Gossip sharing

Partnerships on the human level were in the news Thursday, specifically concerning software giant Microsoft and U.S. investment firm Berkshire Hathaway.

Even money managers and corporate executives believe in gossiping about people. Put the spread sheets aside for a moment. Have you heard the latest?

Newspapers with advanced copies of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen's autobiography are pointing to some real-life tomfoolery that describe his relationship with co-founder Bill Gates as less than ideal. Early in the going, in the 1970s, Gates requested a 60-40 split in the company based on Gate's significant work on early operating systems. Allen agreed.

Later, Allen agreed to a 64-36 split and some years later he overheard Gates and executive Steve Ballmer plotting to dilute his holding further with a stock issue that would fortify their positions and not Allen's.

This tears-in-your-beer soap opera would hardly be Earth shattering if it wasn't about Microsoft, which put both Gates and Allen on the Forbes magazine list of the world's richest men, Gates near the top and Allen at number 56 or so. But to most mortals, this means a rewrite in a made-for-TV docu-drama. Nothing more, nothing less.

The New York Times reported David Sokol has quit his position at Berkshire Hathaway, a significant personnel change as Sokol was considered the top contender to succeed founder Warren Buffett, who is now 80.

The resignation appears to be connected to Sokol's purchase of shares of Lubrizol in January, which Berkshire Hathaway agreed in March to purchase for $9 billion, which drove shares of Lubrizol up 27 percent.

But appearances can be deceiving. Buffett said Sokol had no way of knowing how he would react when Sokol pitched the acquisition and there has been no hint that Sokol used insider information to his advantage. By appearances, he bought shares in a company he felt were a sound investment and then shared his enthusiasm with his supervisor. It's likely on his job description to do that.

In international markets Thursday, the Nikkei 225 index in Japan rose 0.48 percent, while the Shanghai composite index in China dropped 0.94 percent. The Hang Seng index in Hong Kong gained 0.32 percent, while the Sensex in India rose 0.8 percent.

In Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 index gained 0.33 percent.

In midday trading in Europe, the FTSE 100 index lost 0.14 percent, while the DAX 30 in Germany was flat, up 0.02 percent. The CAC 40 in France lost 0.41 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 600 index shed 0.56 percent.