Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett sat down with FOX Business Networkās Liz Claman and spoke about the Presidentās new bank proposal, saying that he feels that āthe CEO has to be the chief risk officerā and if a bank fails āthe CEO and his wife would forfeit their net worth.ā
Below are excerpts from the interview:
On the Presidentās new bank proposal:
āYouāll always have banks that are too big to fail. We canāt operate in this world without very big banksā¦If they are toppling the government will have to do something about it.ā
āIf I were running things if a bank had to go to the government for help, the CEO and his wife would forfeit all their net worthā¦I think you have to change the incentives. The incentives a few years ago were try and report higher quarterly earnings. Itās nice to have carrots, but you need sticks. The idea that some guy whoās worth $500 million leaves and only has $50 million left is not much of a stick as far as Iām concerned.ā
āThe CEO has to be the chief risk officer for a bank.ā
On General Re settling in the AIG case:
āWe did something wrong and we paid the priceā¦It shouldnāt have been done, and thereās nothing inappropriate about the fine we paid, so I have no problem with it.ā
On members of Congress who feel Ben Bernanke should not be reconfirmed:
āThey ought to get down on their knees every night and thank the Lord that Bernanke was there through this. He took some unprecedented actionsā¦He took the actions that were necessary to prevent panic from paralyzing this country.ā
On whether heās tempted to sell his Goldman shares before five years:
āIām not tempted at all. That thought doesnāt cross my mind.ā
On what his thoughts were at the height of the housing crisis:
āI wish Iād been thinking a little harder. It looked a little crazy to me, but I should have done more about it than I did.ā
āI would have been much more attuneā¦if I would have really paid attention I would have been looking at some of those instruments and maybe shorting the companies that were big in the mortgage business or something of the sort. I wouldnāt be shorting but I would have looked for ways to protect myself from the bubble that was going to pop.ā
On Secretary Geithner:
āI think heās terrific.ā
On the performance of Berkshireās split shares:
āThereās been a little bit more action than is ideal today.ā
āIn the end, we hope we have shareholders who are in sync with usā¦We donāt want any day traders.ā
On the future of Berkshire Hathawayās business acquisition:
āWeāll keep buying businesses, as long as Iām alive weāll keep buying businessesā¦weāll try to buy them for cash, sometimes we may have to use some stock, but weāll use as little stock as possible.ā
Watch the three video segments:
Part I: We Will Keep Buying Businesses
Watch the latest business video atvideo.foxbusiness.com
Part II: Will Always Have āToo-Big-to-Failā Banks
Watch the latest business video atvideo.foxbusiness.com
Part III: Thank the Lord for Ben Bernanke
Watch the latest business video atvideo.foxbusiness.com
(Click here, here and here if you do not see the video player in your browser)
Below are excerpts from the interview:
On the Presidentās new bank proposal:
āYouāll always have banks that are too big to fail. We canāt operate in this world without very big banksā¦If they are toppling the government will have to do something about it.ā
āIf I were running things if a bank had to go to the government for help, the CEO and his wife would forfeit all their net worthā¦I think you have to change the incentives. The incentives a few years ago were try and report higher quarterly earnings. Itās nice to have carrots, but you need sticks. The idea that some guy whoās worth $500 million leaves and only has $50 million left is not much of a stick as far as Iām concerned.ā
āThe CEO has to be the chief risk officer for a bank.ā
On General Re settling in the AIG case:
āWe did something wrong and we paid the priceā¦It shouldnāt have been done, and thereās nothing inappropriate about the fine we paid, so I have no problem with it.ā
On members of Congress who feel Ben Bernanke should not be reconfirmed:
āThey ought to get down on their knees every night and thank the Lord that Bernanke was there through this. He took some unprecedented actionsā¦He took the actions that were necessary to prevent panic from paralyzing this country.ā
On whether heās tempted to sell his Goldman shares before five years:
āIām not tempted at all. That thought doesnāt cross my mind.ā
On what his thoughts were at the height of the housing crisis:
āI wish Iād been thinking a little harder. It looked a little crazy to me, but I should have done more about it than I did.ā
āI would have been much more attuneā¦if I would have really paid attention I would have been looking at some of those instruments and maybe shorting the companies that were big in the mortgage business or something of the sort. I wouldnāt be shorting but I would have looked for ways to protect myself from the bubble that was going to pop.ā
On Secretary Geithner:
āI think heās terrific.ā
On the performance of Berkshireās split shares:
āThereās been a little bit more action than is ideal today.ā
āIn the end, we hope we have shareholders who are in sync with usā¦We donāt want any day traders.ā
On the future of Berkshire Hathawayās business acquisition:
āWeāll keep buying businesses, as long as Iām alive weāll keep buying businessesā¦weāll try to buy them for cash, sometimes we may have to use some stock, but weāll use as little stock as possible.ā
Watch the three video segments:
Part I: We Will Keep Buying Businesses
Watch the latest business video atvideo.foxbusiness.com
Part II: Will Always Have āToo-Big-to-Failā Banks
Watch the latest business video atvideo.foxbusiness.com
Part III: Thank the Lord for Ben Bernanke
Watch the latest business video atvideo.foxbusiness.com
(Click here, here and here if you do not see the video player in your browser)
