Warren Buffett said he did not spend a large amount of cash pile for his planned successor.
The billionaire joked that he wouldn't be a "noble" just to make Greg Abel "look good."
Berkshire Hathaway's reserves doubled to $300 billion in 2024 and reached a record high last quarter.
One of the biggest questions that are open on Berkshire Hathaway is why Warren Buffett built such a huge cash reserve.
The well-known investor and Berkshire CEO dismissed the idea that he put a lot of cash, fiscal bills and other current assets on hold for his plan's successor, Greg Abel, once left.
"I won't do anything almost so noble to avoid investing myself to make Greg look good," he said at Berkshire's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday.
The company's revenue revealed on Saturday that Berkshire's cash accumulation roughly doubled its cash pile, which piled in the $300 billion north and rose by nearly $348 billion in the first quarter of this year.
A big factor in the surge was Berkshire's selling of two-thirds of its Apple position last year, the largest portfolio holding in years. Buffett still praised Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is only a short distance from him among the crowds he watched at the Chi Health Center, where business insiders are watching the proceedings.
If it was a business or other asset that offered good value, they would be happy to spend $2 billion, or even $100 billion, and even on the right opportunity, they felt comfortable.
Valuations of public stocks, private companies and even Berkshire stocks have soared in recent years.
The billionaire said that if there is enough bargaining, Berkshire has only $50 billion in reserve. But he said that simply focusing on shrinking Berkshire’s cash pile and continuing to invest $50 billion a year would be “the stupidest thing in the world” because quality only occasionally appears.
He also stressed that over the years, he may have been overly active in the market.
"Charlie always thought I did a lot of things," Buffett said.
Read original articles about business insiders