Buffett says Berkshire Hathaway, finally, has invested in Amazon.com - CNBC

 

FILE PHOTO: Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc, at the company annual meeting weekend in Omaha, Nebraska U.S. May 6, 2018. REUTERS/Rick Wilking/File Photo/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway Inc has bought shares of internet retailing giant Amazon.com Inc for the first time, though he has not been the one doing the buying, CNBC reported on Thursday.

 

Buffett said the purchase was made by one of his investment managers, Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, and details would be disclosed later this month in Berkshire's quarterly report of its U.S. stock holdings.

 

The purchase marks a U-turn for Berkshire, where Buffett has long praised the leadership of Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos.

 

"Yeah, I've been a fan, and I've been an idiot for not buying," Buffett told CNBC.

 

Buffett's assistant did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Amazon did not immediately respond to a similar request.

 

Shares of companies often rise when Berkshire reveals its support through new stakes, even when the purchases are believed or known to have been made by Combs or Weschler, who together invest about $26 billion.

 

The initial impetus of the portfolio managers has in the past heralded Buffett's eventual forays into some of their investments, often in big ways.

 

It was Combs who in 2012 began investing in industrial and aircraft parts maker Precision Castparts Corp. Four years later, Berkshire completed its purchase of that company for $32 billion, in what remains Buffett's largest acquisition.

 

More recently, it was either Combs or Weschler who in 2016 began investing in iPhone maker Apple Inc.

 

But it was Buffett who ramped up that stake into Berkshire's largest common stock investment, more than 255 million shares, now worth roughly $53 billion.

 

The Amazon purchase adds an additional bond between Buffett and Bezos, whose companies teamed up last year with JPMorgan Chase & Co to form a new venture, Haven, to reduce employee healthcare costs.

 

Berkshire has more than 90 businesses in the insurance, energy, food and retail, industrial, railroad and other sectors, and often buys stocks when buying whole companies appears too expensive.

 

In February, Buffett called acquisition prices "sky-high for businesses possessing decent long-term prospects."

 

Buffett and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charlie Munger will on Saturday answer shareholder questions at Berkshire's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, which normally draws more than 40,000 people.

 

(Reporting by Aakash Jagadeesh Babu in Bengaluru and Jonathan Stempel in Omaha, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-05-03

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This should signal the market top. But with stock buyback scams going full blast, made even more intense with Trump's tax cuts, AMZN might go up another $1000 per share.

So when the  guru says  the  suckers  jump. But at th  peak  Buffet has already said   quit  fir  quick $.

I love it. I managed to pick some up late last year when it was trading around $1,375. Was wondering how long it would take Buffett or his team in this case to realize the huge growth potential.

 

Amazon is just warming up. As the song goes... You ain't seen nothing yet.

Edited May 3, 20197 yr by Cryingdick

Thinking about it the Google sell off also probably had more to do with this than anything. $35 billion dollars of value left Alphabet and needed a new home. The stocks both trade at over $1,000 so if you sold Google you could get shares of Amazon for not too much more. 

3 hours ago, Dumbastheycome said:

So when the  guru says  the  suckers  jump. But at th  peak  Buffet has already said   quit  fir  quick $.

 

Talk about way off base. Buffett's signature rule of investing is to hold his positions 'forever'.