Haslams say Warren Buffett's Berkshire wants to take money out of their pockets in truck stop deal
abcnews.go.comThe billionaire Haslam family says in a lawsuit that Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are trying to artificially depress the price the company is obligated to pay for the family’s remaining 20% stake in the Pilot Travel Centers truck stop company ...
OMAHA, Neb. — The billionaire Haslam family says in a lawsuit that Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway are trying to artificially depress the price the company is obligated to pay for the family's remaining 20% stake in the Pilot Travel Centers truck stop chain that Jim Haslam founded.
Berkshire has paid nearly $11 billion since 2017 for the first 80% of Pilot.
Berkshire changed the accounting practices at Pilot this year after it acquired control of the company. The lawsuit that was unsealed Thursday said that change is artificially depressing Pilot's reported earnings, which are used to set the purchase price Berkshire agreed to pay in 2017.
“Berkshire is intent on using the accounting change to justify grossly underpaying Pilot (the Haslam family) for its 20% interest," the lawsuit said.
The Haslam family, which includes Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, declined to comment beyond the lawsuit.
The redacted lawsuit didn't reveal how much the Haslam's believe they could lose because those figures were withheld from the document. But the family did say Berkshire estimated its stake would be worth $3.2 billion without the accounting change.
Buffett didn't respond to questions about the dispute that were emailed to his assistant on Friday.
Pilot's Chief Legal Counsel Kristin Seabrook said in a prepared statement that this dispute isn't related to the operation of the nation's largest network of truck stops that has more than
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