberg that most social media sites--Twitter, Facebook, etc.--"will be overpriced."</p>
<p>"It's extremely difficult to value social-networking-site companies," Mr. Buffett said, "Some will be huge winners, which will make up for the rest."</p>
<p>Facebook is likely hoping they'll be among the winners.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<title>Warren Buffett&#8217;s $10.7 Billion Bet on IBM: WHUH?</title>

		<comments>http://betabeat.com/2011/11/warren-buffetts-10-7-billion-bet-on-ibm-whuh/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:05:18 -0400</pubDate>
					<link>http://betabeat.com/2011/11/warren-buffetts-10-7-billion-bet-on-ibm-whuh/</link>
			<dc:creator>Foster Kamer</dc:creator>
				
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.betabeat.com/?p=21754</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_21776" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><img src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/5951720542_dd9acf9544.jpg?w=300&h=199" alt="" title="Buffett and Barack" width="300" height="199" class="size-medium wp-image-21776" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Buffett and Barack: They both like computers!</p></div>Let's say you're one of the foremost investment geniuses of the universe, hailed as the most prominent and successful value investor in the world. Your last two gigantic bets have been on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2011/07/07/warren-buffett-to-exercise-5b-goldman-sachs-warrants-in-2013/">Goldman Sachs getting bailed out by our government</a> and a deal with Bank of America <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/buffetts-bathtub-fixation/">you dreamed up in your bathtub</a> that looks more like a curbside mugging by <a href="http://blogs.courant.com/colin_mcenroe_to_wit/sixflagsguy.gif">the Six Flags mascot</a> than it does a deal with two sides to it. So what do you get into now? Ah, yes: <em>those computer machines of the future!</em> And has he got just the company to do it with: IBM! </p>
<p>Yup. IBM.<!--more--></p>
<p>If the company whose name your parents may use as shorthand for "computer that isn't a Mac" seems like a surprising investment—considering their consumer computing solutions haven't been a massive consumer hit in a long time now—well, it's totally fair, because it <em>is</em> a surprising investment. So was the casual way in which Warren Buffett dropped the news this morning on CNBC that he is now IBM's largest single shareholder:</p>
<p><center><object id="cnbcplayer" height="380" width="400" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,0,0" ><param name="type" value="application/x-shockwave-flash"/><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"/><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"/><param name="quality" value="best"/><param name="scale" value="noscale" /><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><param name="bgcolor" value="#000000"/><param name="salign" value="lt"/><param name="movie" value="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/3000057145/code/cnbcplayershare"/><embed name="cnbcplayer" PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" bgcolor="#000000" height="380" width="400" quality="best" wmode="transparent" scale="noscale" salign="lt" src="http://plus.cnbc.com/rssvideosearch/action/player/id/3000057145/code/cnbcplayershare" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" /><br />
</object></center></p>
<p>So why—despite not even having talked to the company or their CEO about his purchase—is Warren Buffett putting money into a tech name currently most widely known for their ability to produce machines that beat people at <em>Jeopardy</em>? </p>
<p>Oracle of Omaha, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/45285237">shower us with your wisdom</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>He thinks IBM has done an "incredible job" executing its long-term strategy, has an excellent "road map" for the future, and "respects" its shareholders by being honest with them and doing big stock buybacks. "They've done all kinds of things right." Buffett typically shies away from technology stocks because he often doesn't "understand" what they do, but told us he'd been "hit between the eyes" by how the company finds and keeps clients.  "It's a company that helps IT departments do their job better. It is a big deal for a big company to change auditors, change law firms," or change IT support. "There is a lot of continuity to it."</p></blockquote>
<p>That said, he also noted that he'd never buy Microsoft because of his friendship with Bill Gates. Worth noting: Where Warren Buffett's money goes, success—usually for both parties—follows in suit. For example, Buffett dropped the news a few hours before the New York Stock exchange—on which IBM is publicly traded—this morning. It opened, of course, more than two dollars higher than it had closed on Friday, an usual spike for a company like IBM, but not unusual for this kind of news:</p>
<p><center><img src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/international-business-machines-corp-nyse-ibm-quotes-news-google-finance.png" alt="" title="International Business Machines Corp.  NYSE IBM quotes   news   Google Finance" width="301" height="296" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21767" /></center></p>
<p>Of course, it's not like Buffett knows anything about IBM than the rest of world doesn't—again, he's the company's largest shareholder, can have the entire universe on speed-dial, and yet, has yet to talk to their CEO about his investment—and Buffett is a value investor, so somewhere, somehow, he's traced a something inside that's given him the desire to go long on the company despite it being mostly known as the <em>Jeopardy</em> robot maker. It probably has something to do with this:</p>
<p><center><img src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ibm-ten-year-look-e1321293405296.png" alt="" title="IBM ten-year look" width="600" height="169" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21771" /></center></p>
<p>That's the last ten-years of IBM's stock price, and if that doesn't look like the impressive growth of say, Apple or Google, consider this: IBM's survived for a long, long time now. Their success isn't given a unilateral sheen to it that becomes shaky because the person behind said sheen just died (ahem, Steve Jobs). They've persisted through the most difficult of times and still managed to hang on. Their assets have been managed well, and they remain competitive in....whatever it is they make these days besides <i>Jeopardy</i> robots. The point is: Buffett may barely be able to work a cell phone, but whatever the guy sees in IBM, we should all probably start paying more attention to as well. Either he's going senile or they've finally created a hoverboard. </p>
