Billionaire investor Warren Buffett is adding "ketchup magnate" to his resume. On Thursday, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway agreed to buy the H.J. Heinz Company, adding another iconic brand to Buffet's portfolio.
Berkshire will team up with Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital to buy the 144-year-old packaged-foods company. The $23 billion deal will be one of the largest food industry acquisitions ever.
"This is my kind of deal and my kind of partner," Buffet told CNBC. Buffet, who is known for vetting his investments carefully, praised Heinz's "fantastic brands."
"The company...
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The video: Four entrepreneurial teens learn financial lessons, money management skills, and receive business advice from the Oracle of Omaha himself, Warren Buffet in the new animated web series The Secret Millionaires Club. The goal is to teach young kids good financial habits at an early age by tackling relatable problems, such as a low-performing lemonade stand or a troubled bicycle shop. Sunday's premiere features a guest appearance by another high-profile mogul, hip-hop king Jay-Z, who briefly mentors the students: "As a team you can put your interest in business to good use," he says...
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"Raise my taxes." That's the crux of Warren Buffett's message in his New York Times op-ed piece, "Stop Coddling the Super-Rich," published Monday. Concerned that mega-wealthy investors like himself aren't paying their fair share of taxes, Buffett writes, "While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks." He suggests an immediate raise in taxes for those earning more than $1 million — including income, dividends, and capital gains from investments — with an additional...
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Warren Buffett issued a "modest mea culpa" to shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway this weekend, saying he "made a big mistake" in his dealings with a disgraced former lieutenant once seen as his likely successor. The executive, David Sokol, bought $10 million in shares of Lubrizol, a chemical firm he then pitched to Buffett as an attractive company for Berkshire Hathaway to take over. Buffett bought the company for $9 billion, and Sokol came away with a $3 million profit on his shares. After his questionable investments came to light, Sokol abruptly resigned in March. Buffett initially defended...
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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has long enjoyed a sterling reputation as the "honest oracle" of high finance. But even some former admirers are expressing disgust after suspicions of insider trading sank David Sokol, the man being groomed to succeed the 80-year-old Buffett at Berkshire Hathaway. Will investors sour on Buffett, too?
Shareholders will want answers: Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting is usually a lovefest, says Andrew Ross Sorkin in The New York Times, but the 2011 gathering, coming up this month, will be more like an "inquisition." The bottom line is that Sokol bought a pile...
Re-igniting debate over the effectiveness of the bailouts, billionaire investor Warren Buffett has issued a "thank-you note" to "Uncle Sam" for rescuing the financial system two years ago. In what's been called a "bizarre" New York Times op-ed, Buffett says the country "faced an economic meltdown" in 2008, with the mortgage industry on the verge of collapse and giant banks teetering near bankruptcy. Only the feds had the power to "restore calm," Buffett says, and, this time, they "delivered." Does Washington deserve Buffett's gratitude, and the nation's? (Watch Buffett defend his position)
No, the...
It has been one of the biggest succession mysteries in corporate America: Who will eventually take over the investing duties of one of the world's most famous investors, Warren Buffett? Buffett, 80, may have answered that question this week by hiring Todd Anthony Combs, an obscure 39-year-old hedge fund manager in Connecticut. How certain is it that Combs will become the person who decides where Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway puts its money, and can he really fill the Oracle of Omaha's giant shoes? (Watch a Fox Business report about Buffett's hire)
Who is Todd Combs?
Combs manages the Greenwich,...
Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, America's two wealthiest individuals, have convinced a growing number of U.S. billionaires to donate a minimum of 50 percent of their vast fortunes to charity. (Watch a report about the charitable acts.) The so-called "Giving Pledge" has been described as a "moral commitment," and carries no legal weight. Around 10 percent of America's billionaires have signed the pledge so far, but Buffett hopes to recruit more. "Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future," he told reporters. "We’ll keep on working." Just how much will the Giving Pledge benefit...
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In a private initiative that could "double or triple the amount of philanthropy in America," two of the world's richest men are employing what some call "peer pressure at its best" to persuade their fellow billionaires to give at least half their money to charity. Here's a quick guide to their push:
What is "The Giving Pledge"?
It's an idea that was hatched by Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett over lunch at an Omaha diner. Buffett has already annouced that he will donate 99 percent of his $47 billion fortune to charity, with the bulk designated for the Bill...
The world's third richest man has long been an investment "rock star." Now he's one on TV. In a new ad for Geico, a subsidiary of his company Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett sports an Axl-Rose-esque kilt and croons, "We're always true to you." Buffett has taken on a "tricky" challenge, but the ad works, says Daniel Gross in Newsweek, demonstrating that, while he takes his "responsibility to shareholders very seriously, he doesn't take himself too seriously." Other commentators are less impressed by Buffett's attempts to rock more than financial markets: "While there are doubtless some...
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