Buffett said that after Stan built the paper's new Sunday product, Berkshire's newspaper, which had been losing cash, earned over 100% annually pre-tax on Berkshire's $33 million investment for some years.
Unresolvable The public record could not settle it.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
The evidence is the person's or their organisation's own records.
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
Judge as of 10 November 2025, against the historical record of the Buffalo News (Buffalo Evening News) under Berkshire. True: the record shows the paper was losing cash before the Sunday edition was established; Stan Lipsey played the leading role in building the Sunday product; Berkshire's investment was about $33 million (about $32.5 million counts); and the paper's pre-tax earnings went above roughly $33 million (over 100% of the investment) in more than one year. Mostly true: all of that holds except a minor detail, such as Lipsey's exact role in the Sunday product or a small difference in the investment figure. Mostly false: pre-tax earnings reached over 100% of the investment in only one year, or only on a basis other than pre-tax operating earnings, or the earlier cash losses are overstated. False: the paper's pre-tax earnings never went above about $33 million in any year.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (12)
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E1 BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (1982 Annual Report, hosted on archive.org) Own record
“We purchased the News for about $34 million in April, 1977.”
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E2 Chairman's Letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Own record
“Henry never flinched during the dark days of litigation and losses following our introduction of the Sunday paper”
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E3 Chairman's Letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Own record
“Stan Lipsey became Publisher of the Buffalo News at midyear upon the retirement of Henry Urban.”
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E4 Chairman's Letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. · 26 February 1982 Own record
“Buffalo Evening News ...... (1,057) (2,777) (630) (1,655) (276) (800)”
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E5 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 1982 Annual Report Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (copy hosted on Internet Archive) · 3 March 1983 Own record
“(2) The News lost about $12 million, before taxes, after our acquisition and through December 31, 1982.”
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E6 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 1982 Annual Report Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (copy hosted on Internet Archive) · 3 March 1983 Own record
“(1) We purchased the News for about $34 million in April, 1977.”
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E7 Chairman's Letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Own record
“This reputation was enormously important to our success in establishing a Sunday paper against entrenched competition.”
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E8 1984Shareholder Letter berkshireletters.com (reproduction of Berkshire shareholder letter) Own record
“the cooperative spirit of our unions during the unprofitable 1977-1982 period was an important factor in our success in remaining cost competitive with The Courier-Express.”
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E9 1983 Letter to Berkshire Shareholders coopinio.com (republication of Berkshire Hathaway chairman's letter, with Chinese translation) · 14 March 1984 Own record
“| Buffalo Evening News | 19,352 | (1,215) | 16,547 | (724) | 8,832 | (226) |”
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E10 2012 Berkshire letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Own record
“We therefore began to print a Sunday edition late in 1977. And then all hell broke loose.”
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E11 2012 Berkshire letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Own record
“While the appeal was pending, we lost circulation, hemorrhaged money and stood in constant danger of going out of business.”
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E12 2012 Berkshire letter Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Own record
“So when I was in big trouble at the News, I asked Stan to leave his comfortable way of life in Omaha to take over in Buffalo.”
Reasoning
Berkshire's own records show it bought the News for about $34 million in 1977 (E1, E6). They also show the paper lost about $12 million before taxes from its acquisition through 1982 (E5) and was unprofitable from 1977 to 1982 (E8), which bears on the earlier losses. None of the evidence shows pre-tax earnings above about $33 million in any year. The earnings table rows quoted (E4, E9) have no column labels, and none of their figures is above $33 million. The evidence also leaves Lipsey's role in the Sunday product unclear: the Sunday edition started in late 1977 (E10), and Lipsey became publisher at midyear 1983 (E3), though E12 says Buffett asked him to take over in Buffalo when the paper was in trouble.
Cite this claim
Warren Buffett, “Buffett said that after Stan built the paper's new Sunday product, Berkshire's newspaper, which had been losing cash, earned over 100% annually pre-tax on Berkshire's $33 million investment for some years.” (said 10 November 2025). Verdict: unresolvable. Reliability API, claim c_251d28366e8b, method 0.1.0+28da144b, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_251d28366e8b
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
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Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.