Not a Close Call At All
Looks as it just about everybody swallowed the bullshit little piece by Time's Karen Tumulty saying that Warren Buffett might have saved Lehman and saved the world from a meltdown if he only knew how to work his cellphone. The gist being that Buffett didn't return a phone call from Barclays' Bob Diamond, who was trying to buy Lehman last fall and wanted Buffett to loan him a billion or two to do it.
One person who doesn't buy into Tumulty's musings is the WSJ's Michael Corkery. Noting all the phone calls during that frantic period last September, Corkery writes:
Really?
If the Oracle from Omaha really thought he could profit from insuring Lehman's assets, he would have followed up with Diamond. Likewise, if Diamond thought he had a realistic chance of closing a deal with Buffett, don't you think he would have likely lobbed a follow up call? ... Buffett may not know how to use a cell phone, but he's pretty savvy about avoiding terrible investments. That was one call he has to be glad he never answered.
