Warren Buffett Has A Whopping 9,000% Gain On His Washington Post Investment

REUTERS/Rick WilkingBerkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett reacts at a newspaper throwing competition before the company's annual meeting in Omaha, May 4, 2013. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos just spent $250 million purchasing The Washington Post.

You may recall that Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway is one of the largest and longest-tenured shareholders in the Washington Post Company. (He also served 25 years on the Post's board, and he spent part of his youth in DC.)

So, what kind of a gain does he have on his investment?

Buffett started accumulating shares in 1973. As of 2004, he owned 1.7 million shares at a cost basis of $11 million, according to 24/7 Wall Street.

According to Berkshire Hathaway's most recent 13-F, he owns the same amount of shares today. That position was valued at $772 million at the end of Q1.

However, the stock has been on a tear, up 55% since the beginning of the year.

In after-hours trading, Washington Post Company is at $598, which values Buffett's 1.7 million shares at $1.01 billion.

Assuming the $11 million cost basis holds, that's a whopping 9,080% return.

Wow.