Breaking news!!! Warren Buffett, the greatest investor of all time, has taken his year end marks, and it is now official–he has made the best trade in recorded history!¹
Despite entering and exiting the year 2019 with “too much cash,” the octogenarian still managed to benefit from the rise of his largest equity investment–Apple. Berkshire Hathaway held 255.3 million shares of AAPL on 12/31/18 at a cost basis of roughly $141 per share. The stock market valued those Apple shares at roughly $158 each at the end of 2018.
Those same shares, based on Apple’s closing price of $293.65 on 12/31/19, would warrant a mark to market valuation of nearly $75 billion, a mere $35 billion increase from the market value a year earlier.
¹ This bold claim will stand unless refuted by facsimiles from a FINRA-registered broker authenticating the basis for your challenge.
Disclosure: I own shares of Berkshire Hathaway, but have only purchased one Apple product in my lifetime. I believe it was called an iPod Touch, and to my great surprise, the product still exists.
Wide Moat Investing 