Subject: Re: More OXY
"Yes - another day, same buyer, as the Yahoo commenter says. It's a story that is playing out in front of our eyes."

Buffett loves a good story, and the Paul Harvey in me says there's more to the OXY "story" than first meets the eye.

1942 Warren Buffett made his first investment in Cities Service preferred:

"On March 11th, it will be 77 years since I first invested in an American business. The year was 1942, I was 11, and I went all in, investing $114.75 I had begun accumulating at age six. What I bought was three shares of Cities Service preferred stock. I had become a capitalist, and it felt good.":https://www.berkshirehathaway....

But like many of us, our young hero had "paper hands". Soon after buying, the stock plunged from $38.25 to $27 a share. His sister Doris reminded him daily on the way to school that her stock was going down. Buffett felt 'terribly' responsible. When the stock recovered he sold with a slight $5 profit. Almost immediately after, Cities Service quickly soared to $202 a share, reflecting the value that 11 year old Buffet originally saw in it.

"Warren learned three lessons and would call this episode one of the most important of his life. One lesson was not to overly fixate on what he had paid for a stock. The second was not to rush unthinkingly to grab a small profit. He learned these two lessons by brooding over the $ 492 he would have made had he been more patient. It had taken five years of work, since he was six years old, to save the $ 120 to buy this stock. Based on how much he currently made from selling golf balls or peddling popcorn and peanuts at the ballpark, he realized that it could take years to earn back the profit he had 'lost.' He would never, never, never forget this mistake. And there was a third lesson, which was about investing other people's money. If he made a mistake, it might get somebody upset at him. So he didn't want to have responsibility for anyone else's money unless he was sure he could succeed. - Alice Schroeder "The Snowball"
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1981 Vicki Hollub started her career as an engineer for Cities Service:
"I have worked in the oil and natural gas industry my entire career, beginning in 1981 as an engineer with Cities Service Company. I have had the privilege of working in most oil and gas producing states and internationally in Europe, South America, and the Middle East."
https://www.energy.senate.gov/...
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1982 Occidental Petroleum purchased Cities Service for $4.2 Billion, giving OXY greater exposure to U.S. oil and gas assets to offset the rising risks surrounding in their largely foreign holdings (recall Arab Oil Embargo).
https://www.oklahoman.com/stor...
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2023 Charlie spoke about long time OXY CEO Armand Hammer at the DJCO meeting:

Becky: Is the same type of thinking with Berkshire's new position in Occidental and Chevron? Is it the same type of thinking? Or is it likely to be more of a long-term type of holding for Berkshire going forward?

Charlie: "Well, that is a very good question. And I think having a big position in the Permian Basin through those 2 companies, it's likely to be a pretty good long-term hold. So I like that aspect of that position.

I kind of admire both places a lot. Both Occidental and Chevron are very admirable places. And by the way, Oxy didn't start like that. If you go back 30, 40 years, Oxy was owned by a crook. And now it's evolved into a wonderful place, but it started as a sleazebag.

Becky: Who was running it 30 or 40 years ago?

Charlie: A man named Armand Hammer. Before your time, Becky. You're too young.
https://steadycompounding.com/...
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Another quote from Charlie(date unknown): 'Last night, referring to some of our modern business tycoons ' specifically, Armand Hammer ' I said that when they're talking, they're lying, and when they're quiet, they're stealing. This wasn't my witticism; it was used [long ago] to describe the robber barons.'
https://25iq.com/2015/10/24/a-...

For a long time, OXY was headquartered in L.A.. Chances are good that Charlie had met Hammer and/or knew people that knew him. In any case, Charlie was aware of OXY and their leadership/business practices going back at least 30-40 years.
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These little tidbits may help fill in some more of the blanks towards what could become a very interesting "story". No wonder Warren seems infatuated with OXY and Vicki. OXY is the reincarnated version of his first investment mistake. A Phoenix that has risen from the ashes. After striking out 80 years ago, he sees an opportunity to redeem himself. Swing you bum!

Hopefully, Warren and Charlie will live long enough to write the final chapter of this story, and the story will have a happy ending.

Imagine OXY being wholly(or largely)owned by people who aren't "crooks". We can dream, can't we.

And don't ya love Charlie?!