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Berkshire Hathaways Cash -Stapel rose to a record of $ 334.2 billion at the end of last year, when Warren Buffett relieved shares and brought interest in billions of dollars from the enormous stocks of the group through state invoices in the group.
Berkshire in Omaha said on Saturday that his cash position rose by $ 9 billion in the last three months of last year when Buffett has been shares in the shares in US US shares, including millions of sales of shares in Citigroup and Bank of America, was descended. The group’s pile of money almost doubled last year.
The extensive conglomerate reported the operating result of $ 47.4 billion for 2024, which rose to an increase of 27 percent compared to 2023, which was given by a stronger benefit of his insurance business.
The operating results exclude the change in the value of the USD stock portfolio of Berkshire, which Buffett has long been largely meaningless.
In 2024, Berkshire sold $ 143 billion stocks, far beyond the $ 9 billion that it plowed in shares, and placed a large part of the proceeds in short -term government bonds.
Buffetts Dealmaking has been affected in recent years because the evaluation of the US stocks has reached record highs, which has been more difficult to capture the major acquisitions that have long been a main support for the billionaire strategy.
The results of the group in the fourth quarter were published together with Buffetts closely followed annual letter to the shareholders.
“In 2024, Berkshire did better than I expected, although 53 percent of our 189 operational companies reported a decline in profits,” Buffett wrote to the shareholders. “We were supported by a predictable great profit of the investment, since the financial accounting calculation has been improved and we have essentially increased our participation of these short -term securities.”
The increasing shift of Berkshire to the US government’s debt was a blessing for Berkshire for Berkshire since the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates in the previous year. Last year, the company’s insurance subsidiary reported $ 11.6 billion from interest income from its shares in financial exchanges and exceeded the dividends they receive, which they receive, conveniently exceeded that he receives from his stock portfolio.
The 94-year-old investor informed the shareholders on Saturday that he did not account for the group’s growing cash heap, and instead pointed out almost 200 operational subsidiaries on the value of Berkshires, to which the BNSF Railroad, the dairy ice cream providers and the underwear manufacturer belong to the fruit of the loom.
“The shareholders of Berkshire can be sure that we will use a significant majority of their money in shares forever,” he wrote. “Berkshire will never prefer the ownership of cash equivalent assets compared to the property of good companies.”
The billionaire also warned of the risk of the value of the debt and the currency of a country should be “fiscal folly”.
“Paper money can see that the value evaporates when there is fiscal folly,” he wrote. “This ruthless practice has become common in some countries, and in the short history of our country, the USA came close to the edge. Bonds with fixed coupon do not offer protection against outdated currency. “
