Warren Buffett and Uber held talks about a potential $3bn investment by Berkshire Hathaway in the ride-hailing company but the two sides could not reach an agreement on terms, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The talks, which were first reported by Bloomberg, came in the wake of Uber selling $1.25bn in new shares to SoftBank in January, part of turnround efforts being led by Dara Khosrowshahi, who took over as chief executive last year following a string of scandals at Uber.
Uber declined to comment. Berkshire Hathaway did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Mr Buffett’s office did confirm to CNBC that discussions with Uber had taken place. “I’m a great admirer of Dara,” Mr Buffett’s office said in a statement to the business channel. “Some of the reported details are not correct but it’s true that Berkshire had discussions with Uber.”
Mr Buffett has made bets on companies in times of crisis before, and companies have been willing to offer generous terms to the investor in exchange for the credibility associated with his name.
In the past he has asked for preferred stock options, including when he invested in US banks following the financial crisis. A number of those deals have recently been redeemed.
