Several days before Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and BNSF Railway Co. shocked the rail world by announcing the $44 billion buyout on Nov. 3, Matt Rose approached Warren Buffett. BNSF's chairman, president and chief executive officer wanted the billionaire to provide a statement for their joint press release that explained why Berkshire wanted to buy the railroad. Buffett came up with one that the media ultimately ran with: "It's an all-in wager on the economic future of the United States."

"We barely changed a word," says Rose, recalling his mild surprise while discussing the buyout Nov. 17 in his Fort Worth, Texas, office. "He nailed it."

Rose also believes Buffett hit the nail on the head for his investment company — which owns GEICO Auto Insurance and Marmon Holdings Inc. among more than four dozen holdings, as well as a large stake in Goldman Sachs — by tapping into BNSF's, as well as the rail industry's, long-term growth potential.

"This is a realization of the value of railroads to the U.S. economy," says Rose. "It's like the Good Housekeeping seal of approval that says railroads are here for the future."

If Berkshire's largest-ever transaction, which calls for buying the remaining 77.4 percent of BNSF shares it doesn't own for $100 per share in cash, closes as expected in the first quarter, many rail industry constituents and observers agree that the world's preeminent dealmaker will have made a shrewd, forward-looking investment.

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