What companies did Warren Buffett put on his wish list for Santa Claus?
The secret is out.
The Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) chief sent a photo of himself, perched on Santa's lap, and named several companies that he apparently believes will be great stocks to own in 2012.
Under the header, "Santa - 2011," Buffett listed Exxon Mobil (XOM), Wells Fargo (WF)--both companies in which he already owns shares--and Google (GOOG). No public records indicate that Buffett has ever owned Google stock.
Does this mean that the Oracle of Omaha, who has mostly shunned investments in Silicon Valley, now has his sights set on Google?
Buffett answered in an email: "I just wrote out the list without much thought except to pick companies that we already owned as 'completed' and then just pulled the other names out of a hat--with an eye toward ridiculousness. The implication I hoped was that they were on a list designating those I hoped to own in their entirety, not just shares."
Hmm, owning Exxon Mobil and Google in their entirety does sound a bit ridiculous. But you can't accuse the man who built Berkshire Hathaway into America's seventh-largest company of thinking small.
Those "completed" companies that Buffett says Berkshire already owns in their entirety are GEICO, BNSF Railway, and McLane, a distribution giant that he bought from Wal-Mart (WMT) in 2003.
As for the last item on his Christmas list, "Youth Pills (for Charlie)," here Buffett is referring to Charlie Munger, his longtime business partner who turned 88 on New Years Day. Buffett is a relatively youthful 81.
And who is this Santa, upon whose lap Buffett sits? That is Michael Wilhelm, the brother of a good friend of Susie Buffett, Warren's daughter. Every Christmas, Wilhelm dyes his beard to play Santa and entertain the young 'uns in the Buffett crew--including Warren, we guess.
Buffett will appear tonight on the one hour NBC season finale of The Office at 9/8c.
Tonight on the season finale of The Office, a galaxy of stars will be jostling to replace the hapless Michael Scott as boss of Dunder Mifflin's Scranton branch. You'll see Jim Carrey, Ray Romano, Ricky Gervais, and...Warren Buffett.
Warren Buffett visits Dunder Mifflin
It's a quick cameo for the famous investor, but Buffett had a juicier role MORE
Patricia Sellers - May 19, 2011 2:42 PM ET
by Patricia Sellers
How critical to success is a healthy corporate culture?
As my Postcard last Thursday noted, Ginny Rometty, one of the top execs at IBM (IBM), says that culture is emerging to be the No. 1 corporate asset.
Jeffrey Katzenberg, DreamWorks Animation's (DWA) chief, seems to agree--as yesterday's Postcard details.
Another guy who deems a thriving culture to be a vital ingredient of a successful company: Warren Buffett. I spent much MORE
Patricia Sellers - Mar 17, 2011 11:14 AM ET
By Patricia Sellers
It's hard to believe Warren Buffett. A month ago, the guy turned 80 years old. Last week he was in China with his billionaire pals Bill Gates and Charlie Munger. Last Thursday, he flew home to Omaha, slept a little -- even though his internal time clock never went out of whack, he says. Since Monday, he's been with us in Washington at the Fortune Most Powerful MORE
Fortune - Oct 6, 2010 3:21 PM ET
Rarely does a rebuff from Warren Buffett do so much good. Kraft Foods (KFT) stock rose 4.9% yesterday after the Oracle of Omaha, whose Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) is Kraft's largest shareholder, voted against an issuance of 370 million shares to help finance a Cadbury (CBY) acquisition. Cadbury fell, on the logic that Buffett, by tightening the leash on Kraft CEO Irene Rosenfeld, is preventing her from sweetening the price for MORE
Patricia Sellers - Jan 6, 2010 3:52 PM ET
"If you buy a railroad, you can't move it to China or to India or anyplace else. You are betting on the United States. I can't think of a surer bet."
- Warren Buffett, explaining Berkshire Hathaway's (BRKB) $44 billion buyout of Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI).
Click here to see Buffett talking about his biggest deal ever with CNNMoney anchor Poppy Harlow.
While the size was a surprise, the bet on America MORE
Patricia Sellers - Nov 4, 2009 6:56 PM ET
by Patricia Sellers
"Control your expenses better than your competition. This is where you can always find the competitive advantage."
That was said, simply enough, by Wal-Mart (WMT) founder Sam Walton. And though today it's widely known that Wal-Mart is the world's most efficient retailer, a little-known fact is that for 25 years--long before Wal-Mart became America's largest retailer--it ranked No. 1 in its industry for the lowest ratio of expenses to sales.
Efficiency runs in the water here MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 14, 2009 12:03 PM ET
Warren Buffett calls the CEOs who run his companies "All-Stars."
The world's most renowned investor picks his managers practically as well as his stocks. But branding the bosses of businesses owned by Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) "All-Stars" may also be a clever people-management ploy on his part--to inject so much confidence in his people that they feel they must be the best...and duly pressured, they are.
At the recent Fortune Most MORE
Patricia Sellers - Oct 12, 2009 11:27 AM ET
Last week's Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit was teeming with experts. They offered points and opinions on so many topics, with data to back it all up. Here, some of our favorite stats:
1. The No. 1 quality that successful business leaders have in common is that they started a business at a young age. --Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) (Click for video of Summit interview with Buffett.)
2. MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Sep 25, 2009 1:01 PM ET
"The United States economy is now out of the emergency room and appears to be on a slow path to recovery."
--Warren Buffett, today in a New York Times op-ed. The Berkshire Hathaway (BRKA) CEO writes that while mistakes were made in the recovery effort, a "gusher of federal money" prevented a meltdown. He goes on to caution that "enormous dosages of monetary medicine continue to be administered and, before long, MORE
Jessica Shambora, Writer-Reporter - Aug 19, 2009 6:06 PM ET
For the latest on the most influential women in business, philanthropy, government, and the arts, like us on Facebook. 
In a funny and candid interview, Google VP Marissa Mayer explains how she got to the top. Watch
Xerox CEO Ursula Burns shares how she once accepted a job with Dell but ended up staying with Xerox. Watch
Pattie Sellers has written some of Fortune's most talked-about cover stories, including "Oprah's Next Act," "Can Meg Whitman Save California?" "The $100 Billion Woman" (Melinda Gates), "MySpace Cowboys," Martha Stewart ("I cannot be destroyed"), Ted Turner ("Gone with the Wind") and Oprah Winfrey ("Oprah Inc."). Since its launch in 1998, Pattie has helped oversee Fortune's "Most Powerful Women" cover package.
A specialist at dissecting larger-than-life personalities, she has also profiled former U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson, Morgan Stanley chairman John Mack, and countless CEOs.
Pattie co-chairs the annual Fortune Most Powerful Women Summit, the preeminent gathering of women leaders in business, philanthropy, government, academia, and the arts. She started at Fortune in 1984, covering the big brand companies.
In Pattie's blog, Postcards, she provides insight into the lives of super-achievers through commentary, career advice, and Guest Posts by CEOs and other leaders.
.
Fortune Most Powerful Women
Sheryl Sandberg:
Gina Bianchini
