In the past month, billionaire Warren Buffett made substantial investments in both the Texas and Israeli economy.
In Texas, Buffett’s world-renown conglomerate company, Berkshire Hathaway, announced plans to acquire the state’s largest electric transmission unit, Oncor. Although Oncor dominates in the area of electric distribution and transmission in Texas, its parent company Energy Future Holdings is still recovering from its 2014 bankruptcy file and $50 billion of debt. Although this may be one of the greatest corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history, Buffett is confident in his investment in the Texas company, “Oncor is an excellent fit for Berkshire Hathaway, and we are pleased to make another long-term investment in Texas — when we invest in Texas, we invest big.”
Not only has the billionaire expressed confidence in the Texas economy, but in the Israeli one as well. In fact, last month Buffett traveled to New York to meet with Canadian, Mexican and Brazilian investors to encourage them to invest $1-5 million in Israeli bonds. Investing $5 million worth of Israeli bonds in his own personal portfolio, Buffett contends that, "The purchase of Israel bonds is a sound investment and a deserved endorsement of a remarkable country.” The billionaire hosted another similar event last November that raised $60 million worth of investment in the Jewish State. Expressing his impression of the Israeli economy, Buffett states, “If you are looking for brains, energy and dynamism in the Middle East, Israel is the only place you need to go.”