Insurance float – money we temporarily hold in our insurance operations that does not belong to us – funds $59 billion of our investments. This float is “free” as long as insurance underwriting breaks even, meaning that…
Insurance float – money we temporarily hold in our insurance operations that does not belong to us – funds $59 billion of our investments. This float is “free” as long as insurance underwriting breaks even, meaning that…
Berkshire’s second component of value is earnings that come from sources other than investments and insurance. These earnings are delivered by our 66 non-insurance companies, itemized on page 76. In our early years,…
Insurance float – money we temporarily hold in our insurance operations that does not belong to us – funds $59 billion of our investments. This float is “free” as long as insurance underwriting breaks even, meaning that…
Innovation depends on academic freedom and free research directions.
Context
Ren Zhengfei (1944–) founded Huawei in Shenzhen in 1987 and built it from a switch distributor into a research-intensive technology company. In a 2019 interview with The Economist, he argued that innovation depends on academic freedom and free research directions. The claim reflects his view that basic inquiry, not short-term commercial calculation, sustains long-term competitiveness.
Today's question
Does your team have room for free research directions—or must every exploration prove short-term returns first?
Insurance float – money we temporarily hold in our insurance operations that does not belong to us – funds $59 billion of our investments. This float is “free” as long as insurance underwriting breaks even, meaning that…