UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 13F
FORM 13F COVER PAGE
Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: September 30, 2008
Check here if Amendment [ ]; Amendment Number:
This Amendment (Check only one.): [ ] is a restatement.
[ ] adds new holdings entries.
Institutional Investment Manager Filing this Report:
Name:GENERAL AMERICAN INVESTORS COMPANY, INC.
Address: 100 PARK AVE 35TH FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10017
13F File Number: 28-461
The institutional investment manager filing this report and the person by whom
it is signed hereby represent that the person signing the report is authorized
to submit it, that all information contained herein is true, correct and
complete, and that it is understood that all required items, statements,
schedules, lists, and tables, are considered integral parts of this form.
Person Signing this Report on Behalf of Reporting Manager:
Name: Eugene S. Stark
Title: Vice-President, Administration
Phone: 212-916-8447
Signature, Place, and Date of Signing:
Eugene S. Stark New York, NY October 20, 2008
Report Type (Check only one.):
[X] 13F HOLDINGS REPORT.
[ ] 13F NOTICE.
[ ] 13F COMBINATION REPORT.
List of Other Managers Reporting for this Manager:
Form 13F File Number Name
I AM SIGNING THIS REPORT AS REQUIRED BY THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934.
FORM 13F SUMMARY PAGE
Report Summary:
Number of Other Included Managers: 0
Form 13F Information Table Entry Total: 56
Form 13F Information Table Value Total: $989573813
List of Other Included Managers:
No. 13F File Number Name
VALUE SHARES/ SH/ PUT/ INVSTMT -----VOTING AUTHORITY-----
NAME OF ISSUER -TITLE OF CLASS- --CUSIP-- x$1000 PRN AMT PRN CALL DSCRETN -MANAGERS- SOLE SHARED NONE
ABB Ltd. ADR COMMON 000375204 19400 1000000 SH SOLE 1000000 0 0
Arch Capital Group Ltd. COMMON G0450A105 23004 315000 SH SOLE 315000 0 0
Adams Express Company COMMON 006212104 1269 117798 SH SOLE 117798 0 0
The Allstate Corporation COMMON 020002101 14989 325000 SH SOLE 325000 0 0
Alplha Natural Resources, Inc. COMMON 02076X102 4114 80000 SH SOLE 80000 0 0
Apache Corporation COMMON 037411105 52119 499800 SH SOLE 499800 0 0
ASML Holding N.V. COMMON N07059186 12327 700000 SH SOLE 700000 0 0
Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. COMMON 014482103 10395 236100 SH SOLE 236100 0 0
American Express Company COMMON 025816109 13286 375000 SH SOLE 375000 0 0
AXIS Capital Holdings Limited COMMON G0692U109 9513 300000 SH SOLE 300000 0 0
The Boeing Company COMMON 097023105 34410 600000 SH SOLE 600000 0 0
Biogen Idec Inc. COMMON 09062X103 3520 70000 SH SOLE 70000 0 0
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class A COMMON 084670108 26120 200 SH SOLE 200 0 0
Central Securities Corporation COMMON 155123102 681 30578 SH SOLE 30578 0 0
Cougar Biotechnology, Inc. COMMON 222083107 2354 70500 SH SOLE 70500 0 0
Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. COMMON 18683K101 6353 120000 SH SOLE 120000 0 0
Costco Wholesale Corporation COMMON 22160K105 37335 575000 SH SOLE 575000 0 0
Cisco Systems, Inc. COMMON 17275R102 20642 915000 SH SOLE 915000 0 0
CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. ADR COMMON 151290889 39719 2306589 SH SOLE 2306589 0 0
Cytokinetics, Incorporated COMMON 23282W100 2512 529900 SH SOLE 529900 0 0
Dell Inc. COMMON 24702R101 25626 1555000 SH SOLE 1555000 0 0
Diageo plc ADR COMMON 25243Q205 24101 350000 SH SOLE 350000 0 0
Genentech, Inc. COMMON 368710406 17736 200000 SH SOLE 200000 0 0
Epoch Holding Corporation COMMON 29428R103 17583 1666667 SH SOLE 1666667 0 0
Fidelity National Financial, Inc COMMON 31620R105 13965 950000 SH SOLE 950000 0 0
Gilead Sciences, Inc. COMMON 375558103 5453 119500 SH SOLE 119500 0 0
Halliburton Company COMMON 406216101 25912 800000 SH SOLE 800000 0 0
Hewitt Associates, Inc.Class A COMMON 42822Q100 16985 466100 SH SOLE 466100 0 0
Lamar Advertising Company COMMON 512815101 10011 324100 SH SOLE 324100 0 0
Leap Wireless International, Inc COMMON 521863308 5429 142500 SH SOLE 142500 0 0
Lender Processing Services, Inc. COMMON 52602E102 763 25000 SH SOLE 25000 0 0
McDermott International, Inc. COMMON 580037109 8943 350000 SH SOLE 350000 0 0
MetLife, Inc. COMMON 59156R108 14000 250000 SH SOLE 250000 0 0
Microsoft Corporation COMMON 594918104 15213 570000 SH SOLE 570000 0 0
M&T Bank Corporation COMMON 55261F104 19189 215000 SH SOLE 215000 0 0
Nelnet, Inc. COMMON 64031N108 12070 850000 SH SOLE 850000 0 0
NetEase.com, Inc. COMMON 64110W102 10148 445100 SH SOLE 445100 0 0
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. COMMON 591708102 16928 1210000 SH SOLE 1210000 0 0
PepsiCo, Inc. COMMON 713448108 17105 240000 SH SOLE 240000 0 0
PartnerRe Ltd. COMMON G6852T105 18725 275000 SH SOLE 275000 0 0
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. COMMON 703481101 10010 500000 SH SOLE 500000 0 0
QUALCOMM Incorporated COMMON 747525103 34376 800000 SH SOLE 800000 0 0
Everest Re Group, Ltd. COMMON G3223R108 25959 300000 SH SOLE 300000 0 0
Republic Services, Inc. COMMON 760759100 26427 881500 SH SOLE 881500 0 0
Royce Value Trust COMMON 780910105 1742 130785 SH SOLE 130785 0 0
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. COMMON 845905108 4740 1200000 SH SOLE 1200000 0 0
Teradata Corporation COMMON 88076W103 13455 690000 SH SOLE 690000 0 0
Target Corporation COMMON 87612E106 16339 333100 SH SOLE 333100 0 0
The TJX Companies, Inc. COMMON 872540109 51121 1675000 SH SOLE 1675000 0 0
Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. COMMON 893521104 4783 88000 SH SOLE 88000 0 0
Textron Inc. COMMON 883203101 17588 600700 SH SOLE 600700 0 0
United Technologies Corporation COMMON 913017109 19520 325000 SH SOLE 325000 0 0
Weatherford International Ltd. COMMON G95089101 62096 2470000 SH SOLE 2470000 0 0
Waste Management, Inc. COMMON 94106L109 21413 680000 SH SOLE 680000 0 0
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. COMMON 931142103 28148 470000 SH SOLE 470000 0 0
Xerox Corporation COMMON 984121103 21907 1900000 SH SOLE 1900000 0 0