The conglomerate made roughly $US41 billion of net purchases in the first quarter, including a boost to its Chevron stake that vaulted the investment into Berkshire’s top four common stock holdings. Mr Buffett also disclosed that the company now holds an expanded 9.5 per cent stake in Activision Blizzard stock – an arbitrage bet on the video-game maker in the midst of being acquired by Microsoft.
They were joined on stage by two key deputies, Greg Abel and Ajit Jain, who answered questions about the railroad, cyberattacks and auto insurers. Last year, Mr Abel was officially confirmed as the heir apparent to take over as Berkshire CEO from Mr Buffett when he decides to step down.But Saturday’s event was still dominated by Mr Buffett, 91, and Mr Munger, 98, who both gave no indication that they plan to step back from their roles anytime soon.
“We have so much trouble finding new ideas we find it hard to ignore any,” Mr Buffett said at the meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. Any deal by the conglomerate “has to be sizable now”, he said.Berkshire’s massive common equity holding in Occidental was one of its biggest disclosed purchases in the first quarter, and came on top of the $US10 billion Berkshire had already invested in the oil producer years back.