Big short seller accuses $2.4B Berkshire holding of running a 'scam'

Noted short seller Jim Chanos revealed Thursday that he's been betting against the kidney dialysis company DaVita for years, in part due to what he calls a "reimbursement scam."

That puts him on the other side of the field from Berkshire Hathaway, which is DaVita's biggest shareholder with a 24% stake worth $2.4 billion.

While Chanos told CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime" that he "didn't intentionally pick any fight" with Berkshire, he does think it is "a very bad look for an insurance company like Berkshire Hathaway to be promoting a company that I think is running an insurance scam."

Chanos cites a suit brought by Blue Cross of Florida accusing DaVita of pushing Medicare and Medicaid patients to buy policies from insurers on Obamacare exchanges, and helping to subsidize the premiums through a largely DaVita-funded charity.

Then they "charge the commercial insurers three to four X what they get in Medicare and Medicaid."

Berkshire didn't respond to our request for comment. 

In 2014, Berkshire's Ted Weschler, the portfolio manager responsible for the position (its not a Buffett pick), told us he bought the stock because DaVita delivers "better quality of care," high return on capital with predictable growth and a shareholder-friendly management, and because its efficiency helped it to "deliver a net savings to the health care system."

Another blow to Kraft Heinz as 3G sells some shares

Shares of big Berkshire Hathaway holding Kraft Heinz are down around 3% this week after 3G Capital sold more than 25 million shares.

3G partnered with Berkshire in the 2015 deal that created Kraft Heinz and is the second-largest shareholder of the giant food company. Even after the sale of 9% of its stake, 3G still owns 245 million shares.

A Kraft Heinz spokesperson told CNBC that a big factor in the sale is the need for cash to handle periodic liquidity windows that allow 3G investors to sell shares in the fund that holds 3G's Kraft Heinz shares.

The spokesperson adds that 3G has no current intention to sell more Kraft Heinz shares.

In addition, 3G chief Jorge Paulo Lemann disclosed he added around $100 million of Kraft Heinz stock to his personal holdings.

Berkshire is Kraft Heinz's biggest shareholder with a 27% stake of almost 326 million shares.

Right now, they'e worth around $9 billion, down from a high of more than $35 billion in 2017.

Buffett's "fireman" is leaving Berkshire

Tracy Britt Cool is leaving Berkshire Hathaway after a decade. She plans to start her own firm that will buy companies that are too small for Berkshire.

Britt Cool was 25 when she was hired in 2009 to be Buffett's financial assistant, a title he created for her.

Buffett tells the WSJ that "she was the fireman. Anything I've assigned her she's done a first-class job on."

Among those tasks, working with struggling Berkshire companies including Benjamin Moore, Johns Manville, and Pampered Chef. 

How to invest like Warren Buffett

The CNBC + Acorns partnership has just published an article listing and analyzing the rules that have helped make Buffett one of the greatest investors of our times.

There's also an accompanying video that you can watch by clicking on the "start button" above.

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares closed at $313,700 Friday, up 5.7% over the previous four weeks, and down 5.9% from one year ago.

Berkshire Hathaway Class B shares closed at $208.12, up 5.6% over the previous four weeks, and down 6.1% from one year ago.

The benchmark S&P 500 index closed at 2992.07, up 5.1% over the previous four weeks, and up 2.1% from one year ago.

BERKSHIRE'S TOP STOCK HOLDINGS 

Berkshire's top stock holdings by market value, based on today's closing prices. The number of shares held is as of June 30, 2019, as disclosed in the company's August 14 13F SEC filing.

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Please send us any questions or comments about the newsletter to us at buffett@cnbc.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

If you aren't already subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.