Three Most Admired on Forbes 400

Forbes annual list of the 400 richest people in the world is out. Guess what. Bill Gates, the man, who was the richest man in the world for the past 13 years, is now number 3 on the list. The number 1 spot, is once again held by the guy who was number 2, for the past 13-years. That of course is the Oracle of Omaha, Warren Buffett. As most of my readers know, he is one of the people I most admire.

In fact, three of the men that I most admire, are on the top 400 richest people list. All three are people I would love to meet, but realistically, probably never will. Still, one can dream, and dreams sometimes do come true. So without further ado, let's take a look at the profiles of those three people.

1. #1 Warren Buffett





America's most beloved investor is now the world's richest man. Soared past friend and bridge partner Bill Gates as shares of Berkshire Hathaway climbed 25% since the middle of last July. Son of Nebraska politician delivered newspapers as a boy. Filed first tax return at age 13, claiming $35 deduction for bicycle. Studied under value investing guru Benjamin Graham at Columbia. Took over textile firm Berkshire Hathaway 1965. Today holding company invested in insurance (Geico, General Re), jewelry (Borsheim's), utilities (MidAmerican Energy), food (Dairy Queen, See's Candies). Also has non-controlling stakes in Anheuser-Busch, Coca-Cola, Wells Fargo. Insurance operations flourished in 2007. "That party is over. It's a certainty that insurance-industry profit margins, including ours, will fall significantly in 2008." The Oracle of Omaha issued a challenge to members of The Forbes 400 in October; said he would donate $1 million to charity if the collective group of richest Americans would admit they pay less taxes, as a percentage of income, than their secretaries. Had long promised to give away his fortune posthumously. Irrevocably earmarked the majority of his Berkshire shares to charity in 2006, mostly to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Gift was valued at $31 billion on day of announcement; donation will far exceed that sum so long as Berkshire shares continue to rise.
Forbes Magazine





2. #307 Ronald Burkle





Son of a grocery store manager spent childhood stacking bread, chasing shopping carts. Joined union local as a box boy at age 13. Tried college, returned home to stock shelves at dad's Stater Bros. store. Rose to store manager, eventually vice president of Stater Bros.' parent, Petrolane. Tried to purchase company via leveraged buyout; failed, was fired. Severance: $8,450. Founded investment company Yucaipa 1986; made fortune buying and selling supermarket chains Fred Meyer, Jurgensen's, Ralph's. Often buys distressed operations in poor neighborhoods to pay low prices, avoid bidding wars. Worker friendly: uses union sources to find hidden value in possible takeovers. Internal rate of return from 1985 to 2003: 43% a year. Failed to buy Tribune newspaper company with fellow Los Angeles billionaire Eli Broad; advised Dow Jones' union during company's negotiations with Rupert Murdoch over sale of Wall Street Journal, other assets to News Corp. Close friend of Bill Clinton; former president became Yucaipa adviser in 2001, reportedly cashed out recently for perhaps $20 million.
- Forbes Magazine



For my Topeka, KS readers, Burkle was the guy that bought Falley's and Food 4 Less from Lou Falley. Burkle was responsible for introducing Food4Less into California.


3. #368 Donald Trump





Son of Brooklyn developer borrowed heavily, built big, lived large, became a billionaire during 1980s. Eviscerated in 1990 real estate crash; stayed flamboyant, embraced reality TV. Now other builders pay him millions to license "Trump" brand. Despite looming housing woes, the Donald's retail, office and hotel business is up. Recently signed Gucci in record lease in New York's Trump Tower; Trump Chicago hotel opened January. Annually disputes FORBES' net worth estimate: "I'm worth $7 billion."
- Forbes Magazine

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Thoughts and Links

It's been a couple of days since I posted, so I thought I should write something. It has been slow, in that nothing much has been going on this week. Busy week at work again, although it has quited down some there. People are starting to dispel the rumors now and hopefully things will get back to normal again. Although, it is pretty much public knowledge that the stores may be sold, if they can find the "right" buyer.

