Buffett revealed that he was the one behind Berkshire's investments in Alphabet

Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett stated that he was the one who initiated the company’s investment in Alphabet. The market had doubted that the decision was made by the “Oracle of Omaha” himself, rather than by Greg Abel—who succeeded him as Berkshire’s CEO—or other investment managers. Buffett prefers traditional “value stocks” and is cautious about fast-growing technology companies.

The idea to invest in Alphabet was Buffett's initiative, he said in an interview with CNBC. However, the final decision at Berkshire is now made by Abel, the financial guru clarified.

He emphasized that, despite the large size of the position, Alphabet is not among his favorite assets. “Given their track record, the likelihood that they will be winners is higher than that of probably 90–95% of the companies traded on Wall Street,” Buffett said in an interview. But he added that he prefers at least four or five other stocks among those in which Berkshire has invested.

As of the end of March, the tech giant’s shares ranked seventh in the investment firm’s portfolio, accounting for just over 6% of its total value. At the close of trading on July 14, the value of this stake was estimated at nearly $21 billion, according to Bloomberg.

Berkshire Hathaway first disclosed its investment in Alphabet in its third-quarter 2025 earnings report—at which time it was revealed that the company had acquired approximately 17.9 million Class A shares worth $4.3 billion. This stake immediately made it into the top 10 of the holding company’s largest investments. In the first quarter of 2026, after Buffett had already stepped down, Berkshire increased its position. And in June, it participated in a private placement by Alphabet, purchasing $10 billion worth of shares. The proceeds from this transaction were allocated to the development of artificial intelligence infrastructure.

Buffett said he made a mistake by overlooking Alphabet when the company’s business was not yet so capital-intensive and it was considered a market favorite. The legendary investor cited the rapid rise in AI development costs as one of the main challenges facing the tech giant and its competitors. However, he acknowledged that AI development requires unprecedented capital investment.

Buffett added that he considers the main principle of investing to be finding companies capable of generating high returns on invested capital over the long term.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor