- Sell-siders scratched their heads when in May 2012 Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) agreed to buy 63 newspapers for $142M from Media General (MEG -1.3%), and provide $445M in loans to the company. Was The Oracle's love of newspapers interfering with his business judgement?
- It turns out Berkshire received 4.65M "penny warrants" as part of the deal which it exercised in September 2012 - the stock's about a 5-bagger since, and Berkshire's 17% stake is worth $105M. Buffett could sell today and recover most of the $142M paid for the newspapers while still owning them.