Warren Buffett says Berkshire sold entire Paramount holdings at a loss

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Warren Buffett said on Saturday Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:) sold its entire holding in Paramount at a loss, a decision he said was his sole responsibility.

“It was 100% my decision and we’ve sold it all and we lost quite a bit of money,” Buffett said while speaking at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Omaha-based conglomerate had 63.3 million Paramount Global Class B shares as of the end of 2023.

Paramount, like other studios, has been struggling to recover from last year’s months-long strikes by Hollywood writers and actors, a soft advertising market and falling cable subscriptions in the United States that has eroded profit for its TV business.

A special committee of the Paramount board, created to evaluate offers for the company, has been holding exclusive deal talks with Skydance Media but Paramount Global will end those negotiations without a deal, a person familiar with the discussions told Reuters on Friday, allowing it to evaluate a rival bid.

The media giant did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Berkshire’s stocks sale.