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Billionaire Warren Buffett has revealed that his investment firm Berkshire Hathaway has sold its stake in Paramount, and the cost will be dear to them too.
At the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Saturday, Buffett took charge of selling Berkshire’s stake in the entertainment company.
Buffett: “I am 100% responsible for Paramount’s decisions” informed the attendees. “It was 100% my decision. And we sold everything and lost a lot of money. That happens in this business.”
Saturday’s meeting was Buffett’s first annual meeting without vice chairman Charlie Munger, who died last November.
Related article: Paramount lays off hundreds of employees just days after ‘blockbuster’ Super Bowl V success
Buffett and Berkshire in May 2022 I purchased Later that year, in November, the company acquired a stake in Paramount for $2.6 billion, bringing the total number of shares held in the company to over 91 million. This made Berkshire the company’s largest shareholder without voting rights. At the time of purchase, the value of the shares was estimated at approximately $1.7 billion.
Berkshire Hathaway, according to a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. own As of the end of Q4 2023, there were 63.3 million Class B shares as the company began selling its shares. At the time, the stock was worth about $800 million.
Warren Buffett heads to the morning session of the Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference on July 13, 2023 in Sun Valley, Idaho (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“Owning Paramount has made me think even more deeply about the whole question of what people do with their free time and what are the governing principles of running any kind of entertainment business, whether it’s sports or movies. , I certainly thought more seriously about it, “I think that’s going to happen,” Buffett said at Saturday’s meeting. “I think I’m smarter now than I was a few years ago, but I also think I’m poorer because I’ve acquired the same knowledge.”
Paramount, the parent company of CBS, Nickelodeon and MTV, has had a rocky two years due to stiff competition in the streaming industry and a move away from traditional cable media.
Last year, the company significantly cut its dividend, but Buffett said: explained as “bad news”.
Despite the “blockbuster” streaming success of Super Bowl XV, Paramount will lay off about 800 employees in February as it aims to “return the company to revenue growth.”
Last week, Paramount CEO Bob Bakish said: exiledtemporarily placed executives Chris McCarthy, George Cheeks and Brian Robbins in a position to share the role of “the CEO’s office.”
Related: Read Warren Buffett’s annual letter to Berkshire shareholders
after that, A few days laterSony Pictures and Apollo Global Management have reportedly sent a joint letter to Paramount Group expressing interest in acquiring the company in a joint deal for $26 billion.
The offer comes amid a separate request by Skydance Media to Paramount’s special committee to recommend a bid to Skydance to acquire the company from majority shareholder Shari Redstone. Ta.
Meanwhile, Paramount said it had a strong first quarter of 2024 on the back of a 51% year-over-year increase in Paramount+ revenue and record-breaking viewership for Super Bowl LVIII, the most-watched Super Bowl in history. reported.
“It was a record quarter for Paramount+ in engagement and revenue, as well as in the DTC segment, as we continued to significantly reduce streaming losses,” Paramount Chief Financial Officer Naveen Chopra said in an article. earnings release last week. “Looking to the future, we remain focused on transforming our execution and cost base to best position Paramount for the future.”
Paramount has not publicly commented on the potential bid or acquisition.company was depressed As of Monday afternoon, it has increased by more than 20% in a year.