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BH - Biglari Holdings

accutronman

By accutronman
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Parsad Newbie

Parsad

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I would much rather hang out in a Steak'n Shake, than Biglari Cafe.  Steak'n Shake is such a terrific business...it should be making $40-50M net profit each year right now.  How many high end cafes can be franchised and rolled out...this is not a Starbucks.  It's a passion project...the way life should be lived in a Biglari world! 

 

And what he's really trying to do is create the brand...think Trump, who somehow became President...the brand is very powerful and is difficult to damage once established.  People will forget his behavior or they will ignore it completely...I think most would argue that the Trump brand is stronger today, even with the chaos that rules the Trump Presidency and family.  Biglari could be the next Trump brand 20-30 years from now.  Cheers!

 

You may be right, Parsad, but you have much more confidence in Sardar to establish his name as a luxury brand and avoid value eroding decisions than I do.  Sardar certainly agrees with you that he is establishing a luxury brand built around his name.  The parallels to Trump are obvious but I do not think it is certain that Sardar will be able to walk out on the other side of all of these controversies with a strong in-tact brand the way that Trump has in certain ways.  When you have as many issues as Sardar has with people - vendors, suppliers, employees, personal conflicts - and you have nearly all of your shareholders upset, and you are on-the-edge of legality with respect to corporate and securities laws - I think there is a chance that this catches up with him.  At a minimum, I think it will be hard for Sardar to execute transactions because even a basic amount of due diligence reveals many, uh, interesting things about him that may repel people who love their company from selling it to him.  Donald Trump is an interesting analogy - because he has moved from one controversy to another for 40 years and has stiffed vendors, betrayed his wives, bankrupted entities, screwed employees, disappointed business partners and yet he still has this brand that represents luxury to many people.  This is the great enigma of Trump (or one of them) and I'm not sure I have a quick explanation for it - but suffice it to say that I don't think this same path will work for most entrepreneurs that take it - or maybe even any other entrepreneurs that try to take it.  Sardar is certainly trying to develop a Trump like brand with his name - but if a word becomes infamous enough - it can be hard to shake the negative connotations.  Enron comes to mind.  Imagine starting an investment business and going to your board and saying, "I want to call it Enron Partners."

 

And the fundamental financial reality is that most of Sardar's wealth is tied up with BH shares - and especially since the company has spent $350 million or whatever it is now - buying shares back over the last three years magnifying Sardar's exposure to BH and Steak n Shake, and with Steak n Shake's troubles - it is not clear even on a purely financial front that he can continue to live this life - unless he allocates capital well going forward.  So if you think that are no or few risks to Sardar's brand/lifestyle, then that implies that you believe he will invest well in the coming years.  I would guess that many people on this board doubt that the guy who in the last five years bought Maxim magazine (BH , CCA Industries, Insignia Systems and Valeant stock  - on which he lost $40-plus million (Maxim), a significant percentage of his investment (CCA), and many millions of dollars on Insignia and Valeant - anyway, I would guess that many people would doubt the capital allocator who made those decisions ability to avoid significant capital-losses in the future.

 

I'm guessing you didn't catch the notes of sarcasm in my post...or my posts over the last 7 years!  ;D 

 

If I was betting on massive success or egotistical implosion, my bet has always been on the latter.  But I've been wrong so far, so don't bet on that opinion!  Cheers!

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Jurgis Newbie

Jurgis

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I am totally with Mr. Big on this one. He's the only value investor that understands quality of life (well maybe ScottHall does too 8)). French Riviera, Monaco, yacht, posh hotel, supermodels, cigar (actually, cigar ewwww), French cafe. Dis is how you roll. Not some dinky house in Omaha, $4 McD breakfast, newspaper throwing competition, getting up at 4am to stand in line for Q&A session.

 

Greed, gentlemen and ladies, is good.   8)

 

 

For sarcasm impaired, yes it is. Actually, screw it, no it isn't.  ;D

 

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Parsad Newbie

Parsad

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I am totally with Mr. Big on this one. He's the only value investor that understands quality of life (well maybe ScottHall does too 8)). French Riviera, Monaco, yacht, posh hotel, supermodels, cigar (actually, cigar ewwww), French cafe. Dis is how you roll. Not some dinky house in Omaha, $4 McD breakfast, newspaper throwing competition, getting up at 4am to stand in line for Q&A session.

 

Greed, gentlemen and ladies, is good.   8)

 

 

For sarcasm impaired, yes it is. Actually, screw it, no it isn't.  ;D

 

Hey you can have it both ways...doesn't have to be just one specific way:

 

- I like Omaha, but I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the French Riviera or Monaco too

- I like going for a ride on a Yacht...but I'd never pay for one

- I love posh hotels...not because they are posh...but because I can get a good night's sleep...and I stayed in some pretty shitty hotels when I used to go to Omaha and didn't have much money.  Has anyone stayed at the Red Lion on 72nd during a Tornado storm with sirens blaring and the front desk saying "You should be ok in your room!" 

