Filthy rich super-investor Warren Buffett is at the biggest Texas Hold ‘Em table in the country and he’s going all in because he thinks this part of the country is primed for the new economy.
Damn, and I was just thinking about moving to New Jersey.
After purchasing Fort Worth’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. for $26 billion – $26 freaking billion bucks! – Buffett told the company’s employees that he’s going “all in” because the railroad is well positioned to capitalize on an upcoming influx of Asian goods.
“I think the West is going to do well,” he said. “I’d rather be in the West than the East.”
He isn’t bluffing – the Burlington acquisition is the Big Daddy of the 79-year-old Buffett’s storied investment career.
Environmentalists, such as those at the United Kingdom’s Bad Idea magazine, question the move, saying he’s giving full support to a coal-based industry in an era of going green.
Then again, they realize that a commitment to rail might be a bet that gas prices will increase so dramatically in the future that long-haul trucking will die – meaning more reliance on railroads.
One thing is certain, Buffett has done his homework.
