Buffett will be alright even after “losing quite a bit of money” on Paramount.
It shows even the best end up making poor investments once in awhile.
In 1940, Paramount agreed to a government-instituted consent decree and it was to immediately end traditional block booking and “pre-selling”, or collecting ‘up-front’ money for films not yet in production. The decision affected all studios. Paramount cut back on production, from 71 films annually to a singularly reduced 19 in the war years. Nevertheless the studios with their integrated studio-theatre combines reportedly were more profitable than ever. However, that combo lasted only until 1948 when they were ordered dissolved by a Supreme Court decision. It was generally agreed that the Court’s judgment wrote finis to the near century-old Movie studio system. And Paramount was never the same.