Warren Buffett Buys Hometown Newspaper

Warren Buffett makes news for his multi-billion-dollar investments, not a piddly $200 million—but Buffett surprised many people when he announced yesterday he was spending that to buy his hometown newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald, reports Bloomberg. The billionaire slammed the newspaper industry two years ago, saying it had the "potential for unending losses," and that he would never buy one "at any price." But now Buffett seems to have changed his tune: “I wouldn't do this if I thought this was doomed to some sort of extinction,” he said, according to the Omaha World-Herald.

But at $150 million plus the assumption of $50 million in debt, purchase of the 49th-biggest newspaper in the US is not coming cheap. “He’s rooting for the home team,” explained one investor who has written a book on Buffett. “But he says it’s profitable and well run.” Other experts believe the move could be more self-serving. “It’s very difficult to see this as a financial investment,” said one analyst, adding that Buffett has a “desire to cultivate his legacy, and if he can control the first draft of history, that makes it a little bit easier." (More Warren Buffett stories.)