So, Burlington Northern Santa Fe owns 35% of Amtrak stock? Holy cow! That means that Berkshire Hathaway holding company, ie. Warren Buffett now controls 35% of Amtrak stock since they bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe.This was ab out a month ago. And Buffett has turned on Obama. But in one move he buys the major western rail company and also 35% of national subsidized passenger service in the mix. Pretty slick and worth keeping an eye on, especially as regards other comments here about private enterprise. Buffett could do it.
Good catch!... although I don't know how big a factor that was in Buffet's acquisition.
It should be noted that the other stockholders (BNSF, Canadian Pacific and Canadian National) were not party to Lindner/AFG's lawsuit to destroy Amtrak
It should also be noted that Lindner didn't mind sucking the taxpayers' teat when Cinncinati built Great American Ballpark when he owned the Reds.
Thanks. People have been lambasting you as some kind of liberal, as if the model of railroad expansion was some sort of “free” enterprise. The history is quite otherwise, and in present time most companies in the US suck on the public teat with corporatist welfare. What interests me about Buffett is that he understands the fungible nature of money these days. Reminds me of John D. Rockefeller who muscled the railroads so much they ended up paying HIM to haul his oil. My points throughout have been that there has always been a government involvement, and usually unsavory and dirty. The term “railroaded” didn’t come out of thin air. Condemnation of private land and unfair to no compensation to landowners was greased by racketeers in government. Sound familiar— I think I smell healthcare reform!