Warren Buffett's Last Move as CEO Was a Bet on The New York Times. Here's Why That's Interesting.

In his final quarter as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett, one of the most celebrated investors in history, made a surprise move: he bought a $350 million stake in The New York Times Company. The news sent NYT shares higher.

Who is Warren Buffett, and why does his investing matter?

Warren Buffett, 95, is the chairman of Berkshire Hathaway (“BRK”). BRK is a massive holding company that owns everything from GEICO insurance to BNSF railroad to Dairy Queen. He is widely considered one of the greatest investors of all time, with a track record of picking stocks that has beaten the market for decades. When Berkshire buys something, Wall Street pays attention.

Buffett stepped down as CEO on January 1, 2026, handing the reins to Greg Abel. The NYT purchase was made in Q4 2025, which was his final quarter at the helm. The buy was disclosed in Berkshire's regular quarterly SEC filing on February 17th.

What exactly did Berkshire buy?

Berkshire acquired approximately 5.1 million shares of The New York Times Company, representing roughly a 3% stake in the company. The position is valued at about $351.7 million. This is a relatively small slice of Berkshire's massive portfolio (about 0.1%), but significant for the Times, which has a total market value of around $12 billion.

It's worth noting that these filings don't tell us whether Buffett personally made the call, or whether it was one of Berkshire's investment managers. Either way, it's a notable vote of confidence.

Isn't Buffett the guy who said newspapers were doomed?

Yes! That makes this move all the more interesting. In 2020, Berkshire sold off its entire portfolio of local newspapers (including Buffett's hometown Omaha World-Herald) to Lee Enterprises, essentially writing off the industry. At the time, Buffett concluded that most newspapers faced "unending losses."

But even then, he carved out an exception: he said newspapers with a strong national brand (specifically mentioning The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal) might be different. The Times has since proven him right. It has successfully transformed itself from a print newspaper into a digital subscription business with over 12 million subscribers, a popular games platform (Wordle, anyone?), a sports vertical called The Athletic, and has seen strong digital advertising growth.

Why the Times specifically?

In Q4 2025, the Times reported digital-only subscription revenue up nearly 14% year-over-year, and digital advertising revenue up almost 25%. These are the numbers of a growing digital business that happens to have one of the most trusted brand names in journalism.

There's also an AI angle here. As artificial intelligence generates more and more content online, the value of trusted, verified, human-reported news could actually increase. The Times is known for its editorial standards and has a global reputation. This means, the Times is better positioned than most to benefit from readers seeking credible information in an AI-saturated media landscape.

What about Berkshire's other moves?

The NYT buy wasn't the only notable item in the quarterly filing. Berkshire also slashed its Amazon stake, trimmed its Apple position, and sold around 50 million Bank of America shares. On the buy side, it added roughly 8 million more shares of Chevron, a well-timed move, as Chevron has surged nearly 19% year-to-date amid rising oil prices and US policy shifts on Venezuela.

What should you take away from this?

Buffett's bet on the Times isn't a recommendation for you to run out and buy the stock (and at current prices, some analysts think it's fairly valued rather than a bargain). But it is a signal worth paying attention to: one of the world's best investors looked at the media landscape and concluded that quality journalism with a strong digital subscription model has real long-term value.

In a world where everyone is worried about AI replacing everything, Berkshire just put $350 million behind the idea that trusted human storytelling still matters.

Sources: Bloomberg, CNBC, Fortune, The New York Times