Loading ...During the crash of 08 Buffet hid behind the very kind of companies that brought the economy down. Why, because he knew they would get a bail out and in effect so would he while everyone else suffered.
For example, Buffett pumped $5 billion into Goldman Sachs shortly after Lehman Brothers collapsed, a massive boost of confidence in Goldman that shored up its stock price. Buffett bought $5 billion in preferred shares, and as part of the deal won warrants for an additional $5 billion worth of common shares.
In 2011, Goldman bought back the preferred stock for $5.64 billion, and handed Buffett a $500 million bonus. Then last week, Buffett exercised the option on 13.1 million common shares for a value of about $2.07 billion.
http://theweek.com/articles/459166/how-warren-buffett-made-10-billion-during-financial-crisis