Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Inc.

Knight-Ridder Newspapers, Inc. (Knight-Ridder) was a major American media company specializing in newspapers that was a significant common stock holding for Berkshire Hathaway in the late 1970s.

📝 The Investment

• Portfolio Concentration: Listed in the 1978 letter as a major holding with a position size over $10 million.
• Position (1978): Berkshire held 453,800 shares with a cost of $7.5 million and a market value of $10.3 million.
• Investment Thesis: Like his investments in The Washington Post Company and the Buffalo Evening News, Buffett was attracted to the powerful economics of dominant local newspapers, which at the time functioned as virtual local monopolies for advertising.

🔗 Connections

• Company: The Washington Post Company (Peer)
• Source: 1978 Letter, 1979 Letter