Warren Buffett’s final investment: The New York Times
Warren Buffett has used his last major bet before retirement to invest $352m (£260m) in The New York Times.
The legendary investor’s Berkshire Hathaway vehicle bought the stake in the US newspaper in the last three months of 2025, before Mr Buffett stepped down as chief executive in January.
At the same time, Mr Buffett has trimmed his stake in Apple – his largest holding – and sold three quarters of his Amazon investment, six years after first backing the online retailer.
Mr Buffett, 95, ended six decades at the top of Berkshire Hathaway by making way for Greg Abel, the company’s vice chairman, earlier this year.
The news of Berkshire buying 5.1 million shares in The New York Times sent its stock climbing by 3.5pc to an all-time high on Tuesday night.
Mr Buffett was a decades-long investor in The Washington Post until Jeff Bezos purchased the paper in 2013, and owned a string of local papers until 2020 when he sold off the holdings, having said many titles were “toast”.
But major titles have enjoyed a renaissance in recent years amid the shift to digital publishing.
Shares in the New York Times have climbed by 500pc in the last decade, with the organisation currently valued at around $12bn, after investing in subscriptions, games, cooking and sports.
Mr Buffett, dubbed the “Sage of Omaha” for his prescient investments, holds stakes in dozens of companies through his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.
The newspaper stake was its only new investment, although Berkshire also increased its stake in Chevron before Donald Trump’s seizure of Nicolás Maduro’s Venezuela sent oil company shares soaring.
Besides selling Amazon and trimming Apple, Berkshire also cut its exposure to Bank of America. The company has spent years gradually selling its Apple shares, which remain its biggest investment.
Berkshire Hathaway, based in Omaha, Nebraska, was acquired by Buffett in 1965 and has since delivered extraordinary returns for investors.
It has averaged an average annual return of 19.8pc since then, compared to the S&P 500’s 10.2pc.
Mr Buffett owns 13.7pc of the company, giving him a net worth of $150bn, making him the world’s 10th-richest person.
While investors had long speculated about when he would retire, he shocked them last May with the news that he was retiring, two years after the death of his long-time right-hand man, Charlie Munger.
Mr Buffett remains Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman.