Warren Buffett offers Donald Trump some advice while Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile swells to $334 billion.
Jerry
In his annual letter to shareholders Saturday, Warren Buffett celebrated the successes of Berkshire Hathaway’s companies last year and in the 60 years since he took over a struggling New England textile company and began converting it into a massive conglomerate while offering some advice to President Donald Trump.
Buffett hardly reflected on his long tenure as CEO in the letter — unlike 10 years ago when he and his longtime investing partner Charlie Munger, who died in 2023, issued separate reflections on the company.
Abel will have plenty of resources to work with when he eventually takes over given that Berkshire now holds $334.201 billion cash after selling off much of its Apple and Bank of America stock in the past year and continuing to generate money from all its subsidiaries that include Geico insurance, BNSF railroad, a collection of major utilities and an assortment of major manufacturers and well-known retail businesses that include brands like Dairy Queen and See’s Candy. That’s almost double the $167.6 billion cash Berkshire held a year ago.
Buffett did find a few things to use some of that cash on last year by spending $3.9 billion to acquire the rest of its utility business from the estate of a former partner and another $2.6 billion to buy the rest of the Pilot truck stop chain. Buffett said he also increased Berkshire’s investment in five major Japanese conglomerates. Berkshire has now spent $13.8 billion over the past six years on those Japanese investments that are now worth $23.5 billion.
Source: FORTUNE
