Thursday, August 25, 2011

Warren Buffett: I Dreamt Up Bank Of America Deal In The Bathtub

On Thursday, Buffett, the billionaire investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, announced his company would buy $5 billion worth of shares in Bank Of America. Critics wondered if Buffett had been pressured to help the troubled bank. Not so, Buffett says.

"He says he just dreamt this idea up on Wednesday morning while he was in the bathtub," CNBC's Becky Quick said on Thursday after speaking with Buffett over the phone.
The deal is being compared to previous Buffett deals like the $5 billion Goldman Sachs investment during the financial crisis not only because of the risk attached, but also because of the prominence of an anecdotal bathtub story.
After the Goldman Sachs deal, Buffett compared the struggling economy to the tub with "cold water in the front and hot water in the back," The New York Times points out.
And that's not all. Buffett allegedly says his mind also frees up space to "look forward" in the same way a bathtub fills up and then drains, according to a 2008 biography by Alice Schroeder.
 

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