Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway owned $113 billion in Apple stock and $147 billion in cash at the last count, representing more than half of its $499 billion market cap.
Theron Mohamed for Business Insider:
The famed investor’s conglomerate held about 245 million Apple shares as of June 30, giving it a roughly 5.7% stake in the [company]. Apple’s stock price has soared about 57% to an all-time high this year, boosting the value of Berkshire’s position by more than $40 billion, to about $113 billion as of Tuesday’s close.
Meanwhile, Berkshire’s stock price is down about 9% this year, weighing on its market cap. By comparison, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indexes both closed at record highs on Wednesday.
The outcome of Berkshire growing its cash pile and its Apple stock climbing in value while its market cap remains depressed is that its cash and Apple shares are now worth more than half of the entire company.
Berkshire’s market value implies that without the Apple shares and cash, the rest of its business is worth less than $240 billion. That’s hard to believe given the massive scale and diversity of its operations.
MacDailyNews Take: Time for the Oracle of Omaha to step up the buybacks!
If you believe that your stock is undervalued, you should buy your stock. — Warren Buffett explaining buybacks to Tim Cook in 2012
What I have never understood about people this wealthy is this…..He has worked his ass off his whole life to attain the wealth he has….yet at 89 years young he will not live to spend much any of it…..so what was the point????
He’s already promised to give away most of his fortune, and he enjoys investing. Isn’t that enough? To enjoy what you do?
I was thinking at the beginning of the year when Buffett had about $120B in cash sitting around, that he should have bought more Apple shares! If only he had listened…
Yep…when your work isn’t really work…a life-gift.