Warren Buffett and Greg Abel walkthrough the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Assembly in Omaha, Nebraska on Might 3, 2025.
David A. Grogen | CNBC
Within the closing stretch of his tenure atop Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett was nonetheless pursuing that elusive elephant.
The 95-year-old legendary investor, who handed over the CEO reins to Greg Abel at first of 2026, made it clear that deal dimension was not the constraint, it was lack of alternatives.
“It is exterior circumstances. Consider me if after we get completed speaking you say, ‘I’ve received an important $100 billion new concept.’ I might say, ‘Let’s discuss,'” Buffett advised Becky Fast in a particular interview in Might after he mentioned he was stepping down on the finish of the yr.
The never-before-seen interview is a part of the “Warren Buffett: A Life and Legacy” particular airing Tuesday at 7 p.m. ET. on CNBC.
The remarks underscore a central paradox at Berkshire at present. The corporate is awash in liquidity, with its money hoard swelling to a report $381.6 billion on the finish of the third quarter, however Buffett discovered no alternatives in 2025 giant sufficient to maneuver the needle at costs he considers wise.
“It signifies that after I have a look at the inventory market, after I have a look at corporations of a dimension that will make any distinction to our whole, I do not see something. Effectively, we’re shopping for one or two issues, however it’s peanuts. However I am keen to spend $100 billion this afternoon, you recognize,” Buffett, now chairman, advised CNBC.
In October, Berkshire closed a deal to purchase Occidental Petroleum’s chemical enterprise, OxyChem, for $9.7 billion in money, marking its largest buy since 2022, when it paid $11.6 billion for insurer Alleghany.
Berkshire’s money has grown considerably after Buffett aggressively dumped monumental items of his two largest holdings, Apple and Financial institution of America.
Buffett does not need to be sitting on this a lot money. He has lengthy warned that money is a poor long-term asset, at the same time as he insists on holding ample reserves to climate unexpected shocks.
“I would moderately have $100 billion and a extremely good enterprise at a wise worth than have $100 billion in money,” he mentioned. “At sure ranges, money is critical, however money is just not a great asset.”
He likened liquidity to oxygen, low-cost to take care of and catastrophic to expire of on the incorrect second.
“You all the time need to have sufficient,” Buffett mentioned. “You do not have to pay so much for it. However you do want oxygen. And money is that approach. You all the time must have it obtainable since you have no idea what is going to occur. I have no idea what the inventory market will do, and I have no idea what enterprise will do.”
Abel has been a longtime lieutenant who performed a central position in a number of of Berkshire’s acquisitions notably in power, and helped rework Berkshire Hathaway Power right into a powerhouse.
Whereas Abel’s deal-making credentials are established, Berkshire shareholders might not prolong him the identical persistence they’ve lengthy afforded Buffett. With the conglomerate sitting on a mountain of money and shares underperforming the market, stress to deploy capital might shortly develop into a defining problem for the brand new CEO.
