For years legendary investor Warren Buffett has said he's reluctant to invest in technology stocks, because he doesn't understand the industry. Meanwhile, his Berkshire Hathaway is Coca-Cola's biggest shareholder.
But Buffet has sung the praises of the online home-sharing company Airbnb, and he had a business ties with Coke's arch rival, PepsiCo,
writes Lucy Mueller of Go Banking Rates.
As for Airbnb, check out what
Buffett wrote about it in his letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders this year.
"Airbnb's services may be especially helpful to shareholders who expect to spend only a single night in Omaha and are aware that last year a few hotels required guests to pay for a minimum of three nights. Those people on a tight budget should check the Airbnb website."
He was addressing shareholders who were traveling to Berkshire's annual meeting.
When it comes to Pepsi, Berkshire insured the company for a $1 billion sweepstakes the beverage company ran in 2003. Berkshire's profit: $10 million.
Meanwhile, Buffett faces heated criticism on several fronts, but his reputation will survive the hits,
says Forbes writer Susan Adams.
The latest blow came from hedge fund heavyweight Daniel Loeb, founder of Third Point.
He accused Buffett of hypocrisy at a hedge fund conference in Las Vegas Wednesday. "I love how he criticizes hedge funds, yet he really had the first hedge fund," Loeb said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Meanwhile, the Center for Public Integrity and
The Seattle Times have taken Buffett to task for allegedly predatory lending by the Clayton Homes subsidiary of Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway.
But, "I predict the headlines will soon blow over," Adams writes.
"While I believe the latest Buffett critiques are warranted, he has carved out a legacy with his philanthropy that will outlast whatever behavior Berkshire Hathaway engages in as a rapacious capitalist force."
Buffett obviously broke some eggs to get rich. "But his overarching approach, of buying solid, well-run companies and supporting them for the long term, is a distinctive one among American capitalists," Adams maintains.
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