I thought Greg's letter had an interesting point on the Pilot Travel Center acquisition. He said that they made the acquisition and owned the majority of the company but did not have operational control. It's well known that they had issues with the controlling owner, the Haslam family, and did eventually buy the entire company, but litigation was involved. Greg's point was that never again will Berkshire do this.

To me, this reflects a wariness when dealing with future M&A that differs substantially from Warren and Charlie's way of operating.

Does anyone know whether MidAmerican Energy and Marmon Industries (which were both structured similarly to Pilot Travel Centers) involved Berkshire having majority ownership but operating control resting with the minority owner?

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

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