Warren Buffett, who, through Berkshire Hathaway, was Salomon’s biggest shareholder, was constitutionally opposed to investing more money in failing enterprises, which time and again he had equated with throwing good money after bad. Deryck Maughan, the chief executive of Salomon, made it clear that the only other option was to sell the company. “Warren wanted to sell so badly,” a director of the company said.
