Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has taken over Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) as the #1 brand in the world. It has also been designing a lot of innovative gadgets and applications that would help the future generations. Its belief in Uber is already paying great returns.
Julian Robertson, the founder of Tiger Management Group on a CNBC Exclusive opened up his views on currently the best run companies and also about the greatest investor alive today. Julian Robertson had the best hedge fund record in the whole 80’s and 90’s and was considered as the “Wizard of Wall Street”.
When questioned on why he believed in Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and if Eric Schmidt was a reason, he said:
“ It’s the fact that the company has a moat around it that is so wide, no one can breach it and i think it is developing new devices at all times. People aren’t aware exactly where it will ever stop. I am a big fan of Uber and I think Google owns 20% of Uber. No one ever thinks of Google when they jump into an Uber, but I think it sort of shows the advances they can make in this automatic type machine economy that we will eventually end up with”
Robertson believes that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has great structure which no one can breach and they keep developing new devices. He was impressed with the Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s move to invest in Uber and ultimately owning 20% of Uber Shares which shows Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL)’s adaptability in the current auto type market. When asked if he used Uber and how often, he joked around saying that he uses it whenever he finds it difficult to get a cab.
Uber Technologies is currently worth somewhere around $17 billion to $18 billion. Since this latest funding announcement, there has been a wide argument on whether the quoted worth is too high a valuation for Uber or not. When Robertson was asked whether he would invest with Uber Technologies, he stated:
“I think Uber is a very interesting company and let me assure you, I would invest at twice the price that Google paid for their first shares”
Regarding his views about Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD), Robertson said that the company is really a pharmaceutical steal. Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) knows how to invent drugs and how to sell them at right price. He was also impressed with the way and price for which Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD) acquires Companies. This is what he thought about the pharma company:
“I love Gilead. I think it is fabulous. It is a marvelous technology company in the drug area. In that they really have a cure for Hepatitis c, have some wonderful AIDS drugs, a lot of anti-Cancer stuff on the way. They’re showing a great ability to buy companies at the right price. They’re going to be inundated with cash from the profits on the Hepatitis c drug, and in the past they‘ve done a wonderful job with handling that cash. I think Gilead is really a pharmaceutical steal”
Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL) has a famous motto stating that “Don’t be Evil”. Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) is considered as one of Evil companies by detractors because they believe that Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) buy pharmaceutical companies and strict their R&D in order to earn more profits. Detractors also feel that if every company runs like Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) in healthcare and pharmaceutical industry then there is no future for this industry. When Robertson was asked his opinion about Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX), Robertson mentioned:
“I think the Valeant people, whom I have a lot of respect for would say if everyone ran wild with research as some of the big companies do, they will be taken over by the Valeants and people like that in the future”
For rather difficult question which as per him is the best run company in the world today, without any hesitation he named Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Robertson thinks that Google has brilliant people at top management who are doing right things for the company. His reply to the question was:
“I would say Google is one of them”
When Robertson was asked who he thinks is the best investor alive today, this was his reply:
“The man I respect the most in the business, and he’s in the hedge fund business, is probably Stan Druckenmiller.”
Disclosure: None
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