As some J.P. Morgan shareholders begin to call for a chairman-CEO split, Fortune writer Katie Benner helps guide us through the story of Dimon’s leadership.
More: Fortune Brainstorm Podcast: Can Jamie Dimon tolerate a boss?
Buffett , 82, says he is ‘solidly in agreement’ with Berkshire Hathaway board members as to who should take over from him
Warren Buffett and the board of his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway are “solidly in agreement” on who should be the company’s next chief executive, he said at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.
But Buffett, as with past practice, did not actually name his successor as CEO.
Speculation usually focuses on a small group of top Berkshire executives, among them insurance boss Ajit Jain and railroad leader Matt Rose.
The 82-year-old Buffett, in response to a shareholder question, said he thinks all the time about what could go wrong at Berkshire after he is gone.
“The key is preserving a culture and having a successor, a CEO that will have more brains, more energy, more passion for it than even I have … We’re solidly in agreement as to who that individual should be,” Buffett said.
Whoever ultimately takes over Berkshire will run a conglomerate that employs more than a quarter-million people in dozens of businesses worldwide, covering everything from ice cream to insurance and retail to railroads.
Its breadth means that its performance is often seen as a barometer for the broader economy. Earlier Saturday, one of Buffett’s top lieutenants said things were picking up but could improve further.
“It feels like a 2% economy. If we want to see GDP click up to 3.5%, 4%, you need to see more construction,” said Rose, CEO of the railroad Burlington Northern, in an interview.
Rose said BNSF was seeing “across the board” increases in demand to ship things like concrete, roofing tiles and cars.
But as much as investors want to hear about Berkshire’s growth potential and the state of the economy, some also attend the meeting just for a good laugh.
The meeting opened, as it does every year, with a video montage. This year’s included a duet between Buffett and singer Jon Bon Jovi and a take-off on the TV series Breaking Bad.
Some of the best comedy, though, usually comes in the verbal sparring between Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger over the course of the day. The two are close – they usually share an oversize box of peanut brittle during the meeting – but Munger’s acerbic tongue pops out from time to time.
“I come to see Charlie Munger needle Warren Buffett. Only he can,” said Sherman Silber, a doctor and shareholder.
The dark art of deal leaks. Also: CEO-to-worker pay ratios skyrocket.
Read the original here: Pre-Marketing: Deal leakage
Pimco CEO Mohamed El-Erian is worried the Fed won’t be able to end its bond buying program without ‘collateral damage.’
See the article here: El Erian: Fed will struggle to unwind its giant trade
Category : Stocks, World News
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Seeker Tec International, Inc. Announces International Appointment (www.Seeker-Tec.com)
PR Newswire
MANDEVILLE, La., April 26, 2013
MANDEVILLE, La., April 26, 2013 /PRNewswire/ –
Category : Stocks, World News
PORTLAND, OREGON–(Marketwired – April 20, 2013) - Almas Jiwani, President and CEO of UN Women National Committee Canada will deliver keynote speaker addressing the Global Connect Women Entrepreneurs Expo & Summit to be held in Portland from April 24th – 27th.
Follow this link: Almas Jiwani to Deliver Keynote Speech at the Global Connect Women Entrepreneurs Expo & Summit 2013
Heinz’s new CEO Bernardo Hees comes from Burger King and, before that, Buffett’s buyout partner 3G. It’s another move that’s outside of Buffett’s playbook.
See more here: Heinz: Buffett buyout gets even less Buffett-y
How Wall Street’s most outspoken CEO publicly dealt with one of the largest trading losses in history.
Go here to read the rest: The 10 stages of Jamie Dimon’s London Whale grief
Category : World News
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Inside the Budding Industrial Hemp and Medical Marijuana Industry: Report on The Fabulous Four
PR Newswire
LAS VEGAS, April 5, 2013
LAS VEGAS, April 5, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — Bruce Perlowin, CEO of Hemp, Inc. (OTC: HEMP) and industrial hemp veteran presents The Fabulous Four Report of the industrial hemp and medical marijuana industry.
Companies a step closer to creating world’s largest airline as judge rejects $19.9m severance package for outgoing CEO
A judge on Wednesday approved the merger of American Airlines and US Airways Group, a step toward creating the world’s largest airline.
AMR, parent of American Airlines and in bankruptcy since November 2011, must still construct a formal restructuring plan incorporating the merger that meets court and creditor approval before the airline can emerge from bankruptcy.
American Airlines announced the plan to combine with US Airways last month, a deal that also requires regulatory approval.
In a crowded Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday, US bankruptcy judge Sean Lane declined to approve, for now, a planned $19.9m severance package for Tom Horton, AMR’s outgoing chief executive.
Lane said he was uncertain as to whether the severance package requires his approval at all, or whether the matter is more appropriate for inclusion in AMR’s formal restructuring plan.
That plan, which all debtors in bankruptcy must propose, will lay out how creditors will get paid back, and will require creditor approval.
The fate of the severance payment is unclear. The version of the merger agreement that earned the judge’s approval may have to be amended to remove it.
Jack Butler, a lawyer for AMR’s creditors’ committee, said it was too early to tell how the parties will deal with the severance issue.
“The companies said they were prepared to amend the merger agreement in any respect, and I expect that there will be an amendment,” Butler said after the hearing.
AMR filed for bankruptcy citing untenable labor costs after years of futile attempts to negotiate cost savings from its unionized workforce. It had been the last major US carrier to go through bankruptcy, after its competitors underwent the same process in the last decade.
Wednesday’s approval was a key moment in AMR’s 16-month odyssey through reorganization under chapter 11 of the bankruptcy code. Stephen Karotkin, a lawyer for AMR, called Wednesday’s hearing a “watershed event” that moves AMR a step closer to exiting bankruptcy.
The airline began its bankruptcy process flatly opposed to merging while still in bankruptcy, but eventually relented to pressure from its creditors’ committee.
US Airways chief executive Doug Parker wooed AMR aggressively, taking advantage of AMR’s labor relations problems to appeal to its unions.
US Airways hammered out a tentative deal with the unions last April, before formal merger talks between the two companies’ management teams had gone into full swing.
AMR’s current shareholders are expected to receive a 3.5% equity stake in the new firm, which would make it one of the few major bankruptcies in which equity holders earn some recovery.
Parker will serve as CEO of the combined carrier, while Horton, who became AMR’s CEO when it filed for bankruptcy, will serve as chairman of the airline through the first annual meeting of shareholders. After that Parker will take on the chairman role.
The merger is expected to be completed in the third quarter.