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Authors: JordanBillionaire investor Warren Buffett, the world’s third richest man, recently showed confidence on Apple and bought an additional 75 million shares during the first three months of this year.
At the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders’ meeting on Saturday, Buffett was quizzed on his Apple bets and why he didn’t look at other technology stocks the same way.
Asked why he never purchased shares of Microsoft, he said in the earlier years, the answer is very clear: “It's stupidity.”
But now, it would just be a mistake for Berkshire to buy Microsoft given the friendship with Bill Gates.
“One of the reasons is fear that if an acquisition or any unfavourable news was announced after buying a stake, Bill and I would be the targets of suggestions and accusations,” Buffet said.
Buffett's conviction on Apple over the past two years has surprised many, given his historical aversion to companies associated with the technology sector.
Berkshire's initial investment in Apple was small, suggesting it was made by one of Buffett's investment deputies, but with the latest stake purchase, it has grown to a solid 240.3 million shares, worth $42.5 billion.
Commenting on Apple, Buffett said, “It's extremely hard to find acquisitions that would be accretive to Apple (in) the $50-$100 billion range.
As I look around the horizon, I don’t see anything that would make sense for them, whereas I do see a business that they know everything about .
I'm delighted to see them repurchase shares.
You can say we own 5 per cent of it.
With passage of time, we may own 6 or 7 per cent, because they repurchase shares.”
