The extraordinary multibillion-dollar trial between Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and the billionaire Haslam family was halted by a court on Saturday, two days before it was scheduled to begin.
“It is hereby confirmed that the trials scheduled in this matter on January 8 and 9, 2024 have been canceled and removed from the court's calendar,” the case's Saturday docket states. has been done. The application documents state that the judge, Deputy Prime Minister Morgan Zurun, gave permission.
The Haslam family, Berkshire Hathaway, and Zurun's office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The two-day non-jury trial in Delaware's Court of Chancery was aimed at determining the value of the Haslam family's 20% stake in Pilot Travel Centers, the largest U.S. truck stop chain. there was.
Testimony from Greg Abel, who has been named Buffett's successor, was expected to be featured.
The Haslam family, which includes Cleveland Browns football team owner Jimmy Haslam, sold an 80% stake in Pilot to Berkshire for $11 billion in two installments, in 2017 and January 2023.
There is also a put option, allowing you to sell the remaining 20% within the first two months of each year.
Pilot, which also operates under the Flying J brand, has about 650 locations and sold 13 billion gallons of fuel in 2022.
Each side accuses the other of accounting tricks to manipulate the Knoxville, Tenn.-based company's earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) to determine the value of Haslam's 20% stake. are doing.
The Haslams said that after Berkshire acquired 80% of Pilot's stock, it used “pushdown accounting” to reduce the amount of liability if the put option was exercised.
Berkshire's lawyers told the court that EBIT differed by $1.2 billion depending on which side's accounting was used.
The outcome of the case will simply raise the question of whether Berkshire needed to get the Haslams' consent for the accounting changes.
Berkshire said it did nothing wrong.
The company said the adoption of pushdown accounting does not constitute a change in “accounting policy” and therefore fulfills its contractual obligations.
The trial comes less than two months after Mr. Abel's responsibilities at the Omaha, Nebraska, conglomerate increased in the wake of the death of Charlie Munger, a Berkshire vice chairman and longtime confidant of Mr. Buffett. It will be done.
Mr. Abel, 61, who is also vice chairman, has a low public profile, but was publicly recognized in 2021 as Mr. Buffett's eventual successor as CEO.
He was on the list of potential witnesses to be called by both Berkshire and the Haslam family.
Buffett, 93, was not scheduled to testify at trial.
