Warren Buffett tells CNBC he initiated Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet
Warren Buffett speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box from Omaha, NE on March 31st, 2026.
Gerard Miller | CNBC
Warren Buffett said Wednesday he — not Berkshire Hathaway’s new CEO Greg Abel — was the driving force behind the recent big investment in Alphabet.
“I initiated it,” Buffett said in an interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick. “I am not doing anything that he doesn’t approve of. He’s not doing anything I don’t approve of. We talk all the time, but he is the decider.”
Berkshire first disclosed a stake in Alphabet during the third quarter of 2025 and has dramatically increased its investment since. Last month, the conglomerate invested an additional $10 billion through a private stock purchase.
“The trick in life is to find — I mean investing — is to find businesses that are going to earn high returns on capital for an extended period of time,” Buffett said.
Asked why he favored Alphabet over its peers, Buffett cautioned that the company isn’t among his top favorites at Berkshire.
“I would say that I don’t like it as well as at least four or five other businesses that we own,” Buffett said.
Buffett also pointed to the enormous capital commitments required to compete in artificial intelligence as a key issue facing Alphabet and its rivals.
“The real question with Google and all of its competitors now, because they’re all laying out hundreds of billions, and that’s real money,” Buffett said. “That’s the game they’re playing now. They weren’t playing that game with computer software.”
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