(Bloomberg Opinion) -- A lot has happened since May 5, 2019. That was a busy day for Occidental Petroleum Corp. First, it announced a deal worth almost $9 billion to sell a package of African assets to Total SA, on the proviso that Oxy gained control of Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (which owned said assets). Then Oxy raised its offer for Anadarko, using the $10 billion raised by selling preferred stock to Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in a hurried negotiation with Warren Buffett. The higher bid, together with the fact that Buffett’s money allowed Oxy to sidestep a vote of its own shareholders, clinched it.On May 5, 2020, Oxy reported a quarterly loss of $2.2 billion and withdrew annual guidance. Also, news emerged it had hired a bank to help cut its debt load, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, Total, hosting its own earnings call that day, indicated completion of the Algerian and Ghanaian...
Buffett explains why Berkshire has $120 billion in "terrible investments," pointing to super-low interest rates. Negative ones in the U.S., he said, could be bad....
(Bloomberg) -- When the headquarters of Mission Bio reopens next week, employees will find many of the familiar perks they enjoyed before Silicon Valley went into lockdown have changed. Instead of the communal trays of catered lunches served a few times a week, each employee will get their own boxed meal. The snacks will remain free, but the soda machine and tub of almonds will be replaced with canned beverages, bottled water and individually wrapped protein bites. One new benefit: Every two weeks, the startup plans to provide Covid-19 tests onsite to any staff member who wants one.Mission Bio is returning to the office sooner than most businesses in Northern California. Officials have extended stay-at-home orders through the end of May, and some of the largest technology companies have indicated that they may keep offices closed for even longer. Mission Bio, which develops cellular chemistry technology, said it decided to reopen after consulting local officials who determined...
