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German company allegedly cons Warren Buffett out of 643m euros
A German manufacturing company is being investigated for fraud after allegedly conning the legendary US investor Warren Buffett into paying at least four times over the odds for its business by Photoshopping company orders and invoices.
In February 2017 a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc paid €800m (£715m) to buy Wilhelm Schulz, a family-run manufacturer of stainless steel based in Krefeld, western Germany – a rare foray into the world of family-run mittelstand companies for the tycoon, estimated to be the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.
...
On 9 April a New York arbitration court ruled that the German company had systematically led investors astray in the run-up to the purchase and then tried to cover its tracks afterwards.
...
Internal documents cited by the German newspaper Handelsblatt suggest some of Wilhelm Schulz’s employees inflated the company’s Ebitda – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – by simply scanning in letterheads of third companies and Photoshopping them to create fake orders and invoices.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/19/german-company-allegedly-cons-warren-buffett-out-of-643m
In February 2017 a unit of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc paid €800m (£715m) to buy Wilhelm Schulz, a family-run manufacturer of stainless steel based in Krefeld, western Germany – a rare foray into the world of family-run mittelstand companies for the tycoon, estimated to be the fourth-wealthiest person in the world.
...
On 9 April a New York arbitration court ruled that the German company had systematically led investors astray in the run-up to the purchase and then tried to cover its tracks afterwards.
...
Internal documents cited by the German newspaper Handelsblatt suggest some of Wilhelm Schulz’s employees inflated the company’s Ebitda – earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation – by simply scanning in letterheads of third companies and Photoshopping them to create fake orders and invoices.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/may/19/german-company-allegedly-cons-warren-buffett-out-of-643m
Amazing they thought they could get away with that.