watch
now
OMAHA,
Neb.
—
Warren
Buffett
revealed
that
he
dumped
Berkshire
Hathaway’s
entire
Paramount
stake
at
a
loss.
“I
was
100%
responsible
for
the
Paramount
decision,”
Buffett
said
at
Berkshire’s
annual
shareholder
meeting.
“It
was
100%
my
decision,
and
we’ve
sold
it
all
and
we
lost
quite
a
bit
of
money.”
Berkshire
owned
63.3
million
shares
of
Paramount
as
of
the
end
of
2023,
after
cutting
the
position
by
about
a
third
in
the
fourth
quarter
of
last
year,
according
to
latest
filings.
The
Omaha-based
conglomerate
first
bought
a
nonvoting
stake
in
Paramount’s
class
B
shares
in
the
first
quarter
of
2022.
Since
then
the
media
company
has
had
a
tough
ride,
experiencing
a
dividend
cut,
earnings
miss
and
a
CEO
exit.
The
stock
declined
44%
in
2022
and
another
12%
in
2023.
Paramount
Just
this
week,
Sony
Pictures
and
private
equity
firm
Apollo
Global
Management
sent
a
letter
to
the Paramount board
expressing
interest
in
acquiring
the
company
for
about
$26
billion.
The
firm
has
also
been
having
takeover
talks
with
David
Ellison’s
Skydance
Media.
Paramount
has
struggled
in
recent
years,
suffering
from
declining
revenue
as
more
consumers
abandon
traditional
pay-TV,
and
as
its
streaming
services
continue
to
lose
money.
The
stock
is
in
the
red
again
this
year,
down
nearly
13%.
Buffett
said
the
unfruitful
Paramount
bet
made
him
think
more
deeply
about
what
people
prioritize
in
their
leisure
time.
He
previously
said
the
streaming
industry
has
too
many
players
seeking
viewer
dollars,
causing
a
stiff
price
war.
