World's Richest Man, Warren Buffett, Says US Recession to Be Longer, Deeper

Buffett: U.S. recession to be longer, deeper

www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-29 15:12:59

BEIJING, April 29 (Xinhuanet) --

The world's richest person said Monday the U.S. economy is in a recession that will be more severe than most people expect.

Warren Buffett made his prediction on CNBC television after his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. agreed to invest 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in the takeover of chewing gum maker Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. by Mars Inc. in a 23 billion dollar transaction.

"This is not a field of specialty for me, but my general feeling is that the recession will be longer and deeper than most people think," Buffett said. "This will not be short and shallow. I think consumers are feeling gas and food prices, and not feeling they've got a lot of money for other things.

"In the retail businesses ... if anything, they've gotten a little worse," Buffett continued. "Of course, things connected with housing, whether it's in brick or whether it's in carpet, those businesses have shown no uptick at all. Jewelry had a bad Christmas ... and it stayed that way."

On Wednesday, the U.S. Commerce Department is expected to say how fast the economy grew in the first quarter. Economists on average have projected that gross domestic product grew at an annualized 0.2 percent rate in the quarter.

Two quarters of declining GDP is a traditional indicator of recession. That last happened in 2001. Economists expect the U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday to cut a key lending rate for a seventh time beginning last September.

Berkshire is a 197 billion dollar conglomerate best known for its insurance holdings, such as auto insurer Geico Corp, but it owns more than 70 businesses.

Many of those businesses are tied to the housing market, including Acme Brick Co, insulation maker Johns Manville, and the real estate brokerage HomeServices of America Inc.

(Agencies)

Men from Mars buy world's biggest chewing gum maker

www.chinaview.cn 2008-04-29 10:54:29

BEIJING, April 29 -- Mars Inc agreed to purchase Wm Wrigley Jr Co for 23 billion U.S. dollars, with financing from Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc, to combine the world's biggest maker of chewing gum with the producer of M&Ms chocolate.

Mars will pay $80 a share in cash for the maker of Doublemint gum, the companies said in a statement yesterday on PR Newswire. That is 28 percent more than Wrigley's closing share price on Friday, when it last traded.

Uniting Mars, which also makes Snickers, and the 117-year-old Wrigley creates a company to compete with chocolate maker Hershey Co and Cadbury Schweppes Plc, the world's largest candy maker. U.S. confectionery companies are exploring combinations as competition intensifies and milk and sugar prices rise. Gum has higher margins than chocolate and is growing faster, Mirabaud Securities analyst Julian Lakin said.

Gum is the "fastest-growing sector," said Lakin, who is based in London and recommends investors "hold" Cadbury stock. "The consumer finds it attractive because it's mostly calorie free. This could give Cadbury a tough time."

Chicago-based Wrigley last closed at $62.45 on Friday. Hackettstown, New Jersey-based Mars is closely held.

Sales at Wrigley may rise 9 percent this year, the slowest pace since 2000, according to the average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. Competition from London-based Cadbury's Trident and Dentyne gums in the U.S. has eroded its market share. Cadbury, the maker of Dairy Milk chocolate, bought Pfizer Inc's Adams candy unit for $4.2 billion in 2003 to become the world's second-largest maker of chewing gum.

Since November 2006, Mars has been winning market share in the US, while Hershey's has dropped, Alexia Howard, a Sanford C. Bernstein analyst who recommends investors sell Hershey, wrote in an April 11 note to investors.

In 2006, Wrigley named former Nike Inc Chief Executive Officer William Perez president and CEO, the first person outside the Wrigley family to head the company.

William Wrigley Jr began selling soap in Chicago in 1891 and eventually turned to chewing gum, an item he was giving away for free with each sale, according to Wrigley's corporate Website. He introduced Juicy Fruit and Wrigley's Spearmint in 1893, two brands the company still sells today.

(Source: Shanghai Daily)

Editor: Du Guodong

Buffett passes Gates as world's richest person

www.chinaview.cn 2008-03-06 15:07:11

BEIJING, March 6 (Xinhuanet) --

Warren Buffett, one of the most famous U.S. investors who heads Bershire Hathaway Inc, topped Forbes magazine's latest list of the world's richest man Thursday.

Buffett's wealth grew 10 billion U.S. dollars to about 62 billion dollars in the 12 months through Feb. 11, mostly from a gain in his company's shares, Forbes said in a statement.

"Even though he is giving away a piece of his fortune each year, the stock of Berkshire Hathaway, the source of Warren Buffet's wealth, has been rising very rapidly," Chief Executive of Forbes Magazines Steve Forbes said.

Buffett began buying shares in textile firm Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 and purchased a controlling stake in 1965. He began buying insurance companies and astutely investing those companies' cash reserves.

Mexican telecoms tycoon Carlos Slim came in second with an estimated worth of 60 billion dollars, pushing Gates to third place after 13 years of holding the No. 1 spot.

Gates is now worth 58 billion dollars and is ranked third in the world. He is up 2 billion dollars from a year ago.

Steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, one of four Indians on the list, placed fourth, followed by Indian brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani, in fifth and sixth place respectively.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, a 23-year-old worth 1.5 billion, is the world's youngest billionaire, according to Forbes.

The overall list grew by 179 from last year to a record number of 1,125 billionaires that Forbes could identify across 54 countries.

(Agencies)

Editor: Feng Tao

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