- Supermodels...who would say no...but I'm perfectly fine with models too!  ;D

- I like cigars and I like $3 Egg McMuffins!  Caviar is yummy too, especially with champagne, but I prefer when it's free!

 

Cheers!

 

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Jurgis Newbie

Jurgis

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I am totally with Mr. Big on this one. He's the only value investor that understands quality of life (well maybe ScottHall does too 8)). French Riviera, Monaco, yacht, posh hotel, supermodels, cigar (actually, cigar ewwww), French cafe. Dis is how you roll. Not some dinky house in Omaha, $4 McD breakfast, newspaper throwing competition, getting up at 4am to stand in line for Q&A session.

 

Greed, gentlemen and ladies, is good.   8)

 

 

For sarcasm impaired, yes it is. Actually, screw it, no it isn't.  ;D

 

Hey you can have it both ways...doesn't have to be just one specific way:

 

- I like Omaha, but I'm pretty sure I'd enjoy the French Riviera or Monaco too

- I like going for a ride on a Yacht...but I'd never pay for one

- I love posh hotels...not because they are posh...but because I can get a good night's sleep...and I stayed in some pretty shitty hotels when I used to go to Omaha and didn't have much money.  Has anyone stayed at the Red Lion on 72nd during a Tornado storm with sirens blaring and the front desk saying "You should be ok in your room!" 

- Supermodels...who would say no...but I'm perfectly fine with models too!  ;D

- I like cigars and I like $3 Egg McMuffins!  Caviar is yummy too, especially with champagne, but I prefer when it's free!

 

Cheers!

 

Sanjeev is true value investor and gentleman.  8)

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Spekulatius Newbie

Spekulatius

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Looking forward to any updates from today's meeting. I am sure the dual -class shares resolution passed, but curious is Bigs was forthcoming about the issues with the Steak-N-Shake operations and Maxim's turnover of editors.

 

He should serve some goods from Mr Big’s cafe in St Tropez there, caviar, fine wine, cognac or some brews for the plebs. That is why breweries in Germany used to do too keep their disenfranchised shareholders happy even with crappy results. A hearty meal and free beer will do wonders for shareholders satisfaction.

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DTEJD1997 Newbie

DTEJD1997

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Hey all:

 

I went to a Steak & Shake drive through the other day, FINALLY.

 

There is one of these near one of my suppliers.  This is the 3rd time I tried them.

 

Attempt #1 was a no-go as they said the drive through window was busted.

 

Attempt #2 was a no-go as they said the drive through wait would be 15-20 minutes.

 

Attempt #3 finally worked.  I got the 2 fer $3 special.  An "All American Hamburger" and a "Mushroom & Swiss burger".  They were served reasonably promptly.  They tasted better than average fast food.

 

How these guys can make any money selling 2 hamburgers for $3 is beyond me...It seems price competition has gotten out of control at most fast food joints.

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JRM Newbie

JRM

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Hey all:

 

I went to a Steak & Shake drive through the other day, FINALLY.

 

There is one of these near one of my suppliers.  This is the 3rd time I tried them.

 

Attempt #1 was a no-go as they said the drive through window was busted.

 

Attempt #2 was a no-go as they said the drive through wait would be 15-20 minutes.

 

Attempt #3 finally worked.  I got the 2 fer $3 special.  An "All American Hamburger" and a "Mushroom & Swiss burger".  They were served reasonably promptly.  They tasted better than average fast food.

 

How these guys can make any money selling 2 hamburgers for $3 is beyond me...It seems price competition has gotten out of control at most fast food joints.

 

You might not like to know what is in your $1.50 burger patty.  When it seems too cheap for a protein-based food product, it probably is.

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Txvestor Newbie

Txvestor

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Frankly its the day of reckoning for those that stood with him as he cemented firm control over the company without majority economic ownership and against any ethical or moral code. He can now issue shares with impunity. The shareholders face the prospect of dilution of what they percieve to be an undervalued security vs the idea of funding his extravagant lifestyle and ego. He will claim to have created more value even as he manipulates assets within BH for as long as he can.

Alas those that stuck with him will have to take a long hard look in the mirror.

The last 5yrs he hasn’t done a single thing to create value, a lot destroying it, stroked his ego at shareholder expense, and got paid boatloads for doing it. Nice gig if you can get it and live with yourself.

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gfp Newbie

gfp

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There was a split this morning into two share classes - BH is trading 254, not halted everywhere since it's still trading.  BHA not trading yet but distributed.  BHA has a bid / ask of 1116.25 x 1122

 

Halted this morning.  Pretty ugly turn of events for something that seemed promising years ago.

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Txvestor Newbie

Txvestor

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Halted this morning.  Pretty ugly turn of events for something that seemed promising years ago.

 

The ugly turn was very slow and gradual and offered plenty of opportunity for those

that were unhappy to exit. The part that was hard for me to understand is thinking of

the shareholders who pushed for his control without commensurate economic interest.

Now he will gradually figure out how to keep milking their pockets while lining his own, 

even as they don’t want to be diluted out of their “undervalued” shares. Its coming.

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