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Warren Buffett is regarded by many as the greatest investor of the modern era. His mantra can be simplified to the following: buy value, and hold on tight. His investment performance speaks for itself; the Oracle of Omaha has collected a fortune worth over $100 billion through his Nebraska-based holding company Berkshire Hathaway. His unique investment approach, and predilection for fast food and cherry soda, has garnered a loyal following. Ahead of Berkshire Hathaway's Annual Shareholder Meeting on Saturday, Yahoo Finance takes a closer look at the stocks behind Berkshire and Buffett's wild success.
Apple (AAPL) is Berkshire's largest holding, with Buffett citing the tech giant's dominance in the market. Bank of America (BAC) is its second largest; you may recall his $5 billion investment at the height of the debt-ceiling impasse back in 2011.
Also bullish on the energy space, Buffett recently added Chevron (CVX) into the mix, taking up 10% of Berkshire's portfolio. Coca-cola (KO) also holds a prominent position, as Buffett has been a long-time fan of the global beverage industry leader.
Yahoo Finance’s Josh Schafer breaks it all down.
Key video moments
00:00:37: Apple
00:00:51: Bank of America
00:01:05: Chevron
00:01:23: Coca-cola
Video Transcript
JULIE HYMAN: We are three days away from the Berkshire annual shareholder meeting. Let's take a step back to understand what's behind the Oracle of Omaha's success. Here's Yahoo Finance's Josh Schafer.
JOSH SCHAFER: Yeah, so Warren Buffett bought Berkshire Hathaway in 1965, and it's skyrocketed since. Berkshire has done so well, it's even outperformed the S&P 500. The compound annual gain of Berkshire shares is 19.8% since he bought the company compared to the S&P at just 9.9%.
So let's take a closer look at the stocks behind Berkshire Hathaway's wild success. Apple is by far Berkshire's largest holding with almost 40% of its total portfolio. Buffett has cited faith in the tech giant's dominance in the market, noting the unmatched popularity of, of course, the iPhone.
Bank of America is Berkshire's second largest holding with 11% of the company's portfolio. Buffett's boasted about CEO Brian Moynihan's management style and his ability to clean things up after the Great Financial Crisis.
Chevron takes up almost 10% and is one of the newer additions to the Berkshire portfolio. Buffett first snagged shares of the energy company in 2020 and has been bullish on the space since as he's been buying up large chunks of fellow energy giant Occidental Petroleum over that same time period.