Watchlist Weekly: The Best of the Week Ending January 10, 2026
Save the Date: Watchlist Meetup Friday, January 16
In Case You Missed It: Copart Update
Watchlist Subscriber Meetup: January 16, 2025 @ 11AM EDT
I’ll send out a link to paid subscribers next week.
California Delays Revocation of 17,000 CDL Drivers
Eventually, these and other drivers will lose their licenses, which will drive up shipping costs. Good for the trucking companies, however.
Berkshire Completes Acquisition of OxyChem
Berkshire’s first acquisition of the Abel era. I think it’s appropriate to credit this to Greg, even though it was negotiated last year. He very likely oversaw this from beginning to end. A nice way to start 2026. Speaking of which…
Greg Abel’s Salary Set at $25 million
I find this very reasonable. It’s not a big increase from where he was before, and he still ranks FAR down the list of large companies. He’d be on page 8 of the 2024 list.
Buffett Interview Clip from CNBC
High praise from Buffett. Buffett says he’d rather have Greg manage his money than any of the top managers or CEOs.
New Elon Musk Interview
During this interview, Musk mentions that he likes the Dan Carlin Hardcore History podcast. I’ve started listening to the Mania for Subjugation series on Alexander the Great, which is great (no pun intended) if you’re a fellow history buff. Carlin is also on Substack Dan Carlin
This week in Berkshire History
January 1, 1924: Charlie Munger born
January 1, 2014: IMC acquires IMI, plc for $1.1 billion
January 1, 2024: BNSF acquires Montana Rail Link for $2.1 billion
January 1, 2026: Greg Abel assumes the role of Chief Executive Officer and President of Berkshire Hathaway
January 3, 1972: Blue Chip Stamps begins acquiring shares of See’s Candy Shops, Incorporated. (93% owned by March 4, 1972, and 99% owned by March 3, 1973.)
January 6, 1986: Berkshire acquires Scott Fetzer, a mini-conglomerate with diverse businesses that included World Book encyclopedias and Kirby vacuum cleaners.
January 7, 1998: International Dairy Queen acquired. January 8, 2001: Shaw Industries acquired for $2.3 billion (87.3% of the company).
That’s it for this week. Hit reply and let me know what you think. What have you been reading that’s worth sharing? Let me know in the comments.
Stay Rational!
Adam
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