((Automated translation by Reuters, please see disclaimer https://bit.ly/rtrsauto))
(No comment from Paramount)
Warren Buffett said on Saturday that Berkshire Hathaway BRKa.N sold its entire stake in media and entertainment company Paramount Global PARA.O at a loss and that he took sole responsibility for the decision.
“It was 100% my decision, we sold everything and we lost quite a bit of money,” Buffett said at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.
Berkshire owned 63.3 million shares of Paramount Class B stock at the end of 2023, or about 10.1% of the company.
Paramount, like other studios, is struggling to recover from strikes by Hollywood writers and actors last year, a sluggish advertising market and falling U.S. cable subscriptions, which eroded its profits television.
A special committee of Paramount’s board of directors, created to evaluate buyout offers for the company, has conducted exclusive negotiations with Skydance Media. But Paramount will end those negotiations without reaching a deal, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Friday (), which will allow it to evaluate a rival offer.
The media giant declined to comment on the Berkshire stock sale.
