UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
FORM 13F
FORM 13F COVER PAGE
Report for the Calendar Year or Quarter Ended: December 31, 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 February 06, 2009
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: 54
Form 13F Information Table Value Total: $694597900
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 18012 1200000 SH SOLE 1200000 0 0
Arch Capital Group Ltd. COMMON G0450A105 21030 300000 SH SOLE 300000 0 0
Adams Express Company COMMON 006212104 1004 125004 SH SOLE 125004 0 0
The Allstate Corporation COMMON 020002101 3276 100000 SH SOLE 100000 0 0
Alplha Natural Resources, Inc. COMMON 02076X102 3238 200000 SH SOLE 200000 0 0
Apache Corporation COMMON 037411105 34269 459800 SH SOLE 459800 0 0
ASML Holding N.V. COMMON N07059186 12649 700000 SH SOLE 700000 0 0
Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. COMMON 014482103 5917 236100 SH SOLE 236100 0 0
American Express Company COMMON 025816109 7420 400000 SH SOLE 400000 0 0
AXIS Capital Holdings Limited COMMON G0692U109 12813 440000 SH SOLE 440000 0 0
The Boeing Company COMMON 097023105 12801 300000 SH SOLE 300000 0 0
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Class A COMMON 084670108 14490 150 SH SOLE 150 0 0
Central Securities Corporation COMMON 155123102 495 34400 SH SOLE 34400 0 0
Cougar Biotechnology, Inc. COMMON 222083107 1833 70500 SH SOLE 70500 0 0
Costco Wholesale Corporation COMMON 22160K105 30188 575000 SH SOLE 575000 0 0
Cisco Systems, Inc. COMMON 17275R102 15648 960000 SH SOLE 960000 0 0
CEMEX, S.A. de C.V. ADR COMMON 151290889 17145 1875862 SH SOLE 1875862 0 0
Cytokinetics, Incorporated COMMON 23282W100 1510 529900 SH SOLE 529900 0 0
Dell Inc. COMMON 24702R101 15155 1480000 SH SOLE 1480000 0 0
Diageo plc ADR COMMON 25243Q205 19859 350000 SH SOLE 350000 0 0
Genentech, Inc. COMMON 368710406 16582 200000 SH SOLE 200000 0 0
Devon Energy Corporation COMMON 25179M103 6571 100000 SH SOLE 100000 0 0
Epoch Holding Corporation COMMON 29428R103 12650 1666667 SH SOLE 1666667 0 0
Fidelity National Financial, Inc COMMON 31620R105 14200 800000 SH SOLE 800000 0 0
Gilead Sciences, Inc. COMMON 375558103 6111 119500 SH SOLE 119500 0 0
Halliburton Company COMMON 406216101 14544 800000 SH SOLE 800000 0 0
Hewitt Associates, Inc.Class A COMMON 42822Q100 13228 466100 SH SOLE 466100 0 0
Lamar Advertising Company COMMON 512815101 4699 374100 SH SOLE 374100 0 0
Leap Wireless International, Inc COMMON 521863308 1829 68000 SH SOLE 68000 0 0
McDermott International, Inc. COMMON 580037109 2470 250000 SH SOLE 250000 0 0
MetLife, Inc. COMMON 59156R108 8192 235000 SH SOLE 235000 0 0
Microsoft Corporation COMMON 594918104 11081 570000 SH SOLE 570000 0 0
M&T Bank Corporation COMMON 55261F104 11195 195000 SH SOLE 195000 0 0
Nelnet, Inc. COMMON 64031N108 7882 550000 SH SOLE 550000 0 0
NetEase.com, Inc. COMMON 64110W102 9837 445100 SH SOLE 445100 0 0
MetroPCS Communications, Inc. COMMON 591708102 20790 1400000 SH SOLE 1400000 0 0
PepsiCo, Inc. COMMON 713448108 13966 255000 SH SOLE 255000 0 0
PartnerRe Ltd. COMMON G6852T105 20312 285000 SH SOLE 285000 0 0
Patterson-UTI Energy, Inc. COMMON 703481101 5755 500000 SH SOLE 500000 0 0
QUALCOMM Incorporated COMMON 747525103 25081 700000 SH SOLE 700000 0 0
Everest Re Group, Ltd. COMMON G3223R108 19035 250000 SH SOLE 250000 0 0
Republic Services, Inc. COMMON 760759100 23526 949000 SH SOLE 949000 0 0
Royce Value Trust COMMON 780910105 1155 137696 SH SOLE 137696 0 0
Teradata Corporation COMMON 88076W103 8379 565000 SH SOLE 565000 0 0
Target Corporation COMMON 87612E106 11502 333100 SH SOLE 333100 0 0
The TJX Companies, Inc. COMMON 872540109 34455 1675000 SH SOLE 1675000 0 0
Transatlantic Holdings, Inc. COMMON 893521104 3325 83000 SH SOLE 83000 0 0
The Travelers Companies COMMON 89417E109 9718 215000 SH SOLE 215000 0 0
Textron Inc. COMMON 883203101 5807 418700 SH SOLE 418700 0 0
United Technologies Corporation COMMON 913017109 17420 325000 SH SOLE 325000 0 0
Weatherford International Ltd. COMMON G95089101 22181 2050000 SH SOLE 2050000 0 0
Waste Management, Inc. COMMON 94106L109 20878 630000 SH SOLE 630000 0 0
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. COMMON 931142103 26348 470000 SH SOLE 470000 0 0
Xerox Corporation COMMON 984121103 15143 1900000 SH SOLE 1900000 0 0