Warren Buffett

Warren Buffett issued this statement on the Berkshire Hathaway website Tuesday afternoon: "To the Shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway: This is to let you know that I have been diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer. The good news is that I've been told by my doctors that my condition is not remotely lifethreatening or even debilitating in any meaningful way. I received my diagnosis last Wednesday. I then had a CAT scan and a bone scan on Thursday, followed by an MRI today.

Billionaire financier Warren Buffett already has his hands in newspapers, jewelry, insurance and other holdings. Now, with the acquisition of Oriental Trading Co., the 82-year-old can add party planning. Buffett said Friday that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. firm will buy Omaha-based Oriental Trading, the largest direct retailer of more than 40,000 discount party goods, for an undisclosed sum. Berkshire Hathaway is also headquartered in Omaha. The mail-order merchant, which sells supplies, crafts, school supplies, toys and novelties, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010, burdened with a huge debt load, and suffering from low consumer spending and higher costs.

The Oracle of Omaha has taken to Twitter. The notoriously tech-shy billionaire launched his @WarrenBuffett handle Thursday, where he quickly garnered more than 180,000 followers. He is the second-richest person with a verified Twitter account, after tech mogul Bill Gates (@BillGates.) His first tweet: "Warren is in the house. " Twitter might be a perfect medium for Warren Buffett, who has built a reputation for a folksy approach to investing. But it's also a surprising move given that he's not exactly the most tech-savvy person on the planet.

WASHINGTON -- Billionaire investor Warren Buffett said he sees the economy slowly improving and hailed Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke as "gutsy" for the actions the central bank has taken to boost growth. Buffett told CNBC on Monday that he was not concerned about the financial markets' recent record highs, saying he recalled when the Dow Jones industrial average first crossed 100 points. Investors shouldn't shy away from the markets, he said. "Probably in my lifetime, and certainly in your lifetime, you will see markets that are far higher than this," Buffett told CNBC's Becky Quick.

Legendary investor Warren Buffett has given his blessing to one potential nominee for Treasury secretary: Jamie Dimon, chairman and chief executive of JPMorgan Chase & Co.  Treasury Secretary Timothy H. Geithner has said he won't hang around for Obama's second term. Potential successors reportedly in the running include Jack Lew, White House chief of staff. Dimon steered the country's largest bank by assets through the financial crisis virtually unscathed and emerged as Wall Street's point-person in Washington.

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett had opinions to spare Friday, when he dished on JPMorgan's Jamie Dimon, Wells Fargo's home lending prowess, the future of the euro and newspapers, Facebook and more. “I've had enough mistakes of my own that I'm very forgiving when something like that happens,” said the Berkshire Hathaway chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s huge trading losses. Banks, Buffett said, are by their nature risk-takers - it's how they earn returns for their clients.

Republicans are getting a great deal of mileage out of an interview investor Warren Buffett gave Friday morning, contending that the billionaire failed to endorse President Obama's jobs plan or the proposed tax hike that bears his name. The Republican National Committee, for example, e-blasted a mailer that claimed Buffett had disagreed in a CNBC interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin with Obama's plan to raise taxes on America's top earners. But did Buffett actually say that? More than anything, while interviewed on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, he took a pass on commenting on Obama's plan at all. As they used to say in the 20 th century, let's go to the videotape: Andrew Ross Sorkin: “Let's talk about the Buffett Rule for a moment.

Never one to mince words, investment poobah Warren Buffett described the U.S. healthcare system as a tapeworm in the digestive tract of the economy. This apt but disgusting metaphor does a good job of illustrating how our maddeningly dysfunctional healthcare system puts American businesses as a disadvantage compared with their overseas cousins. "The healthcare problem is the No. 1 problem of America and of American business," Buffett said in an interview with Bloomberg Television . "It's the tapeworm, essentially, of the American economy, and we have not dealt with that yet. Obamacare is a step in the right direction in many ways.

Want a “power lunch” with billionaire financier Warren Buffett? Get ready to shell out at least $420,600 for the privilege. So far, that's the top bid in an annual charity auction to dine with seven friends and Buffett at Smith & Wollensky steakhouse in New York. Proceeds benefit the Glide foundation, a social service group working out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Participants in the auction, being held on Ebay , must be pre-approved. The bidding began on Sunday, starting at $25,000.

Re "Buffett Pledges Billions to Gates," June 26 Bill Gates and Warren Buffett putting billions of dollars into world healthcare initiatives is great news for Americans. Our healthcare system is speeding toward Third World status faster than a congressional holiday evacuation. Who needs a whiny, bickering Congress whose pathetic inaction and obvious contributor protectionism only perpetuates and accelerates the chaos? Fear not, we may yet be saved. Thanks, Bill and Melinda and friends, in advance.