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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 two-thirds over the last few quarters.
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.
Munger died in November 2023, a few weeks shy of his 100th birthday and still in the job. Berkshire’s market cap passed $1 trillion in late 2024.
The company’s shares gained 5,500,000% or nearly 20% a year between 1964 and 2024, far above the benchmark S&P 500’s roughly 39,000% or 10% annual return with dividends included over the same period.
Buffett had prepared his shareholders for his eventual 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 this May by saying he would step down later this year, and Abel would take the reins in early January.
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