Buffett's Berkshire Bets Over $860 Million on Amazon

Berkshire Hathaway revealed that its new wager on Amazon totaled $860.6 million at the end of March, according to an article in Bloomberg that outlines key takeaways from the conglomerate’s recent 13F filing.

The size of the investment, the article says, “gives more clarity to the wager that Buffett disclosed days before his annual shareholder meeting earlier in May” and “underscores the growing influence of Buffett’s investing deputies, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler,” who were instrumental in Berkshire’s investments in airlines and Apple Inc. According to the article, Buffett has “praised the pair, and Berkshire Vice Chairman Charles Munger has credited the two with bringing ‘younger eyes’ to Berkshire’s strategy.”

The article outlines other key points from the filing:

  • Berkshire has deepened its bets on some but not all banks in recent months—holdings in PNC Financial and JPMorgan rose but Berkshire decreased its investment in Wells Fargo.
  • The firm’s investments in airlines “diverged” with a trimming of its stake in Southwest but an increase in holdings of Delta.
  • Some of Berkshire’s largest stakes have remained, including those in Apple and Bank of America Corp.