Aug. 18, 2010 at 11:37 a.m.
Filed under:
Unions
By Julie Wernau
Unite Here, the hotel workers union, is planning a public screening Wednesday of “Show Us the Tax Breaks” – a short film that attacks Chicago’s Pritzker family and their decision to close East Chicago’s Union Tank Car plant in 2008. The plant was one of the largest employers in East Chicago and when it closed, hundreds of workers were left unemployed.
The film argues that through their company — the Marmon Group, which owned Union Tank Car — the Pritzkers benefited from economic incentives and tax breaks in their decision to relocate the plant to Louisiana. At the time, the Marmon Group said that market conditions had forced the company to reduce overall production and that the aging facility in East Chicago was less efficient. Get the full story »
Aug. 17, 2010 at 6:29 a.m.
Filed under:
Food,
Health care,
Investing
By Associated Press
Warren Buffett’s company has partially rebuilt the stake in Johnson & Johnson he reduced over the past two years to raise cash for other investments, and Berkshire Hathaway Inc. boosted its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc. during the second quarter. Berkshire detailed its $46.4 billion U.S. stock holdings Monday in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The document revealed several changes in the Omaha-based company’s portfolio between March 31 and the end of June, including decreases in Berkshire’s holdings in Kraft Foods, ConocoPhillips, Procter & Gamble and M&T Bank. Berkshire also increased its stakes in Becton Dickinson & Co., Nalco Holding Co. and Sanofi Aventis. Get the full story »
Aug. 4, 2010 at 2:20 p.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Philanthropy,
Updated
By Reuters
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, with rapper Ludacris, at a 2008 State Farm Basketball Challenge exhibition game. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
A total of 40 U.S. billionaires have pledged to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth as part of a campaign by investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates.
Gates and Buffett launched “The Giving Pledge” in June to convince hundreds of U.S. billionaires to give away most of their fortune during their lifetimes or after their deaths and to publicly state their intention with a letter of explanation. Get the full story »
July 28, 2010 at 8:16 a.m.
Filed under:
By Mary Jane Grandinetti
It’s a case that has left Warren Buffett’s Dairy Queen business cold.
International Dairy Queen Inc, the ice-cream company owned by the billionaire investor’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has asked a court to stop a southern California rival from selling a frozen yogurt with a name similar to Blizzard, its biggest-selling menu item. Get the full story »
July 15, 2010 at 7:54 a.m.
Filed under:
Insurance
By Dow Jones Newswires
Commercial insurance writer CNA Financial Corp. said it has in place an agreement to transfer about $1.6 billion of net asbestos and pollution liabilities to Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s National Indemnity Co. unit. Get the full story »
July 2, 2010 at 4:53 p.m.
Filed under:
Chicago executives,
Stock activity
By Associated Press
Investor Warren Buffett has delivered his annual gifts of Berkshire Hathaway stock worth $1.9 billion to the five foundations he has promised the bulk of his $45 billion fortune to. Buffett made his gift of 24.5 million Class B shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock on Thursday.
