Buffett swaps Washington Post stock, gains Miami television station

WASHINGTON, March 13 (UPI) -- A $1.1 billion deal will reduce investor Warren Buffett's stake in the Washington Post Co. but will gain him a Miami television station, his company announced.

Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway announced Wednesday it will swap most of its 28 percent stake in the company that owns the newspaper, now called Graham Holdings Co., in exchange for Miami's WPLG-TV, millions of dollars in cash and some Berkshire shares the company owned by former Post publisher Katherine Graham.

The deal ends the business relationship between Buffett and Graham that began in 1973, but presumably continues one of the great friendships of the media world, the New York Times said Thursday.

Berkshire Hathaway has been an investor in the company for four decades. The Post was sold to Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos last year, the Times said.