Warren the Railroad King

   This deal reminds me of some stories. I wrote in The Snowball about the giant train set in Warren's attic; about how, as a boy, he used to go to the Brandeis department store at Christmas and "drool," as he put it, over the huge multi-track train display that raced around the eighth floor toy department. One of his fondest memories as a child was being taken on a train to Chicago as a surprise by his grandfather to see a Chicago Cubs game.

   Warren as always been a collector, and over his lifetime he's gradually surrounded himself with a collection, in the form of companies, of some of the totems of his childhood. He owns part of Wrigley -- selling chewing gum was his first business. He owns part of Coca-Cola -- selling Cokes was his second business. He owns newspapers and magazines -- which was how he got started earning real money in high school. And now he owns a giant train set. Warren is not just the railroad king, he's the king of nostalgia.

   My Bloomberg column contains my business thoughts on the deal.