UP CEO says no thanks to potential government investment in $85B merger

Union Pacific is not interested in seeing the federal government invest in the railroad as part of the Norfolk Southern merger, UP Chief Executive Jim Vena said. “We’re a company that can afford to handle what the price is for this deal,” Vena said in an interview with CNBC, “and we do not need anybody’s help to do this.”

President Donald Trump had raised the possibility of the government acquiring a stake in the railroad in a May interview with Fortune magazine.

The comment came as Trump discussed his view on having the government take equity stakes in companies essential to the nation, and while he mentioned a railroad merger, he did not mention UP (NYSE: UNP) or NS (NYSE: NSC) by name. Vena did see Trump’s apparent interest as a positive.

“I find it comforting,” he said, “that the president of the United States looked at what we’re doing and says, ‘Son of a gun, this is a good business, a good business move, strong, and I’d like to invest.’” Vena said he had not had any direct communication about the idea of the government becoming a partner. Since January 2025 the U. S.

had invested almost $21 billion across 16 deals involving direct ownership, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. Those include a 10% stake in chip maker Intel (NASDAQ: INTC), a golden share with veto rights as part of Nippon Steel’s acquisition of U. S. Steel, and a future IPO trigger and option to buy in nuclear power specialist Westinghouse.

Vena met with Trump in September regarding the merger, with the White House saying the CEO had offered advice about use of the National Guard to fight crime. Trump subsequently announced his support for the merger. Subscribe to FreightWaves’ Rail e-newsletter and get the latest insights on rail freight right in your inbox.