Buffett Allowed To Boost Amex Stake

Thu., March 14, 1996

Compiled From Wire Services

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has received permission to buy up to 17 percent of American Express Co., according to Amex’s proxy statement released Wednesday.

The investment would add to Buffett’s current 10.2 percent stake, already the largest holding in the credit card and financial services giant. Buffett and his companies now hold 49.5 million common shares of American Express.

Buffett, one of America’s most influential investors, has aggressively bought shares in some of the best-known U.S. companies these past three decades, from Coca-Cola to Geico insurance. His investment conglomerate, Omaha, Neb.-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc., has returned an annual average of nearly 25 percent to its investors.

Buffett received permission from the Federal Reserve Board for the increased stake, said the proxy statement, which was filed late Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Buffett Allowed To Boost Amex Stake

Jesse Tinsley

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