Amazon made an unsuccessful informal attempt to buy upmarket British supermarket chain Waitrose late last year, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.  Citing an unidentified source, the newspaper said Amazon's vice president of special projects, Ajay Kavan, approached an unnamed director of John Lewis Partnership, the department store-led retail group of which Waitrose is part.  One director had several "enormously informal" discussions with Amazon in November but John Lewis's chairman, Charlie Mayfield, refused to discuss a tie-up further, the newspaper said.

Amazon unsuccessfully approached UK supermarket Waitrose in 2017 - Sunday Times

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway Inc Vice Chairman Charlie Munger are answering five hours of questions from shareholders, journalists and analysts at Berkshire’s annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska.  The weekend known as “Woodstock for Capitalists” is unique in corporate America, a celebration of Buffett's success at a conglomerate whose businesses range from Geico insurance to the BNSF railroad to See’s candies to Ginsu knives.

'Oracle of Omaha' Buffett comments on China, healthcare, deals

&quot;The CEO is terribly important,&quot; Warren Buffett said.

Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and JPMorgan Are Close to Hiring a CEO for Their Healthcare Venture

Warren Buffett on Saturday  said he hoped a chief executive would be found within a couple  of months for the healthcare company being set up by Berkshire  Hathaway Inc, Amazon.com Inc and JPMorgan  Chase & Co. to lower patient costs.  Speaking at the annual shareholder meeting of his Berkshire  Hathaway Inc conglomerate, Buffett maintained that  healthcare is a "tapeworm" on American businesses, hurting their  ability to compete with rivals in other countries.  While there is no guarantee the venture between Amazon.com,  Berkshire and JPMorgan, which collectively employ more than 1  million people, will succeed, Buffett said it is well positioned  to try.

Buffett targets CEO for Berkshire-Amazon-JPMorgan healthcare venture soon