When the trial due to set tomorrow was canceled, the message was unmistakable. It’s now official.
The legal fight between billionaires Jimmy Haslam and Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway over the value of the remaining 20 percent of Pilot Corporation has been settled.
“Pilot Corporation, on behalf of the Company and the Haslam family, is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement to fully settle the Delaware litigation between the Company and Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Pilot Travel Centers, LLC, and National Indemnity Company, including the dismissal of all claims and counterclaims against each other,” a Pilot Corporation spokesperson said in a statement.
That means the fight is over. They’ve worked out a resolution that both sides deemed preferable to rolling the dice in court. It’s a very common occurrence in civil litigation.
It’s a little more surprising in this case because things got so ugly, with Buffett’s lawyers insisting that Haslam bribed Pilot executives to inflate the value of the company. Still, feathers tend to unruffle once talks move to a place where each side likes the number.
The only lingering question is whether the allegations of bribery will trigger other potential consequences. Already, Haslam’s lawyers have acknowledged that federal prosecutors were looking into the situation.