Musk tweaks Buffett for not being as wealthy as he is

Responding to a tweet noting that he is "richer" than Warren Buffett and Bill Gates combined, Elon Musk suggested in his own tweet, "Maybe Buffett should invest in Tesla haha."

The original tweet featured a video clip (1.6 million views) of Buffett and Gates playing against U.S. Olympian Ariel Hsing with the consolation that they "will always have that time they played ping pong" at the 2013 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. (It was one of several appearances Hsing made in Omaha over the years.)

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index estimates Musk's net worth at $252 billion. He got a big boost this month from a new funding round that valued privately-held SpaceX at $100 billion.

That compares to a total of $239 billion for Buffett ($105B) and Gates ($134B).

(The Forbes real time net worth for Musk is a bit more modest, at $230 billion, putting him about $10 billion below Buffett and Gates in that ranking.)

Since 2006, Buffett has contributed roughly half his Berkshire A shares to philanthropy. They would be currently valued at $103 billion.

Buffett and Musk have some history between them.

Just before the 2018 Berkshire annual meeting, Musk criticized the idea of
competitive "moats," Buffett's word for the enduring advantage a company
needs, often in the form of a strong brand, to fend off challengers. Musk told
a Tesla earnings conference call that "the pace of innovation" is what matters
and the moat concept is "quaint."

In this clip from the Berkshire meeting, Munger and Buffett defend their
favorite defense of corporate castles and suggest that Musk wouldn't "want to
take us on in candy."

Two days later, during a CNBC interview, Buffett said he "salutes" Musk and
Tesla for trying to improve a product, but "it's probably easier to develop a
new car than compete with Snickers," due to the candy bar's strong brand.

In 2019, Buffett was asked what he thought of Musk's behavior as Tesla's CEO. With a laugh, he replied, "Well, I think he has room for improvement. And he
would say the same thing."

Buffett continued, "Some people have a talent for interesting quotes, and
others (Buffett points to his own head) have a blocker up there that says 'this
could get me into a problem.' But he's a remarkable guy."

And last year, in an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, Musk conceded that while he isn't Buffett's "biggest fan," the Omaha billionaire's capital allocation does have value.

"That’s kind of a boring job if you ask me, but it’s still a thing that’s important to
figure out."

Tesla shares closed today at an all-time high of $909.68. It has a price-to-earnings ratio of 295.19. 

Buffett's daughter Susie joins Berkshire's board

Warren Buffett's daughter, Susan Buffett, has been elected to Berkshire Hathaway's board of directors, where she joins her brother Howard.

Ms. Buffett, who goes by Susie, is the Chairman of the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and the Chairman of the Sherwood Foundation. Both philanthropies are based in Omaha.

Christopher Davis was also added to the board. A Berkshire news release says he is chairman of Davis Selected Advisers, an investment management firm with $25 billion in assets under management.

As of the end of June, it owned 2455 Berkshire Class A shares, currently valued at almost $1.1 billion, and 1,538,419 Class B shares with a current value of $445 million, for a total stake of just over $1.5 billion.

According to an SEC filing, the elections on Wednesday followed the directors' unanimous approval of a resolution increasing the size of the board to 15.

Berkshire tenders shares in Italian insurance takeover

Berkshire Hathaway has tendered its roughly 7% stake in Cattolica, an Italian insurance company, to Generali, a larger rival, according to Bloomberg and Reuters.

The reports say that brings Generali closer to completing its attempt to win control of Cattolica. They both cite sources because the process is not public.

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

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BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

BERKSHIRE'S TOP U.S. STOCK HOLDINGS - Oct 22, 2021

Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly-traded U.S. stocks by market value, based on today's closing prices.

Holdings are as of June 30, 2021 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on August 16, 2021, except for Apple, Bank of America, and U.S. Bancorp, which also include shares held as of June 30, 2021 as disclosed in New England Asset Management’s 13F filing on August 16, 2021.

In addition to U.S. stocks, shares held as of December 31, 2020 of China's BYD, as listed in Buffett's 2020 letter to shareholders, are included. The price of those shares in U.S. trading is used to approximate the current market value of the position. The value of the stake as a percentage of the company's market value is fixed at what was listed as of December 31, 2020 in the letter.

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

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

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-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch