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Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that he wants to step down as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year. The revelation came as a surprise because the 94-year-old had previously said he did not plan to retire.Buffett, one of the world’s richest people and most accomplished investors, took control of Berkshire Hathaway in 1965 when it was a textiles manufacturer. He turned the company into a conglomerate by finding other businesses and stocks to buy that were selling for less than they were worth.His success made him a Wall Street icon. It also earned him the nickname “Oracle of Omaha,” a reference to the Nebraska city where Buffett was born and chose to live and work.Here are some of his best and worst investments over the years: Buffett’s Best National Indemnity and National Fire & Marine: Purchased in 1967, the company was one of Buffett’s first insurance investments. Insurance floatthe premium money insurers can invest between the time when policies are bought and when claims are madeprovided the capital for many of Berkshire’s investments over the years and helped fuel the company’s growth. Berkshire’s insurance division has grown to include Geico, General Reinsurance and several other insurers. The float totaled $173 billion at the end of the first quarter.Buying blocks of stock in American Express, Coca-Cola Co. and Bank of America at times when the companies were out of favor because of scandals or market conditions. Collectively, the shares are worth over $100 billion more than what Buffett paid for them, and that doesn’t count all the dividends he has collected over the years.Apple: Buffett long said that he didn’t understand tech companies well enough to value them and pick the long-term winners, but he started buying Apple shares in 2016. He later explained that he bought more than $31 billion worth because he understood the iPhone maker as a consumer products company with extremely loyal customers. The value of his investment grew to more than $174 billion before Buffett started selling Berkshire Hathaway’s shares.BYD: On the advice of his late investing partner Charlie Munger, Buffett bet big on the genius of BYD founder Wang Chanfu in 2008 with a $232 million investment in the Chinese electric vehicle maker. The value of that stake soared to more than $9 billion before Buffett began selling it off. Berkshire’s remaining stake is still worth about $1.8 billion.See’s Candy: Buffett repeatedly pointed to his 1972 purchase as a turning point in his career. Buffett said Munger persuaded him that it made sense to buy great businesses at good prices as long as they had enduring competitive advantages. Previously, Buffett had primarily invested in companies of any quality as long as they were selling for less than he thought they were worth. Berkshire paid $25 million for See’s and recorded pretax earnings of $1.65 billion from the candy company through 2011. The amount continued to grow but Buffett didn’t routinely highlight it.Berkshire Hathaway Energy: Utilities provide a large and steady stream of profits for Berkshire. The conglomerate paid $2.1 billion, or about $35.05 per share, for Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy in 2000. The utility unit subsequently was renamed and made several acquisitions, including PacifiCorp and NV Energy. The utilities added more than $3.7 billion to Berkshire’s profit in 2024, although Buffett has said they are now worth less than they used to be because of the liability they face related to wildfires. Buffett’s Worst Berkshire Hathaway: Buffett had said his investment in the Berkshire Hathaway textile mills was probably his worst investment ever. The textile company he took over in 1965 bled money for many years before Buffett finally shut it down in 1985, though Berkshire did provide cash for some of Buffett’s early acquisitions. Of course, the Berkshire shares Buffett began buying for $7 and $8 a share in 1962 are now worth $809,350 per share, so even Buffett’s worst investment turned out OK.Dexter Shoe Co.: Buffett said he made an awful blunder by buying Dexter in 1993 for $433 million, a mistake made even worse because he used Berkshire stock for the deal. Buffett says he essentially gave away 1.6% of Berkshire for a worthless business.Missed opportunities. Buffett said that some of his worst mistakes over the years were the investments and deals that he didn’t make. Berkshire easily could have made billions if Buffett had been comfortable investing in Amazon, Google or Microsoft early on. But it wasn’t just tech companies he missed out on. Buffett told shareholders he was caught “sucking his thumb” when he failed to follow through on a plan to buy 100 million Walmart shares that would be worth nearly $10 billion today.Selling banks too soon. Not long before the COVID pandemic, Buffett seemed to sour on most of his bank stocks. Repeated scandals involving Wells Fargo gave him a reason to start unloading his 500 million shares, many of them for around $30 per share. But he also sold off his JP Morgan stake at prices less than $100. Both stocks have more than doubled since then.Blue Chip Stamps: Buffett and Munger, Berkshire’s former vice chairman, took control of Blue Chip in 1970 when the customer rewards program was generating $126 million in sales. But as trading stamps fell out of favor with retailers and consumers, sales steadily declined; in 2006, they totaled a mere $25,920. However, Buffett and Munger used the float that Blue Chip generated to acquire See’s Candy, Wesco Financial and Precision Castparts, which are all steady contributors to Berkshire. Josh Funk, AP Business Writer
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Today (Monday, May 5, 2025) is Cinco de Mayo. The day celebrates the May 5, 1862, victory of Mexico against France in the Battle of Puebla. However, while Cinco de Mayo celebrates an important event in Mexican history, the day is widely observed in communities across America and is now frequently one used to celebrate Mexican-American culture in the United States. Many brands in Americaespecially restaurant chainslike to participate in Cinco de Mayo by offering deals and freebies to customers. This is especially true of restaurants that serve Mexican or Mexican-American food. Here are some deals to be had today if you are up for celebrating Cinco de Mayo with your tastebuds. Baja Fresh Use the code CINCO at checkout to get $5.55 off your order of $20 or more. California Pizza Kitchen The pizza chain is offering free white corn guacamole and chips to customers who show this web page to their server. California Tortilla The Mexican food chain is offering a coupon for a free taco on their next visit to people who purchase something today. Chipotle Chipotle is offering several Cinco de Mayo deals, including $0 delivery fees when using the promo code DELIVER and free chips and Queso Blanco when using the promo code CINCO25. The company is also giving away the chance to win one of 50,000 burritos when you play its Burrito Builder experience on Roblox. Full details of the offers can be found here. Del Taco Get a free burrito with any $10 purchase. Jack In the Box The fast food chain is giving away free Tiny Tacos of any style if you order in the app and spend at least $5 today. Laredo Taco Company Buy one burrito and get one free. 7-Eleven Order Laredo Taco Company food through the 7NOW Delivery app and get 50% off the total as long as the order is $20 or more.
