Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway cuts Amazon stake, makes bet on New York Times

Warren Buffett, who stepped down as chief executive officer last year, appeared to be back on the hunt for purchases in recent quarters

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. slashed its stake in Amazon.com Inc. by more than 75% in the fourth quarter, while also building a stake in the New York Times Co., his last new bet as chief executive officer of the conglomerate.

Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire acquired 5.1 million shares of the media publishing company in the three months through December, a stake worth $351.7 million at yearend, according to a regulatory filing Tuesday.

Berkshire first bought a stake in Amazon in 2019. Buffett said at the time that despite his historical aversion to technology stocks, he’d been “an idiot for not buying” the online retail giant’s shares sooner. It now owns roughly 2.3 million shares of the company.

Also in the fourth quarter, Berkshire continued trimming its stakes in Bank of America Corp. and Apple, Inc., bringing them to 7.1% and 1.5%, respectively. Buffett started cutting those positions in 2024.

Berkshire Hathaway also increased its stakes in oil producer Chevron Corp. and insurance firm Chubb Ltd during the period, to 6.5% and 8.7%, respectively.

The conglomerate unveiled its initial investment in Chubb in May 2024, after secretly building it the previous year. Chubb’s shares rose roughly 11% over the fourth quarter after a trade publication reported that the firm made an informal approach to buy American International Group Inc. The company denied that any offer was made.

Buffett, who stepped down as chief executive officer last year, appeared to be back on the hunt for purchases in recent quarters, reaching a deal to buy Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s petrochemical business for $9.7 billion and building a $5.6 billion stake in Alphabet Inc.

Shares of the New York Times Co. surged more than 10% in post market trading in New York.