Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. spent the first quarter snapping up more of its own stock, repurchasing $1.7 billion in shares as prices dipped in the first quarter. Even with the buybacks, his pile of cash and U.S. Treasury bills climbed to more than $114 billion, which may raise questions about the Oracle of Omaha’s outlook for dealmaking at the company’s annual meeting later Saturday. Buffett has been struggling to allocate cash amid prices for businesses that are “sky high.” What you’ll want to read this weekend Vanguard has patented a way to avoid taxes in its mutual funds. Microsoft is flourishing under Satya Nadella. It’s got more subscribers than Netflix, more cloud computing revenue than Google—and almost $1 trillion in market cap. Inside Venezuela’s failed uprising: How Juan Guiado’s deal to oust President Nicolas Maduro fell apart. A former National Football League owner allegedly has ties to an $850 million crypto mystery. America’s medical profession has a festering sexual harassment problem. What you’ll need to know next week Uber starts trading after what may be the biggest IPO of 2019 so far. The U.S. and China continue to look for a trade deal. Disney headlines another big week for earnings. After Milken, Wall Street heads to the Sohn Investment Conference. South Africans go to the polls Wednesday. What you’ll want to see in Bloomberg Graphics Millions of dollars are at stake at the Kentucky Derby on Saturday. But there’s more to be made than prize money. Here are the potential payouts of owning a racehorse in the Run for the Roses. Like Bloomberg’s Weekend Reading? Subscribe to Bloomberg.com. You’ll get our unmatched global news coverage and two premium daily newsletters, The Bloomberg Open and The Bloomberg Close, and much, much more. See our limited-time introductory offer. See what everyone is talking about. Get the day’s top trending stories on social media, delivered to your inbox from TicToc by Bloomberg. Download the Bloomberg app: It’s available for iOS and Android. |