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John Gutfreund
John Gutfreund was the CEO of Salomon Inc. during the era of Berkshire Hathaway's major investment in the firm.
🤝 Relationship with Buffett
Buffett’s investment in Salomon was primarily an investment in Gutfreund personally. He praised Gutfreund’s:
- Integrity: Buffett noted that Gutfreund frequently steered clients away from unwise transactions, even when it meant losing a large fee for Salomon.
- Service-Above-Self: This quality, Buffett noted, is "far from automatic in Wall Street."
📍 Historical Context
Gutfreund earned Buffett's respect long before the 1987 deal.
- GEICO Rescue (1976): Gutfreund was instrumental in helping GEICO survive its near-collapse, a pivotal moment in Berkshire's history.
- 1987 White Knight deal: At Gutfreund's request, Berkshire invested $700 million in Salomon to prevent a hostile takeover.
"Charlie and I like, admire and trust John... We first got to know him in 1976 when he played a key role in GEICO’s escape from near-bankruptcy." — 1987 Letter
🔗 Connections
- Source: 1987 Letter
- Entity: Salomon Inc.
- Entity: GEICO
📚 Historical Mentions & Citations (1)
Click a reference document below to expand and read the exact paragraph(s) containing this concept in the archive.
📜1987 LetterExcerpt Available▼
1987 LetterExcerpt Available
What we do have a strong feeling about is the ability and integrity of John Gutfreund, CEO of Salomon Inc. Charlie and I like, admire and trust John. We first got to know him in 1976 when he played a key role in GEICO’s escape from near-bankruptcy. Several times since, we have seen John steer clients away from transactions that would have been unwise, but that the client clearly wanted to make—even though his advice provided no fee to Salomon and acquiescence would have delivered a large fee. Such service-above-self behavior is far from automatic in Wall Street.