<p>Whatever the case, they're now worth watching a little more, at least to this blog.</p>
<p>[RELATED: <a href="http://www.observer.com/2011/08/the-best-business-card-ever-a-warren-buffett-story-starring-his-girl-friday-devon-spurgeon/">The Best Business Card Ever: A Warren Buffett Story, Starring His Girl Friday, Devon Spurgeon</a>]</p>
<p><i>Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.</i></p>
]]></description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><div id="attachment_21776" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><img src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/5951720542_dd9acf9544.jpg?w=300&h=199" alt="" title="Buffett and Barack" width="300" height="199" class="size-medium wp-image-21776" /><p class="wp-caption-text">Buffett and Barack: They both like computers!</p></div>Let's say you're one of the foremost investment geniuses of the universe, hailed as the most prominent and successful value investor in the world. Your last two gigantic bets have been on <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/afontevecchia/2011/07/07/warren-buffett-to-exercise-5b-goldman-sachs-warrants-in-2013/">Goldman Sachs getting bailed out by our government</a> and a deal with Bank of America <a href="http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/08/25/buffetts-bathtub-fixation/">you dreamed up in your bathtub</a> that looks more like a curbside mugging by <a href="http://blogs.courant.com/colin_mcenroe_to_wit/sixflagsguy.gif">the Six Flags mascot</a> than it does a deal with two sides to it. So what do you get into now? Ah, yes: <em>those computer machines of the future!</em> And has he got just the company to do it with: IBM! </p>
<p>Yup. IBM.<!--more--></p>
<p>If the company whose name your parents may use as shorthand for "computer that isn't a Mac" seems like a surprising investment—considering their consumer computing solutions haven't been a massive consumer hit in a long time now—well, it's totally fair, because it <em>is</em> a surprising investment. So was the casual way in which Warren Buffett dropped the news this morning on CNBC that he is now IBM's largest single shareholder:</p>
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</object></center></p>
<p>So why—despite not even having talked to the company or their CEO about his purchase—is Warren Buffett putting money into a tech name currently most widely known for their ability to produce machines that beat people at <em>Jeopardy</em>? </p>
<p>Oracle of Omaha, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/45285237">shower us with your wisdom</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>He thinks IBM has done an "incredible job" executing its long-term strategy, has an excellent "road map" for the future, and "respects" its shareholders by being honest with them and doing big stock buybacks. "They've done all kinds of things right." Buffett typically shies away from technology stocks because he often doesn't "understand" what they do, but told us he'd been "hit between the eyes" by how the company finds and keeps clients.  "It's a company that helps IT departments do their job better. It is a big deal for a big company to change auditors, change law firms," or change IT support. "There is a lot of continuity to it."</p></blockquote>
<p>That said, he also noted that he'd never buy Microsoft because of his friendship with Bill Gates. Worth noting: Where Warren Buffett's money goes, success—usually for both parties—follows in suit. For example, Buffett dropped the news a few hours before the New York Stock exchange—on which IBM is publicly traded—this morning. It opened, of course, more than two dollars higher than it had closed on Friday, an usual spike for a company like IBM, but not unusual for this kind of news:</p>
<p><center><img src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/international-business-machines-corp-nyse-ibm-quotes-news-google-finance.png" alt="" title="International Business Machines Corp.  NYSE IBM quotes   news   Google Finance" width="301" height="296" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21767" /></center></p>
<p>Of course, it's not like Buffett knows anything about IBM than the rest of world doesn't—again, he's the company's largest shareholder, can have the entire universe on speed-dial, and yet, has yet to talk to their CEO about his investment—and Buffett is a value investor, so somewhere, somehow, he's traced a something inside that's given him the desire to go long on the company despite it being mostly known as the <em>Jeopardy</em> robot maker. It probably has something to do with this:</p>
<p><center><img src="http://nyobetabeat.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/ibm-ten-year-look-e1321293405296.png" alt="" title="IBM ten-year look" width="600" height="169" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-21771" /></center></p>
<p>That's the last ten-years of IBM's stock price, and if that doesn't look like the impressive growth of say, Apple or Google, consider this: IBM's survived for a long, long time now. Their success isn't given a unilateral sheen to it that becomes shaky because the person behind said sheen just died (ahem, Steve Jobs). They've persisted through the most difficult of times and still managed to hang on. Their assets have been managed well, and they remain competitive in....whatever it is they make these days besides <i>Jeopardy</i> robots. The point is: Buffett may barely be able to work a cell phone, but whatever the guy sees in IBM, we should all probably start paying more attention to as well. Either he's going senile or they've finally created a hoverboard. </p>
<p>Whatever the case, they're now worth watching a little more, at least to this blog.</p>
<p>[RELATED: <a href="http://www.observer.com/2011/08/the-best-business-card-ever-a-warren-buffett-story-starring-his-girl-friday-devon-spurgeon/">The Best Business Card Ever: A Warren Buffett Story, Starring His Girl Friday, Devon Spurgeon</a>]</p>
<p><i>Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.</i></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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