Berkshire Hathaway’s cash pile surged to a record $157bn in a quarter in which chief executive Warren Buffett continued to sell stakes in publicly traded companies, as the so-called Oracle of Omaha found a dearth of appealing investments.
The company sold more than $5bn worth of US and foreign stocks in the third quarter, according to results released on Saturday. The sales lifted Berkshire’s divestments of listed shares to nearly $40bn over the past year.
Investors must wait a further two weeks before they can see how Buffett adjusted Berkshire’s portfolio. But Saturday’s results filing indicated the company sold more than 12mn Chevron shares before it bought Hess for $53bn in an all-stock deal last month.