The blockbuster deal raises the odds that Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, will reach a deal with CSX to create a second transcontinental railroad. Union Pacific and BNSF compete in the western U.S., while CSX and Norfolk Southern are the two big Eastern railroads.

Buffett's top positions in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio include Apple, American Express, and Bank of America.

CEO Warren Buffett may be leaving, but Berkshire Hathaway stock still has plenty going for it, particularly after recent underperformance.

Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s longtime partner, once shared candid advice on getting on the road to wealth.

Berkshire Hathaway is of course no stranger to this market. Geico, BNSF, and Fruit of the Loom were all publicly traded at one point. Berkshire made them private by wholly acquiring them. Adding more privately held companies and holding fewer publicly traded equities isn't exactly uncharted waters.

The Sage of Omaha's company will make over $1.2 billion from the sale, according to an announcement on Monday.

Perhaps that’s one reason stocks are selling off globally this morning. While most indexes in Asia and Europe remain near their all-time highs, there is broad-based but mild selling in all of them.