This is pretty cool. Whitney Tilson received an e-mail from Buffett that the Oracle had sent to CNBC correcting one of the talking heads who was spouting off about the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, Financial)(BRK.B, Financial) share repurchase.
Here is the e-mail Tilson received from Buffett (which Buffett had sent to CNBC):
From: Debbie Bosanek, Assistant to Warren Buffett
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 12:08 PM
Subject: from Warren Buffett
TO: Nik Deogun and Nick Dunn, CNBC
Gary Kaminsky earlier today made two major errors in describing our repurchase of 9,200 Class A shares yesterday. He first stated that I had in the past advised against repurchases generally. This is not true, and I’m enclosing material from the 1984 annual report where I discuss the conditions under which I strongly favor repurchases. This position has been repeated many times since then, both in annual reports and in interviews.
Mr. Kaminsky also made the statement that the estate that was a seller was better off by selling in 2012 than 2013. This, too, was incorrect. Estates receive a stepped-up basis upon death and therefore the estate did not have a gain regardless of when the stock was sold. The principle of stepped-up basis has been incorporated in the tax code for many decades.
Warren Buffett
And below is the attachment that Warren had sent to CNBC to support his e-mail:
20121213114041707
Here is the e-mail Tilson received from Buffett (which Buffett had sent to CNBC):
From: Debbie Bosanek, Assistant to Warren Buffett
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2012 12:08 PM
Subject: from Warren Buffett
TO: Nik Deogun and Nick Dunn, CNBC
Gary Kaminsky earlier today made two major errors in describing our repurchase of 9,200 Class A shares yesterday. He first stated that I had in the past advised against repurchases generally. This is not true, and I’m enclosing material from the 1984 annual report where I discuss the conditions under which I strongly favor repurchases. This position has been repeated many times since then, both in annual reports and in interviews.
Mr. Kaminsky also made the statement that the estate that was a seller was better off by selling in 2012 than 2013. This, too, was incorrect. Estates receive a stepped-up basis upon death and therefore the estate did not have a gain regardless of when the stock was sold. The principle of stepped-up basis has been incorporated in the tax code for many decades.
Warren Buffett
And below is the attachment that Warren had sent to CNBC to support his e-mail:
20121213114041707
