In what is being viewing as among the last few investments driven by legendary voice Warren Buffett, Alphabet’s shares rose 5.2% after Berkshire Hathaway revealed a $4.93 billion stake in the company, Reuters reported.
Notably, the rare technology bet by Berkshire also comes amid concerns of overspending in the artificial intelligence (AI) space, with behemoths like Google extending billions towards building data centres and buy chips to power them, it added.
Berkshire Hathaway’s $4.93 billion stake in Alphabet: Why?
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway holds 17.85 million shares in Google’s parent company Alphabet as of September 30, a filing on November 14 showed, Reuters reported. It added that at last closing price, the total stock holding would be valued near $4.93 billion.
The report added that with the bet, Berkshire is now positioned in a tech heavyweight that is “priced more modestly” compared to its AI peers. For example: Alphabet trades at 25.01 times expected earnings over the next 12 months, versus 30.02 for Nvidia and 29.37 for Microsoft, it said, citing data compiled by LSEG.
So far this year, Alphabet has gained 46%, outperforming the benchmark S&P 500 index.
Notably, both Warren Buffett and late Charlie Munger had at a Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting in 2019 expressed regret over not investing in Google sooner, the report pointed, adding that Munger lamented, “We screwed up.”
Was this one of Warren Buffett’s last bets?
Notably, this comes at a time when there is pullback in the markets due to concerns over potential overspending in AI; and amid the background that Warren Buffett is set to step down from the company after 60 years as CEO and hand over the reins to successor Greg Abel by 2025-end.
The report added that it is not yet confirmed whether the Alphabet bet came directly from Warren Buffett or his portfolio managers Ted Weschler and Ted Combs, or from Greg Abel. However, given precedence, the ‘Oracle of Omaha’ has traditionally made decisions on big Berkshire bets himself.
Berkshire’s bets: ‘Balancing caution with opportunity?’
The report further noted, that while Warren Buffett considers iPhone maker Apple a consumer products stock, rather than strictly a tech bet, it remains Berkshire’s largest stock holding at $64.9 billion, despite recent cuts.
Since 2024, the company has also trimmed stake in Bank of America (BoA).
Investors are concerned over US economy bell weather Berkshire sitting on record cash reserves instead of investing, as they view it as a signal that Warren Buffett sees valuations as too high. The report noted that the Alphabet investment suggests the company could be balancing caution with opportunism, deploying capital selectively in companies it views as resilient.
Overall, Berkshire’s equity portfolio remains heavily tilted towards financial services, which accounted for 36.6 per cent of the holdings as of September 2025, according to Morningstar.
(With inputs from Reuters)
