As I’ve said in the past, I’m a long term fan of Warren Buffett. Many of you are also as I’ve received over 500 requests for the Annual Letters of Buffett Partnership, Limited, 1957 – 1970 over the past few months. As the Q205 filings roll in, I happened to notice the disclosure for the stock holdings of Berkshire Hathaway, which are as follows.
Company Class Value Shares Coca Cola Com $8,350,000,000 200,000,000 American Express Co. Com $8,070,237,000 151,610,700 Gillette Co. Com $5,112,617,000 100,980,000 Wells Fargo & Co. Com $3,476,090,000 56,448,380 Moody's Corp. Com $2,158,080,000 48,000,000 Wesco Financial Corp. Com $2,053,111,000 5,703,087 Washington Post Co. Cl B $1,442,736,000 1,727,765 M&T Bank Corp. Com $705,493,000 6,708,760 Shaw Communications Inc. Cl B $456,940,000 22,000,000 American Standard Cos. Com $440,072,000 10,497,900 First Data Corp. Com $346,208,000 8,625,000 Gap Inc. Com $304,826,000 15,434,243 Comcast Corp. CLA SPL $299,500,000 10,000,000 USG Corp. Com $276,250,000 6,500,000 Gannett Inc. Com $245,228,000 3,447,600 Costco Wholesale Corp. Com $235,011,000 5,254,000 Sun Trusts Banks Inc. Com $231,500,000 3,204,600 Nike Inc. Com $214,300,000 2,474,600 Iron Mountain Inc. Com $155,100,000 5,000,000 Tyco International Ltd. Com $146,000,000 5,000,000 Pier 1 Imports Inc. Com $113,520,000 8,000,000 Outback Steakhouse Inc. Com $82,283,000 1,818,800 Servicemaster Co. Com $75,195,000 5,611,600 Lexmark International Cl A $64,830,000 1,000,000 Sealed Air Corp. Com $55,431,000 1,113,300 Petrochina Co Ltd. ADR $48,404,000 659,000 Home Depot Inc. Com $36,760,000 945,000 Proctor & Gamble Co. Com $33,232,000 630,000 Mueller Industries Com $23,084,000 851,800 Comdisco Holding Co. Com $22,784,000 1,518,978 Lowe's Cos. Com $22,706,000 390,000 Dean Foods Co. Com $13,233,000 375,500 Total Value $35,310,761,000
While the old mainstays are predictable (and make up the majority of the value), the holdings in the $100m to $1b range are fascinating.
Posted in: BusinessCOMMENTS (3)
Thanks for the post. I got this strange feeling as if I am watching one of those Law and Order shows and the trick is to find out how the victims were chosen.
So what the hell is it? Are the stocks picked based on analysis or is leverage and tax driving everything.
I heard Berkshire gets really cheap money to play around with. By the way, how cheap is it? And what's the lesson for entrepreneurs? I know that I pay through the roof for my capital. 'Doh!
Anyways, can't wait for the next episode ;)
[I thought I posted this last weekend... but will try again... sorry for any redundancy.]
Wonder why Warren never invested more in tech, especially knowing BillG as well as he does?
It's one thing to say you don't understand technology in the 70's or 80's... but not understanding tech almost two decades later?
Hard to say anything makes Warren look foolish... but this has always looked like a gaping hole to me.
hehe. There was this bit of analysis on that very question.
Warren and Charlie understood, and still understand technology just fine. They just can't imagine who the leaders might be in 20 odd years. The story is different whe one might talk about razor blades or lolly pops.
Apparently, the answer is pretty simple: they didn't back tech because it's too risky.
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