CNN Business Risk Takers | They’re famous for their investments. But Warren Buffett and Masa Son keep striking out

New York (CNN Business)  SoftBank is often described as the Berkshire Hathaway of tech. That was once a flattering comparison. But the investing track records for the Japanese firm run by Masayoshi Son and Berkshire’s Warren Buffett have soured lately.

SoftBank (SFTBF) has been hit hard by the huge drop in the share prices of public companies in its portfolio such as Uber (UBER) and Slack (WORK), as well as the massive haircut in valuations of private unicorn startups like WeWork, DoorDash and Indian hotel company Oyo.

Meanwhile, Berkshire Hathaway (BRKB) has had notable misfires of its own, such as scandal-ridden bank Wells Fargo (WFC) and struggling food giant Kraft Heinz (KHC).

Berkshire also disclosed last Friday that it dumped nearly all its stake in investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS), which has been hit hard this year in the broader market turmoil.  —more—