OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Five years after Warren Buffett sold off all of his company’s newspapers and predicted unending declines for most of the industry, the firm disclosed a new $350 million investment in the New York Times on Tuesday.
The somewhat surprising move highlighted the quarterly stock portfolio update filed by Berkshire Hathaway. The company also increased its investment in Chevron and continued selling off more of its Bank of America and Apple shares.
At the time that Buffett sold off the company’s dozens of newspapers in 2020 he concluded the industry was “toast.” But even then he suggested that newspapers with a national brand like the Times or Wall Street Journal might still do well.
“It’s a full circle moment for Berkshire Hathaway in reinvesting in news and a huge vote of confidence in the business strategy of the New York Times,” said Tim Franklin, a professor and chair of local news at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Franklin said the Times may have its roots in the newspaper business, but today it’s a thriving digital business with popular games like Wordle, a well known sports platform called The Athletic and more than 12 million digital subscribers. He said maybe struggling local newspapers can draw some lessons from the “digital news powerhouse” the Times has become and find ways to offer online games and showcase the local sports coverage that readers can’t get elsewhere.
These quarterly stock portfolio filings don’t make clear whether Buffett made every move or whether one of the company’s other investment managers did. Buffett generally handled any investments worth more than $1 billion, so at the size of this Times investment it’s not certain whether this was one of his bets.
But many investors will still try to copy it because of Buffett’s remarkable track record over the decades before he handed the CEO title over in January after six decades of leadership. Shares of the Times jumped nearly 3% in after hours trading after the stake was disclosed.
The company also picked up about 8 million more Chevron shares in the quarter to give it more than 130 million shares in the oil giant. That was a particularly well-timed bet because Chevron’s stock has soared following recent geopolitical events, but Buffett has long been bullish about the oil business and the company has been a major investor in Chevron and Occidental Petroleum for several years.
Chevron is the only major American oil company with significant operations in Venezuela, where it produces about 250,000 barrels a day. Chevron’s stock is up nearly 19% since the start of 2026.
The other notable moves the company made in the last three months of 2025 included selling off roughly 50 million Bank of America shares although it still holds nearly 81 million shares of the bank. And the company trimmed about 10 million shares off its massive Apple stake but continued to hold nearly 228 million shares at the end of last year.
In addition to stocks, the company owns dozens of companies outright including insurance giants, a collection of major utilities, a railroad and many manufacturing and retail companies.