In 2015, Berkshire made its biggest deal yet when it shelled out $37 billion for Precision Castparts. Between 2016 and 2018, Berkshire spent around $36 billion to build a roughly 5% stake in Apple, which more than quadrupled in value to above $170 billion by 2023, making it easily Berkshire’s number-one holding and one of the most lucrative bets in its history. Berkshire has pared the position by about 75% over the past three years.
The COVID-19 pandemic prompted Buffett to cash out his stakes in the “Big Four” US airlines. But he’s made several big bets since, such as buying Dominion Energy’s natural gas assets for $10 billion, purchasing stakes in five of the largest Japanese trading companies, and acquiring Alleghany for $12 billion, which added businesses such as Squishmallows-maker Jazwares to Berkshire’s stable.
Berkshire also paid more than $11 billion over about seven years to acquire Pilot Flying J, a truck-stop chain that had been one of the country’s biggest private companies.
Buffett lost his right-hand man and one of his closest friends when Munger died in November 2023, a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday and still in the job.
Berkshire’s market cap breached $1 trillion in late 2024, ranking it among the world’s most valuable companies.
During Buffett’s tenure as CEO, Berkshire’s shares rose by 6,100,000% or nearly 20% a year between 1964 and 2025, far above the benchmark S&P 500’s roughly 46,000% or 10.5% annual return with dividends included over the same period.
Buffett prepared his shareholders for his departure, outlining his estate plan and naming Greg Abel, Berkshire’s head of non-insurance operations, as his successor in 2021.
But he still stunned the business world in May 2025 when he announced that he would step down as CEO at the end of the year.
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