Before his resignation from his roles at Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiary NetJets this year, David Sokol was widely considered Buffett's heir apparent. In 2010, CNBC ran an excerpt titled "The 'Next' Warren Buffett on what he's learned from the 'current' Warren Buffett" from Ronald W. Chan's book Behind the Berkshire Hathaway Curtain. A key lesson Sokol mentioned in the excerpt was the importance of removing emotion from business decisions.
But Sokol lost his standing as "the next Warren Buffett" when he resigned from his position as a manager at Berkshire Hathaway this past March. His departure coincided with the possibility that he violated insider-trading rules when he purchased shares in chemicals company Lubrizol before Berkshire announced plans to buy the company. Sokol's fall from grace continued when Buffett, formerly supportive of Sokol, said in April at Berkshire's annual shareholder's meeting that Sokol's actions were "inexplicable and inexcusable."
It's one step forward and two steps back in today's upside-down economy. From strong corporate earnings to a manufacturing rebound, everything that's going right in the economy has too many negative factors underlying it. More
From offering unlimited vacation and sick leave to allowing you to donate your days to those in need, the following companies have thrown the draconian vacation policies of yore in the dustbin. More
