About $51bn poured into buybacks since policy change
Warren Buffett at an annual shareholder meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, the US. Picture: REUTERS/SCOTT MORGAN
Buffett, Berkshire’s chair and CEO, has built Berkshire into a sprawling conglomerate valued at more than $650bn, but that immense size has heaped pressure on his need for what he deemed an “elephant-sized” acquisition to ramp up Berkshire’s growth. It is a marked shift for a CEO who previously shunned buybacks. For years, Buffett preferred large deals and spending money snapping up other company’s stocks over repurchasing Berkshire’s own shares. But that changed in 2018 when the company’s board lifted a cap on buybacks, giving Buffett and his longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, more flexibility to parcel out profits.
“Buybacks were fine, but cash balances increased again,” Shanahan said. “Cash is now approaching $150bn. That certainly was unexpected earlier this calendar year. I would have thought they would have been able to manage that lower with a combination of investments, acquisitions and buybacks.”
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