Warren E Buffett

Swiss Reinsurance Co. said Thursday it would get a capital injection of $2.6 billion from U.S. investor Warren Buffett's company after warning investors it expected to lose $869 million for the full year. Swiss Re, which based its expected net loss on preliminary figures, said it would seek more funds from the capital markets. Write-downs of about $5.2 billion for the full year offset strong underwriting performance, Swiss Re said.

Warren Buffett, whose market acumen spurred countless Americans to take their first steps as investors, is taking his insights to the online playground. The billionaire will tutor tots about finance in an Internet cartoon series scheduled to start this year or early next year, producers A Squared Entertainment and Time Warner Inc.'s AOL said in a statement. Martha Stewart, model Gisele Bundchen and the late astronomer Carl Sagan will also appear in their own series.

The woes in the U.S. financial sector are "poetic justice" for bankers who designed and sold complex investments that have since gone sour, billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett said Wednesday. The head of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. group of companies also played down worries about a credit crunch by saying that recent interest rate cuts mean that low-cost funds are readily available. But Buffett warned that the U.S. dollar would continue to slide unless the country could rein in its yawning trade deficit -- the "biggest factor" behind the decline.

Even General Electric Co., one of the world's largest and most respected companies, needs a helping hand during a financial crisis. The industrial giant got it Wednesday from investor extraordinaire Warren E. Buffett. Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the holding company run by the billionaire, agreed to buy $3 billion in preferred stock as part of a plan by GE to raise $15 billion.

Legendary investor Warren E. Buffett renewed speculation about who eventually will replace him at Berkshire Hathaway Inc., saying Thursday in his annual letter to shareholders that he plans to hire at least one young investment manager to help succeed him. To replace Buffett, Berkshire plans to split his job into two parts -- chief executive and chief investment officer.

Warren E. Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said Sunday that he regarded efforts to rate the performance of companies on social, human rights or environmental measures to be of dubious merit and would not consider such factors when selecting investments. "I don't know how I would rate Exxon versus Chevron versus BP," he said at a news conference one day after Berkshire's annual meeting. "It's very difficult to judge the actions of companies that act on thousands of things every day."

Shares of Calabasas-based mortgage giant Countrywide Financial Corp. got a lift Tuesday from buyout speculation, while news from elsewhere in the home loan business remained downbeat: San Diego-based Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. said it agreed to sell $1 billion of home loans to an unnamed investor, a move it said would limit its exposure to "margin calls" -- demands by its creditors to pay down debt. In Tucson, Ariz., First Magnus Financial Corp.

Warren Buffett has cut his stake in PetroChina Co. to 9.72% amid calls for him to sever ties to the firm because of its investments in Sudan. Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. sold 92.66 million shares Aug. 29, according to a company filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange Wednesday. In July, Omaha-based Berkshire cut its holding to 10.96% from 11.05%.

Should the Oracle of Omaha, drawn as a cartoon character, look like Richie Rich or more like a Power Ranger? Warren E. Buffett is lending his voice to a character in Burbank-based DIC Entertainment Holdings Inc.'s cartoon "The Secret Millionaire's Club." The cartoon will be aimed at improving children's financial literacy. Details were under wraps.

Coca-Cola Co. said billionaire investor Warren Buffett, the soft-drink maker's largest shareholder, would leave the board after 17 years. Buffett wants to spend more time managing holding company Berkshire Hathaway Inc., Atlanta-based Coca-Cola said Tuesday. Berkshire holds an 8.4% stake, worth about $8 billion, and will continue as a shareholder. Buffett joined the board in 1989, and his term expires April 19.