Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Boosts Oil Bet With Kinder Morgan Investment

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. on Tuesday disclosed a new investment in pipeline operator Kinder Morgan Inc., boosting its bet on the oil industry as prices hover near lows not seen in more than a decade.

Berkshire owned about 26.53 million Kinder Morgan shares worth roughly $395.9 million at year end, according to a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing detailing its stock investments.

Buffett has for much of the last year been adding to Berkshire’s investment in oil refiner Phillips 66, and now owns a roughly 14.3 percent stake.

Earlier, tech company Yahoo and Berkshire said on the Yahoo Finance website it will live-stream Berkshire’s annual shareholders meeting this year, marking the first live broadcast for the famed “Woodstock for capitalists.”

For most companies, annual shareholder meetings elicit little more than a yawn from the broader public. But for decades, investor and Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett and Vice Chairman Charlie Munger have drawn tens of thousands of investors to Omaha, Nebraska, for a medley of company financials, economic musings and billionaire whimsy.

Yahoo’s announcement of the deal comes two weeks after the Wall Street Journal reported the event would be broadcast online. The arrangement will potentially expand the audience from the 40,000 who have attended in recent years to a base of some 75 million monthly Yahoo Finance users.

“Over the past 50 years, we’ve seen a tremendous increase in the interest around our shareholders meeting,” Buffett said in a statement. “Partnering with Yahoo Finance provides us with the opportunity to reach more people than ever in key financial centers around the world, from New York to China and beyond.”