Legendary US investor Warren Buffett, who last week sealed a deal to become full owner of one of the country's biggest transcontinental railroads, has started divesting his holdings to finance the new project, according to dpa. Buffett's holding company Berkshire Hathaway late Tuesday informed the Securities Exchange Commission that he was reducing his stake in a number of firms including ConocoPhillipps, Johnson&Johnson and Procter & Gamble. His portfolio was valued at about 57.9 billion dollars in December, Bloomberg financial news service reported. Buffett on Friday agreed to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp in a 26.3-billion-dollar deal. The Fort Worth, Texas-based railroad is the nation's largest by revenue, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move is part of an expected transformation of Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway Corp into an operator of huge industrial firms. It was seen as a sign of Buffett's confidence in the long-term health of the US economy, and particularly in railroads as fuel costs soar, the Journal said. Berkshire Hathaway already owned part of the railroad. In the deal, which will pay for the remaining parts, Buffett will assume 10 billion dollars of debt. The 79-year-old Buffett is a heroic, almost cult, figure for investors in the United States and worldwide. He has shown a nose for researching his investments and sensing which way things were going, earning him the nickname "oracle of Omaha," referring to his hometown in the plains state of Nebraska.
