AP Photo/Nati Harnik
- Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway ended Monday's trading at all-time highs.
- That's boosted the investment conglomerate's market value to an unprecedented high of almost $800 billion.
- Buffett has overseen a roughly 4,300,000% gain in Berkshire stock since becoming CEO in 1965.
Shares of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway ended Monday's trading at all-time highs as the investment conglomerate continues to outperform itself.
Berkshire's Class A stock closed at $555,309, and its Class B closed at $365.52. The record highs in both share classes saw the company's market capitalization hit an eye-watering $797 billion, topping its previous peak of $794 billion on March 28, 2022.
The most recent advances in the stock mean that the Oracle of Omaha has overseen a gain of more than 4,300,000% in the value of Berkshire's original Class A shares since he became CEO in 1965.
Berkshire's sprawling investment empire is effectively a microcosm of the US economy, with businesses spanning insurance, energy, railroads, manufacturing, industrials, retail, and other sectors. The conglomerate earns about 80% of its operating profits from consumer-sensitive businesses, one analyst has estimated.
Apple shares continue to drive the rally in Berkshire stock. Buffett's firm owns 5.8% of the world's largest company – a stake worth around $162 billion as of Monday's close.
Apple's stock price has surged 43% this year as it rides the wave of investor excitement surrounding artificial intelligence.
AI bulls expect Apple and other Big Tech companies like Microsoft, Alphabet, and Tesla to boost productivity and bolster corporate profits by harnessing the disruptive power of the cutting-edge technology.
Buffett's firm is famed for biding its time before pouncing on bargains – now more than ever. Berkshire's current cash mountain totals more than the entire value of Disney – a reflection of both the legendary investor's financial prudence and the dramatic decline in the media behemoth's stock price.