Billionaires Are Piling Into Union Pacific. Here's What They See.
Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP) is on the precipice of a game-changing $85 billion merger with Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) . The deal would make Union Pacific the first transcontinental railroad in the U.S., with more than 52,000 miles of track. The merger is not a slam dunk. It has to pass muster with the Surface Transportation Board, with a decision expected sometime next year. A coalition of labor, competitors, and farm groups opposes the merger. The concern is that the merger would create a de facto monopoly and eliminate competition. On the positive side, it could also lead to lower freight costs for shippers and reduced pollution by reducing the need for interstate trucking with single-line coast-to-coast rail service. The stock is up more than 19% so far this year, and billionaires Chris Hohn, Ken Griffin, and Bill Gates are all among the major owners of Union Pacific through the investment firms they control. Griffin, who owns Citadel, is Union Pacific's leading shareholder, with 2,675,693 shares. Hohn, who owns TCI Fund Management, owns 4,032 shares of the railroad, and Gates, through Cascades, owns 3,435 shares of Union Pacific. Continue reading