Goldman Sachs has a $5 billion I.O.U. to Warren Buffett on its books, which the billionaire investor sunk into the bank back in the depths of the financial crisis; now it's mulling paying it back, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Mr. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway declared the investment in Goldman in September 2008, boosting confidence in the firm to the point where it was able to match the $5 billion with other investors in just one day, even as the financial world about it shuddered.
Goldman is now in a position where it can compensate Berkshire for the $5.5 billion of shares that Mr. Buffett's company purchased in the firm. However, The Journal notes, doing so would incur charges of $1.6 billion and would need to be approved by the Federal Reserve.
The Journal writes:It isn't clear if executives at the New York company have sought formal Fed approval yet, but they are looking closely at whether to use a small chunk of the firm's $173 billion in excess liquidity to unwind the investment, people familiar with the matter said.Mr. Buffett's original deal with Goldman, though considered symbolic and a statement to the financial world that there would be a future after the crisis, was not one of the billionaire's most philanthropic ventures. The 2008 deal required large dividends from Goldman and made Goldman's executives to cut back on sell company shares.
The Journal continues, speculating on Goldman's wish to return Mr. Buffett's investment:Hefty dividend payments of 10% a year on Berkshire's "perpetual" preferred shares have cost Goldman about $1 billion so far. The payout is equivalent to more than $1.3 million a day-or $15 a second.
Goldman could also replace the costly capital from Berkshire with much cheaper funding now available in the debt markets. Goldman's unsecured bonds currently yield between 2% and 6.5%, and long-term interest rates are near record lows.
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