However, he assured the shareholders that they would be in good hands after delivering the reins of the conglomerate to Vice President Greg Abel, stating that Abel has “vividly demonstrated his ability” to deploy capital.
Buffett’s letter was accompanied by Berkshire’s annual report, in which he reported a third consecutive record operational gain, with an increase of 27% to 47,440 million dollars.
The company also ended 2024 with a record of 334.2 billion dollars in cash and equivalent, which reflects the high valuations and aggressive sales of shares, especially Apple AAPL.O. Berkshire has been a net seller of shares during nine consecutive quarters.
Despite his concern for the country’s fiscal situation, Buffett said his company will continue to prefer to own actions, mainly US actions, instead of cash, adding that Berkshire “is not finished.”
Buffett did say that Berkshire is likely to increase his participations in the five Japanese commercial houses he possesses: Ittochu 8001.t, Marubeni 8002.t, Mitsubishi 8058.t, Mitsui 8031.t and Sumitomo 8053.t.
Berkshire invested $ 23.5 billion in those companies at the end of the year.