As I have been reading some of the other personal finance blogs, I see "Get Rich Slowly," is intrigued by something called "Bacon Salt."

In addition, he mentions Warren Buffett. As many of my regular readers know, I am a huge fan of the Oracle of Omaha. It is my dream, that one day I will actually get to meet him. I am sure though, that he has better things to do then to met and encourage a middle aged man, whose dreams and aspirations have gone no where. Despite all my efforts to make them happen. Still though JD makes some good observations from some recent comments from the world's 2nd richest man.

When investing, most people should buy a cheap index fund and dollar-cost average into it.

“I won the ovarian lottery the day I was born and so did all of you. We’re all successful, intelligent, educated. To focus on what you don’t have is a terrible mistake. With the gifts all of us have, if you are unhappy, it’s your own fault.” (Note that Buffett was addressing a group of business school students.)

Why have relatively few people been able to emulate his success? “The reason gets down to temperament. People want to make money fast, but it doesn’t happen that way.”


After see the comments on Buffett, I thought I would see what another billionaire that I look up to was doing. A billionaire, that like Buffett, I would like to meet someday. A man, who was able to buy his first chain of grocery stores with Buffett investing half the money. I am of course talking about Ron Burkle. The man who unsuccessfully tried to buy the LA times and Chicago Tribune. Well, he has now bought a media company. However, it is in China.

It may not be the Los Angeles Times, but, for Ron Burkle, it'll have to do. On Tuesday Burkle's Yucaipa vehicle increased its investment in Xinhua Finance Media, this time pumping cash directly into the Chinese news service.

Billionaire Ron Burkle, a favorite of the New York Post's gossip column Page Six, increased his stake in Xinhua Finance Media (nasdaq: XFML - news - people ) to a total of 12% of the company's outstanding common shares. He paid $30 million for convertible preferred shares; this was in addition to the $27.5 million Yucaipa slapped down for common shares from existing stockholders in September. The conversion price is set at $6.00 per American depository receipt, or $3.00 per common share as each ADS listed on the Nasdaq represents two common shares. The company will also be entitled to one board seat on the Chinese Media company's board.

Xinhua Finance Mediatakes its name from an alliance made eight years ago with the Xinhua News Agency, China's state-run press. It produces financial-focused content for nationwide television as well as a variety of print media outlets. It also has radio stations in Beijing and Shanghai. Xinhua Finance Media also has majority stakes in company that produce outdoor advertising, television and movies.

While I don't know if I would invest in a foreign media company, especially one in a communist country. I do find it interesting that he did. I for one would invest in media companies, banks and retail establishments if I had the money. But those are three areas that I know a little something about and are places I have worked in some capacity since my 1987 graduation from high school, where I was even on the school newspaper.


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Twinkies Says It Can't Continue Operation

Sounds like wonder bread maybe going out of business. If they hold true to their previous threats (a couple weeks back).

Interstate Bakeries Corp. today said it has not been able to reach agreement with the Teamsters union after reaching agreement Friday with its other main union.

On Friday, the bankrupt maker of Twinkies and Wonder bread said it had reached agreement on contract modifications with the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union.

Interstate said the bakers’ union had begun having its members vote to ratify the changes, which included health and welfare concessions and changes to the company’s distribution network.

In a release this morning, IBC said it has not been able to reach agreement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on modifications to its collective bargaining agreements necessary to allow a more capable and cost-effective path-to-market, specific health and welfare concessions, and increased work rule flexibility.

IBC previously said that if it didn’t have agreements with its two principal labor unions by a self-imposed Sunday deadline it would seek interim Bankruptcy Court approval for a 30-day extension to consider its options, including a liquidation of the company. A hearing is set for Wednesday.

IBC today said it remains open to discussions with the Teamsters leading up to the hearing.

IBC also said that it is continuing discussions with prospective investors to secure the financial resources required to successfully emerge from bankruptcy and implement its business plan, but that all financing proposals it has received to date require union alignment to the company’s business plan.

