Lucas Jackson/Reuters
- Warren Buffett's Apple stake surged in value to $128 billion on Wednesday.
- If Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway hadn't sold 12% of its holding, it would be worth $146 billion.
- Buffett has lauded Apple as one of Berkshire's "family jewels" and an exceptional business.
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Warren Buffett's Apple bet jumped in value to $128 billion on Wednesday, thanks to the iPhone maker's stock price closing at a record high. The investor has more than tripled his money on Apple in the past three years- but he would have quadrupled it if he didn't sell a chunk of the holding.
Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate spent $36 billion between 2016 and mid-2018 to amass the equivalent of 1 billion Apple shares, which would be worth $146 billion today. However, Buffett has cashed in about 12% of that stake in recent years.
The Berkshire chief may be kicking himself for taking money off the table. After all, he described Apple as "probably the best business" he knows in a CNBC interview last year, and touted Berkshire's stake as its third-most valuable asset and a "family jewel" in his latest shareholder letter.
Moreover, Buffett acknowledged during Berkshire's annual meeting in May that it was "probably a mistake" to trim the position. He also revealed that Berkshire's vice-chairman and his business partner, Charlie Munger, had advised him against selling the stock.
Buffett won't be too upset though. Apple remains one of his best investments ever, Berkshire has raked in an average of $775 million in yearly dividends over the past three years, and his company pocketed $11 billion from the share sales in 2020, he disclosed in his shareholder letter this year.
Despite Berkshire's pruning, Apple has remained its biggest holding by far, accounting for over 40% of its US stock portfolio in recent months. Buffett's company owned 5.3% of the technology group at the last count, making it Apple's second-largest shareholder after Vanguard, the index-fund giant.