STOCK EXCHANGE: Paramount’s new bid for Warner Bros, Berkshire Hathaway leadership changes as Buffett steps down

Wall Street opened mixed on Monday. The general index S&P 500 was down 0.1 percent 40 minutes after the opening, while the Dow Jones was down 0.2 percent. The technology-focused Nasdaq Composite was up 0.1 percent.

The main focus of the market is on Wednesday’s interest rate meeting, where the Fed is expected to lower the key interest rate for the third time in a row.

However, investors are already looking beyond this decision and trying to anticipate the direction of monetary policy in 2026. Uncertainty about the pace of interest rate cuts has grown, and the money market is now pricing in only two additional interest rate cuts by the end of 2026, while just a week earlier there were three cuts expected.

A competing bid for Warner Bros

The biggest corporate news of the day is Paramount Skydance’s competing bid for Warner Bros. Netflix had originally made a bid of $27.75 per share, but Paramount raised the offer to $30.00.

Paramount’s offer consists of cash only, while Netflix’s offer includes shares in addition to cash. Paramount’s offer is for the entire Warner Bros. company, while Netflix is ​​only interested in Hollywood studios and the streaming service.

The situation is complicated by the president Donald Trump’s antitrust concerns raised by the potential merger between Netflix and Warner. According to Bloomberg, Trump commented on Sunday that with the deal, Netflix’s market share may already be too large.

Paramount, the parent company of CBS, MTV and other media companies, began the battle months ago with several offers for Warner Bros.

The technology company IBM, on the other hand, announced that it will buy the enterprise software company Confluent Inc. for about 9.3 billion dollars, which is a significant investment in the infrastructure required by artificial intelligence tools.

Changes in the leadership of Berkshire Hathaway

Investment giant Berkshire Hathaway has announced significant executive appointments as it prepares for a time without a company leader Warren Buffett. Buffett, who has steered the company for six decades, will retire at the end of this year and hand over the duties of CEO Greg Abelille next year.

Also a long-time CFO Marc Hamburg is stepping down, Berkshire announced today. Hamburg, who has served the company for 40 years, will hand over the position of CFO next year Charles Changillewho moves to the role from Berkshire’s energy unit. Hamburg will continue with the company until 2027.

Insurance company Geico will become the new CEO Nancy Pierce. He replaces in the task Todd Combsinwho is leaving Berkshire to join banking giant JPMorgan Chase.