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Warren Buffett is no stranger to taking advantage of dark times to turn a much-needed investment to his advantage.

The Oracle of Omaha, whose Berkshire Hathaway emerged late Wednesday as a major owner of shares in Home Capital Group Inc., as well as a primary lender, famously invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs right after the 2008 collapse of Lehman Brothers. At that time, the world’s largest financial institutions were facing their own liquidity crisis and a very uncertain future.

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Berkshire Hathaway’s five-year investment was a gamble of sorts that everything would work out, and it paid off handsomely. It provided stability to the teetering sector and, at the same time, netted Buffett an eye-popping 62 per cent return.

Though the terms of the Home Capital deal are different, there’s hope some of the hallmarks of the Goldman Sachs case — stability, market confidence, and a path forward — can be replicated, even if it comes at an upfront cost to the company.