Warren Buffett's annual letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders is always much anticipated. While this year's missive talked up America and contained the usual analysis of his company's investments, such as its 5.2% stake in Apple, the letter hit the headlines more for what it was missing than what it contained.
Commentators noted how the burning issue of his successor was dodged, especially as 90-year-old Buffett is certainly aware of the great interest surrounding it, stating that "Charlie [vice chairman Charlie Munger, who is 97 years old] and I long ago entered the urgent zone [in terms of age]. That’s not exactly great news for us. But Berkshire shareholders need not worry: Your company is 100% prepared for our departure." Adding to the disappointment of the lack of a named successor, the lacklustre performance of Berkshire Hathaway shares last year wasn't addressed nor the lack of a dividend payout, and there was zero discussion of the competitive trading pressures the conglomerate is up against.
Many were also surprised that the letter makes no direct mention of hot topics such as last year's presidential election, the Black Lives Matter protests and January's storming of the Capitol, while COVID-19 is only referred to very briefly, which one commentator has called “tone deaf” and “disappointing”.
Now an American business that is making changes this week...
Walmart has announced it is dropping the $35 minimum order limit on its Express delivery service. The service is currently available at 3,000 Walmart stores and delivers items to customers in less than two hours. However, the service will continue to cost $10 plus a delivery charge, unless you're a member of Walmart+, in which case you'll only pay $10 for an order. The change came into effect Monday (1 March). Walmart says its Express delivery service reaches 70% of the US population.
Meanwhile, one of Walmart's biggest rivals was making a change too...
In January, Amazon's shopping app logo on phones changed from the basket (pictured left) to a parcel with the famous smile logo and a strip of blue packaging tape at the top (pictured centre). Unfortunately, people took to social media and compared the jagged tape to a toothbrush-style moustache, most infamously sported by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler. Amazon has changed the logo again this week so the blue tape is straight and folded over at the corner (pictured right), presumably to avoid any further associations with one of history's most reviled figures.
An artwork from World War II owned by a Hollywood star sold for a lot of money this week...
On Monday (1 March) a painting by Sir Winston Churchill that was owned by Hollywood star Angelina Jolie sold for just over £8 million ($11m) at an online Christie's auction in London. The most ever paid for a work by the UK's former prime minister, the painting Tower Of The Koutoubia Mosque features the Atlas Mountains in Marrakech and is the only artwork Churchill created during wartime.
He painted it after the Casablanca Conference of January 1943, where he and US president Franklin Roosevelt planned the actions that led to the defeat of Nazi Germany. After the conference he persuaded Roosevelt to travel 150 miles to Marrakech and watch the sunset on the mountains there. The next day Churchill painted the scene, which he later sent to Roosevelt as a birthday gift. It was sold on after Roosevelt's death and in 2011 it was bought by Jolie and her former partner Brad Pitt. The painting, which serves as a momento of the UK-US's 'special relationship', has been bought by an unknown buyer.
But Angelina is not the only celeb to have made millions at auction this week...
On Sunday (28 February) Canadian singer and artist Grimes (pictured with her partner Elon Musk) sold 10 pieces of digital 'cryptoart', which she had made with her brother Mac Boucher, in an auction that generated $5.8 million (£4.1m) in sales. Some pieces were sold as one-offs, but most were auctioned as editions, for example two video works, entitled Earth and Mars respectively, each sold 300 copies at the fixed price of $7,500 (£5.4k). The huge figure generated by the online auction is all the more surprising as the art doesn't actual exist in the physical world and other people can copy and share the works online as copyright is not included in the sale. However, the art is sold as non-fungible tokens (NFT), a branch of cryptocurrency that acts as a digital certificate, and means that buyers know that they own the authentic version of the work.
While cryptoart has been praised as a new way for artists to make money from their work and benefit from a percentage of the resale value when the token is sold on, some have criticised Grimes's auction for the enormous amount of electricity it used. In fact, it has been calculated by the Guardian newspaper that the sale of the editions of the Earth video alone would have used the same amount of electricity as an average EU citizen would use in 33 years.
On the subject of auctions, a spectacular yard sale find is set to fetch a lot of money very soon...
Last year, a man purchased this blue and white porcelain bowl at a yard sale in New Haven, Connecticut for just $35 (£25). He didn't haggle over the price, thinking that this 6.25-inch bowl could be something rather special. The unnamed buyer then sent photos of the bowl to auction specialists, who immediately told him it was definitely of historical significance. After closer inspection the bowl was revealed to be from the court of China's Yongle Emperor, who ruled from 1403 to 1424, a period known for its porcelain techniques. Only six other known bowls have survived. Now called the lotus bowl, as it resembles a lotus flower bud, it is up for auction at Sotheby's on 17 March, with an estimated value between $300,000 (£214k) and $500,000 (£358k). If it sells for its top estimate, that will be a mammoth 14,300 times the amount it was bought at the yard sale for.
Elsewhere, a famous fast food brand was making a bold move...
It's the "collection you didn’t know you were craving" apparently: US fast food giant Chipotle has teamed up with beauty brand e.l.f. Cosmetics to launch a limited-edition make-up collection. In homage to Chipotle's Mexican flavours, the Chipotle eyeshadow palette contains shades of rice, beans, guacamole and other ingredients. Meanwhile, the Eyes Chips Face make-up bag is designed to look just like a Chipotle tortilla chip bag. The four products in the range will be available online from 9 March to member of e.l.f.'s loyal programme Beauty Scheme and then online from 10 March. Tasty...
Finally, some sad news about a much-loved brand...
Even the brand known for its magic has been unable to stave off the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic and the shift to online. Disney this week announced that at least 60 stores across North America will close this year as it looks to reduce the number of physical stores in its portfolio. It hasn't announced which stores will be shuttered. Those 60 stores represent 30% of its total number of stores across North America.