Cascade Investment
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | Investments Conglomerate |
Founded | 1995 |
Founder | Michael Larson |
Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | Bill Gates (Chairman) Michael Larson (CIO) |
Total assets | US$70 billion (2021) |
Owner | Bill Gates |
Number of employees | 100[1] |
Subsidiaries |
|
| ||
---|---|---|
Companies
Charitable organizations
Writings
Related
|
||
Cascade Investment, L.L.C. is an American holding company and private investment firm headquartered in Kirkland, Washington, United States. [2] It is controlled by Bill Gates, and managed by Michael Larson.[3] More than half of Gates's fortune is held in assets outside his holding of Microsoft shares.[4] Cascade is the successor company to Dominion Income Management, the former investment vehicle for Gates's holdings, which was managed by convicted felon Andrew Evans.[5]
Larson reportedly directs Cascade's investments through Bill and Melinda Gates Investments, a firm that also manages the portfolios of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and other connected entities.[6] Larson accrued over the twenty years from 1995 an 11% compound annual return,[6] and as of 2014 had 100 employees working under his direction.[1] In 2021, Cascade drew attention due to allegations of toxic work environment caused by Larson.[7]
With 269,000 acres of farmland (which has been historically countercyclical to the stock market) being held through a wide network of shell companies, Cascade Investment is the largest farmland owner in the United States.[8]
Cascade has managed Gates' stake in Canadian National Railway since 2013.[9] This constituted one of the investment firm's largest holdings.[10] In 2022, the company sold $940 million worth of stocks, whittling Gates' stake down to 1.4 percent.[9]
Notable investments
[edit]Company | Ticker | Sector | Ownership % |
---|---|---|---|
Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts | Private | Hospitality | 71.25%[6][11] |
Ecolab | NYSE: ECL | Conglomerate | 25%[12] |
Canadian National Railway | Rail transport | 14.2%[13] | |
FEMSA | Beverage and Retail | [6] | |
Berkshire Hathaway | Conglomerate | 4%[6] | |
Strategic Hotels & Resorts | Private | Hospitality | 9.8%[6][14] |
Republic Services | NYSE: RSG | Waste management | 34.1%[15] |
Deere & Company | NYSE: DE | Agricultural, construction, forestry, outdoor power and turf maintenance equipment. OEM diesel and natural gas engine manufacturer. | 10.06%[16] |
Bunzl | LSE: BNZL | Distribution and Outsourcing | 6%[6] |
Carpetright | Private | Retail | 3%[6] |
Diageo | Beverages | 1.56%[17] | |
AutoNation | NYSE: AN | Car dealership | 14%[3][18][19] |
Microsoft | Nasdaq: MSFT | Software and Hardware conglomerate | 3.6%[3] |
Beyond Meat | Nasdaq: BYND | Food | [3][20] |
Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco | Private | Hospitality | [1] |
TerraPower | Private | Nuclear power | [3] |
Transformco | Private | Retail and real estate | Debt interest[21] |
Vroom | Nasdaq: VRM | Car dealership | [22] |
StorageMart | Private | Self-storage | [23] |
Signature Aviation | Private | Aviation Services | [24] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Bort, Julie (September 20, 2014). "Meet Bill Gates' Investment Manager". Slate. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Cascade Investment (Bill and Melinda Gates Investments (BMGI)) - Family Office, United States - SWFI".
- ^ a b c d e Das, Anupreeta; Karmin, Craig (September 19, 2014). "This Man's Job: Make Bill Gates Richer". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Miller, Matthew (March 5, 2008). "Gates No Longer World's Richest Man". Forbes. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Torres, Craig (March 7, 1993). "Convicted Felons Handle Gates Fortune". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Warwick-Ching, Lucy (October 21, 2015). "Cascade Investment, Bill Gates' wealth manager". Financial Times. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Das, Anupreeta; Flitter, Emily; Kulish, Nicholas (2021-05-26). "A Culture of Fear at the Firm That Manages Bill Gates's Fortune". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ Glaser, April (9 June 2021). "Bill Gates uses farmland as an investment outlet buying up potato, carrot and onion farms". NBC News.
- ^ a b Dolan, Kerry A. "Bill Gates Transferred Billions Of Dollars' Worth Of These Two Stocks To The Gates Foundation". Forbes. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Bill Gates Sells $940 Million of CN Rail Stock, Trimming Stake to 9%". Bloomberg.com. 2022-05-13. Retrieved 2022-12-28.
- ^ "Four Seasons Hotels agrees to bid from Gates and Alwaleed". The New York Times. February 12, 2007. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Stych, Ed (May 7, 2012). "Bill Gates' stake in Ecolab could get bigger". American City Business Journals. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Canadian National Railway Company | SC 13G". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. December 31, 2019. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Gallun, Alby (August 10, 2015). "Could Bill Gates be the next owner of Strategic Hotels?". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Republic Services, Inc. | DEF 14A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 24, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Deere & Company | DEF 14A". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. January 8, 2021. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "See how @DiageoGB scores on #water stewardship in face of #climatechange in new @Ceresnews analysis". Feeding Ourselves Thirsty. Retrieved 2021-04-13.
- ^ Bort, Julie (Mar 20, 2019). "Bill Gates is $9.5 billion richer than he was a year ago, worth over $100 billion, but not just from Microsoft". Business Insider. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Cascade Investment – Portfolio Holdings". Fintel.io. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Gunther, Marc (October 3, 2013). "The Bill Gates-backed company that's reinventing meat". Fortune. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Zumbach, Lauren (June 4, 2018). "Sears gets more time to repay lenders, including funds tied to CEO Edward Lampert and Bill Gates". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ "Vroom, Inc. | S-1". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. May 18, 2020. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Herald, C. R. E. (October 14, 2020). "Bill Gates' Cascade Investment, GIC buy stakes in StorageMart". CRE Herald. Retrieved April 3, 2021.
- ^ Calatayud, Adria. "GIP teams up with Blackstone and Cascade to buy Signature Aviation". www.penews.com. Retrieved 2022-04-19.
External links
[edit]- Business data for Cascade Investment, LLC:
- Investment companies of the United States
- Bill Gates
- Conglomerate companies of the United States
- Holding companies of the United States
- Companies based in Kirkland, Washington
- American companies established in 1995
- Financial services companies established in 1995
- Holding companies established in 1995
- 1995 establishments in Washington (state)
- Privately held companies based in Washington (state)
- United States financial services company stubs