Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman, President and CEO Warren Buffett confirmed that his company had discussions with Uber Technologies Inc., but he said certain reported details are incorrect, CNBC reported.
His comments were in response to a Bloomberg report that Berkshire offered a $3 billion investment in the ride-hailing company earlier in 2018. Under the proposed deal, Berkshire would have offered a convertible loan to Uber. The deal would have protected Buffett's investment should Uber face financial difficulties but would have provided significant upside to Berkshire if the ride-hailing company's value continued to grow, Bloomberg reported.
Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi asked Berkshire to reduce the size of the investment to $2 billion in a bid to secure Buffett's backing while giving him a potentially smaller share of Uber. But the deal did not push through because the two parties failed to reach an agreement, according to the report.
