Money Stuff Valeant or whatever. Finance is complex and interconnected, and events in one corner of the financial world propagate rapidly and unpredictably, which is why somehow the debate about Valeant’s specialty pharmacy relationships has devolved into a snowballing insult war about whether Oreos are worse for you than Coke. The blow-by-blow is that Bill Ackman defended Valeant’s practices and compared the company to a Warren Buffett investment, and then Buffett’s business partner Charlie Munger called Valeant’s business model "deeply immoral," and then Ackman said, yeah, well, I’ll show you deeply immoral: “I have a problem with Berkshire’s ownership of Coke,” Ackman told an audience of about 200 people. “Coca-Cola has probably done more to create obesity, diabetes on a global basis than any other company in the world.” The very best part of this is that he said it at "an event commemorating Warren Buffett’s 50 years leading Berkshire Hathaway," which is just an amazing way to ruin a party. "I’m never one for avoiding controversy," said Ackman, and if you ever find yourself saying that it is probably superfluous. Anyway, Coke responded that Ackman’s "comments are irresponsible," and there is the awkward fact that this year Ackman invested in Mondelez, which makes Oreos : Pershing Square’s staff worried about Mr. Ackman’s hard line on sugar. A colleague brought Mondelez products to the investment committee and waited to see if Mr. Ackman would eat an Oreo. He ate two. That was the go-ahead to start buying. “Everything in moderation,” Mr. Ackman said Wednesday. “It’s complicated.” He pointed out that Mondelez products such as cookies and candy bars can be treats after a healthy meal, not outright replacements as Coke products can be for water. One conclusion might be that all corporations are at least a little bit […]
