Warren Buffet revealed a couple of billion-dollar investments, owned up to making several mistakes, and decried the rampant speculation in markets this year.
The renowned investor and the CEO of the company weathered a tax exposé, resigned as a Trustee of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and saw his Apple investment soar in value.
Both Chevron and Verizon.
CNBC.
The fourth-quarter portfolio update was the first of the year. He answered the question of which mystery stock he had been buying in recent months by revealing a $8.6 billion position in Verizon and a $4.1 billion stake in Chevron.
Apple's position in the portfolio was trimmed by 6%. It halved its holdings of Wells Fargo and exited several banks after cutting its positions in 2020.
The letter from the shareholder.
The man is Warren Buffett.
The University of Nebraska–Lincoln has a website.
The annual letter was published in February. The investor admitted to overpaying when he acquired Precision Castparts in 2016 and trumpeted a bunch of the company's subsidiaries.
Here are the best quotes from the letter.
The annual meeting.
During the company's annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, on May 3, Warren Buffet held an ice cream at a trade show.
REUTERS/Rick Wilking
During his annual shareholder meeting in May, Buffet admitted to buying "so-so" stocks, warned rookies not to get "cocky", and rang the inflation alarm.
The investor said that people were treating the stock market like a casino. He suggested that he avoided bailing out the "big four" US airlines by exiting his positions in April 2020 because of the likely mistakes he made.
The best quotes from the meeting can be found here.
The tax fight.
The man is Warren Buffett.
The images are from the same company.
The investor paid only $25 million in federal income tax between the years of 2010 and 2015, according to the returns obtained by ProPublica.
The boss of the company said that he's pledged to give 99% of his net worth to philanthropic causes, and has already donated half of his "A" shares.
The Gates Foundation is a charity.
The photo is of Paul Sakuma.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had a Trustee that had resigned. The investor explained that he had stepped down from all corporate boards except his own, because he was barely involved in the foundation's work.
He highlighted his annual donation of $4.1 billion to five charities, including the Gates Foundation.
Friends with Charlie Munger.
Scott Morgan/REUTERS
In a CNBC interview in June, Charlie Munger and Warren Buffet talked about their decades-long friendship.
Munger called for tighter regulations on derivatives trading after Archegos Capital's collapse. The contribution that Munger has made to his life was highlighted by Buffett.
The best quotes are here.
Stock sales, cash, and buybacks.
The man is Warren Buffett.
REUTERS/Rebecca Cook
It has been difficult for Warren Buffet to find bargain stocks and businesses this year. He has been forced to accumulate cash and buy back shares.
The conglomerate sold a net $7 billion of stock in the year to September 30, and is on track to buy a record $25 billion of stock this year.
The bet was made by Apple.
The man is Warren Buffett.
AP Images.
The Apple investment might be the biggest success of the year.
The investor poured $36 billion into the company. The stock has increased in value by about a third this year, boosting the value of the stake to more than $150 billion.
