Warren Buffett, the renowned US investor, has been following the philosophy of accumulating wealth instead of spending it. His holding company, Berkshire Hathaway, currently holds an unprecedented level of reserves, with $189 billion in cash and short-term government bonds at the end of the quarter. Buffett anticipates these reserves to increase to over $200 billion after the current quarter. Berkshire is seeking to invest this money in low-risk ventures that have the potential to bring in substantial returns. The company’s portfolio includes a variety of businesses such as insurer Geico, railway company BNSF, and battery manufacturer Duracell.
In Q4 2020, Berkshire’s insurance business played a significant role in driving up operating profit from just under $8.1 billion to $11.2 billion. At Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting, Buffett expressed his preference for Greg Abel as his successor and made him responsible for making investment decisions. However, the final decision will be made by Berkshire’s board of directors.
Despite being 93 years old, Buffett has no plans for retirement and hopes to continue in his position. He also expressed his grief over losing his long-time business partner Charlie Munger who passed away in November 2020. In recent times, Berkshire made several strategic investments and acquisitions such as acquiring a stake in Paramount and reducing its stake in Apple by selling 13% of its shares during Q1 2021.
At the same time, Buffett also raised concerns about fraud with artificial intelligence (AI), particularly regarding deceptively realistic AI photographs created using deep learning techniques. Although he acknowledged that AI has tremendous potential benefits, he highlighted potential risks associated with AI technology and cautioned about its future impact on society.
Overall, Warren Buffett remains committed to creating value for shareholders through strategic investments while also maintaining a prudent approach towards risk management and fraud prevention.
