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Digest

Talk of the day

By TIMES WIRES
Published October 11, 2006

Questionable activity not acceptable, Buffett says

Don't be a lemming. That, in short, is Warren Buffett's warning to top executives at his company, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. In a Sept. 27 memo, Buffett cautioned managers that many corporate scandals arise because questionable activity is accepted as normal behavior. He said the rationale that "everyone else is doing it" is not acceptable. Rather, it should raise a red flag. "Somewhere along the line they picked up the notion ... that a number of well-respected managers were engaging in such practices and therefore it must be OK to do so," Buffett wrote. "It's a seductive argument." Buffett acknowledged that it is inevitable that someone in a company the size of Berkshire Hathaway would give in to temptation. He called on his top executives to resist improper behavior and head off such behavior in their employees. "Berkshire's reputation is in your hands," Buffett wrote.

Burger King hips up with spokesman Diddy

Diddy will soon be adding some sizzle to Burger King's marketing efforts. Hip-hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs has agreed to join Burger King Corp.'s promotional efforts as the world's No. 2 hamburger chain reaches out into the entertainment, fashion and music world. Known in the past as Puff Daddy and P. Diddy, the artist known as Diddy is set to appear in an upcoming Burger King advertisement campaign. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Businesswoman first to top China's richest person list

China's wealthiest person prospered by turning recycled paper from the United States into Chinese packaging products - and like many fellow tycoons, by listing her company on an overseas stock market. Zhang Yin, 49-year-old founder of the Nine Dragons Paper Co. with a fortune estimated at $3.4-billion, is the first businesswoman to top an annual list of China's richest individuals, published by Shanghai researcher Rupert Hoogewerf. Zhang's company listed shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in March, becoming one of scores of mainland-based companies enriched by international investors' fervor for Chinese assets. The company recently saw its share price surge after reporting that its fiscal 2006 net profit more than quadrupled to 1.375-billion yuan ($174-million).

[Last modified October 10, 2006, 23:29:13]