If union and financing arrangements are not achieved Wednesday, however, IBC said it will pursue court approval of the extension and focus efforts on alternative plans to maximize the value of the bankruptcy estates.

The Teamsters, which represents around 10,000 employees, object to additional health care concessions, as well as the company’s plan to separate the job functions of many drivers who currently sell and deliver the company’s products.

The union says the distribution changes would reduce the pay for many of its members, but Interstate Bakeries said the effect would be smaller than the union is claiming.

The Teamsters last week asked the bankruptcy court to deny Interstate Bakeries’ request for more time, saying three years has been more than enough to work out a plan.

JP Morgan Chase Bank, which represents the company’s pre-bankruptcy lenders, made a similar request this week, saying the deadline should be pushed back no further than Oct. 31.

A committee of unsecured creditors has also filed motions, seeking to force Interstate Bakeries to talk with potential buyers and allow creditors to be part of those negotiations.

The Star and The Associated Press

In a previous article Interstate has said that if they liquidate, they would not consider offers from two companies that has expressed interest in the company. Those two companies are Yucaipa, an investment company headed by Ron Burkle of Los Angeles, an equity firm affiliated with J.P. Morgan, the bank representing it's creditors. To me, they are in bankruptcy, and are in no position to say who will buy them. That will be up to the judge and no one else.

Welcome! Look Around and Stay A While

It seems that I must have hit the lottery sort to speak. Yesterday, I looked at my stats and was amazed to see such a huge influx of visitors. Looking more closely at the states, it seems most of the new visitors are coming in, by way of Google searches. The search term, in one day has become the number one search term for this site. What was that term? Various versions of "84 square foot house" or home. All in all at midnight central time, I had received 310 hits on that article/page alone. Over all I had 384 unique visitors for the day. Considering I normally have 50-100 and occasionally 200 a day, to swell to almost 400 is fabulous. If this keeps up, I could be the number one personal finance blog rather then just one of the top 100.

So I would like to welcome all the new readers. If this is your first time here or if you have never commented before, I would like to welcome each of you. Everyone is encouraged to comment on any of the articles. All I ask is that if you don't have a blogger account, click on other and give yourself a name, so that your comments will be taken a little more seriously then a no name anonymous reply would be. The name you type in can be your real name, a nick name or an online pseudonym and is just to identify your comments.

This blog is (as stated above) a personal finance blog. I discuss my personal financial troubles openly here and my readers rebuke or support (with their comments) me. In addition I have talked about various frugal and thrifty tips. Discussed financial gurus like Dave Ramsey and John Cummuta. I have even discussed billionaires and business leaders such as Ron Burkle and Warren Buffett. It's all here, it's all my opinion, with your agreements, disagreements and thoughts thrown in. It to is my open book of the huge stupid mistakes I have made financially and all my struggles as I dig myself out of debt.

So with that, I would again like to say welcome and thank each and everyone of you for stopping by. Feel free to make a comment here to say hi and post how you found my blog.

I Admire this Man and His Business Savvy

I don't usually talk about individual stocks. One reason, I am not qualified to recommend and (2) I don't have the cash to invest. However, the guy that bought the Kansas company that I work for, back in the 1990's in order to get a hold of the Food4Less name, has made another play. He later sold my company to a Kansas City co-op and most of the rest of the stores that he built or bought out in California to Kroger.

After stocking up on shares of Wild Oats Markets, Ronald W. Burkle is set to check out at a tidy profit. Whole Foods Market, the natural-foods grocer, agreed Wednesday to pay $565 million for Wild Oats, a smaller competitor whose largest shareholder is Mr. Burkle’s investment firm, Yucaipa. At $18.50 per share, Whole Foods’ offer values Yucaipa’s nearly 18 percent stake at about $94.4 million. Yucaipa paid about $54 million, net of commissions, for its 5.1 million shares, regulatory filings show.

Yucaipa has already agreed to tender its shares under Whole Foods’ offer, the companies said Wednesday.

Despite Burkle's politics I admire him as a brilliant businessman, much the same as Warren Buffett. With that I would very much be interested in buying stocks in Whole Foods.