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The narrative that women entrepreneurs receive less than 2% of venture capital (VC) funding has been widely circulated. It stems from data provided by Pitchbook, a respected research firm that delivers insights on global capital markets. However, a closer examination of their data reveals a more nuanced perspective. Pitchbook only studies investments funded by VC firms, which is a big part of the market but does not include the very substantial investments made by angel investors. Significant progress has been made in these early stages of the venture market. Twenty years ago, a mere 3% of angel-funded startups were led by women. Fast-forward to today, and women now account for well over 30% of angel-funded companies. Researching and monitoring these shifts have been a critical part of our own investing journey as the co-CEOs of Golden Seeds, an organization that invests exclusively in early-stage women-led U.S. companies. Back in 2004, when Golden Seeds was founded, there was a data void. Insights on women entrepreneurs and womens leadership were rarely collected because they simply werent considered important. Thankfully there is now more research into these topics. Pitchbook has been a leader in this effort, particularly as it relates to later-stage venture capital funding. But in the process of deciphering the data around female founders, a misleading narrative has inadvertently been created. Understanding the methodology behind theseand any venturestatistics is crucial to appreciating the strides made by women in the startup ecosystem. Here are the two biggest misrepresentations worth clarifying about women entrepreneurs and their ability to secure capital. Misinterpretation #1: Women get less than 2% of capital Countless articles, books, and panels have cited that only 2% of VC funding goes to women entrepreneurs. However, this interpretation is incorrect because Pitchbook collects data only on company founders, which excludes women in executive leadership roles or those who might move into executive roles and hold substantial equity. These women are not included in these calculations but they play important roles in the success of their companies. Furthermore, when including funding received by gender-diverse founding teams, the numbers reveal a more encouraging trend. In 2024, companies founded by at least one woman secured 23% of total VC capital, a considerable increase from just 9% in 2008. Additionally, the percentage of deals VCs invest in that include at least one female founder has more than doubled in the same time frame, from 12.2% to 25.4%. That number may in fact be even higher when you consider that this data excludes companies that have non-founder women in key roles who hold substantial equity. The growing presence of gender-diverse teams signals a positive shift in the funding landscape, as startup investors increasingly recognize the benefits of diverse leadership in driving business success. It also more accurately reflects the full universe of startups seeking capital today. Of course, the reality remains that 7580% of VC funding goes to companies with all-male founding teams (although we do not have information on the gender diversity of the management teams of these companies at the time of funding). More work is needed to get the venture industry closer to realizing gender parity. And its critical that we analyze the current data beyond just the single point of the initial founders. Misinterpretation #2: Female founders need a male cofounder to successfully raise VC capital One notable trend in the VC space is the increased success of mixed-gender founding teams in securing investment. While some may interpret this as a disadvantage for all-female teams, this conclusion is misleading. Founding teams form in many different ways, and most investors prioritize skill, determination, and the strength of the business over gender composition. Research consistently highlights the advantages of diverse teams, including broader skill sets, varied perspectives, and enhanced problem-solving capabilities. These benefits may make mixed-gender teams attractive to investors seeking to maximize their returns. And in our experience, founding teams are increasingly more likely to include both women and men. Systemic biases, however, still persist within the VC industry. Historically, VCs have favored investing in industries such as software and AIsectors where women have been underrepresented. Additionally, many investors prefer to back serial entrepreneurs with prior successes, a criterion that disproportionately benefits male founders due to historical inequalities in startup funding. Addressing these biases is essential to ensuring that innovative ideas from women and underrepresented founders receive the recognition and investment they deserveand that the progress made at the earliest stages of the market continues into later stages. Women are doing well raising capital from angel investors. They are receiving funding at a comparable yield to other entrepreneurs. (The yield is the rate at which companies seeking funding receive funding.) This trend has been growing for a long time now, as more women are actively pitching their businesses to angel investors. Forty-six percent of all companies seeking funding in 2023 were women-owned, up from 5% in 2004. In addition the growth of women angels, now over 40% of angel investors in the country, would seem to have played a significant role in increasing the share of funding. Its worth noting that the pace of VCs funding women-led companies has also been steadily improving, as described above, albeit slower than the progress in the angel market. And remember, VCs arent the only path to later-stage capital. Many entrepreneurs, both women and men, successfully seek subsequent funding from family offices, corporate ventures, and other high-net-worth individuals. Embracing a more empowered narrative Transforming an industry is challenging and oftentimes frustratingly slow. For 20 years, weve tracked the trends, educated investors, and rallied the support, both financial and otherwise, that women entrepreneurs need to grow their businesses. The world is recognizing the contributions and value of women-led companies and that progress shows up in the numbers when you look closely. But progress is a continuum, and the work isnt finished. Encouraging greater diversity among investors, expanding funding opportunities in traditionally male-dominated industries, and addressing biases in investment decision-making will be crucial in leveling the playing field. Moreover, continued advocacy and accurate representation of data are essential in shaping mindsets and initiatives that support women-led businesses. Perpetuating a narrative that overlooks the resilience and ingenuity of women entrepreneurs over the past 20 years discredits the progress weve made and subtly signals defeat. Whats needed is a nuanced understanding of the ecosystem so that a clearer picture of the barriers, progress, and opportunities of women-led companies is continually embraced and acted upon.
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