Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett declared his support for Goldman Sachs Group Inc. CEO Lloyd Blankfein on Saturday and said he had no plans to sell his company's stake in the bank.
Mr. Buffett and Berkshire vice-chairman Charlie Munger praised Goldman before a crowd of about 40,000 at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting. Both executives said they are happy with Mr. Blankfein's leadership and said they do not view the Securities and Exchange Commission's civil fraud charges against Goldman as a strike against him.
“There's really no reason to think about somebody else running Goldman,” Mr. Buffett said when asked whether someone besides Mr. Blankfein should be leading the investment bank. The charges filed April 16 have raised questions about Mr. Blankfein's tenure.
Mr. Buffett has been one of Goldman's biggest supporters before and since the SEC filed its civil lawsuit against the bank. The government charged that the investment bank misled investors about a deal involving complex mortgage-related investments that later plunged in value.
During questioning by shareholders, Mr. Munger noted that the SEC vote to file the charges was 3 to 2. He said that if he had been a member of the SEC, he would have voted against the suit.
Mr. Buffett previewed his company's first-quarter earnings report at the meeting at Omaha's Qwest Center. He said Berkshire rebounded from last year's first-quarter loss and earned $3.6 billion as the economic recovery began and Berkshire absorbed Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad.
