Berkshire Hathaway invests $350 million in The New York Times, six years after exiting newspaper industry

Six years after divesting all of Berkshire Hathaway’s newspaper holdings and forecasting a perpetual downturn for much of the sector, Berkshire revealed a fresh $350 million stake in The New York Times this Tuesday.

This somewhat unexpected development was featured in the quarterly portfolio update Berkshire submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing also showed Berkshire had increased its investment in Chevron just prior to President Donald Trump’s order for the arrest of Venezuela’s president, while the Omaha-based conglomerate continued to reduce its holdings in Bank of America and Apple.

When Buffett sold the newspapers in 2020, he declared the industry was “toast.” However, he noted at the time that nationally recognized publications like the Times or The Wall Street Journal could still prosper.

“This is a full circle moment for Berkshire Hathaway, reinvesting in news, and a major vote of confidence in The New York Times’s business strategy,” stated Tim Franklin, a professor and the chair of local news at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Franklin remarked that while the Times originated as a newspaper, it is now a diversified digital media entity featuring popular games such as Wordle, the well-known sports platform The Athletic, and over 12 million digital subscribers. He suggested that struggling local newspapers might learn from the “digital news powerhouse” the Times has become, potentially finding ways to provide online games and highlight unique local sports reporting.

The quarterly filings do not specify whether Buffett personally authorized each transaction or if another of Berkshire’s investment managers was responsible. Buffett typically oversaw investments exceeding $1 billion, so given the scale of the Times stake, it is unclear if this was his personal decision.

Nevertheless, many investors are likely to pay close attention due to Buffett’s extraordinary decades-long performance record, prior to his handing over leadership of Berkshire after six decades in January. Following the disclosure of the stake, Times shares rose almost 3% in after-hours trading.

During the quarter, Berkshire also acquired approximately 8 million additional Chevron shares, bringing its total to over 130 million shares in the oil major. This proved to be a particularly timely investment, as Chevron’s stock price has climbed significantly since Trump moved against Venezuela’s oil industry. Buffett has long expressed optimism about the oil sector, and Berkshire has been a significant investor in Chevron and Occidental Petroleum for years.

Chevron is the sole major U.S. oil company with substantial operations in Venezuela, producing around 250,000 barrels per day there. Having first invested in Venezuela in the 1920s, Chevron operates in the country through joint ventures with the state-owned firm Petróleos de Venezuela S.A., or PDVSA. Chevron’s stock has risen nearly 19% since the beginning of 2026, just before the U.S. sanctions.

Other significant actions by Berkshire in the final quarter of 2025 involved selling roughly 50 million Bank of America shares, though it retains nearly 81 million shares of the bank, which Buffett initially began purchasing in 2011 during the bank’s struggles from the subprime mortgage crisis. Berkshire also reduced its massive Apple holding by about 10 million shares but still held nearly 228 million shares at the end of last year.

Beyond its stock portfolio, Berkshire wholly owns dozens of companies, including insurance giants like Geico, a suite of major utility companies, the BNSF railroad, and numerous manufacturing and retail businesses with brands such as Dairy Queen and See’s Candy.