As war broke out in Europe and U.S. inflation soared, Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s Warren Buffett was doubling down on a tried-and-trusted strategy to navigate the fallout.
The billionaire investor went on his biggest stock-buying spree in at least a decade, undeterred by the geopolitical turmoil and fears of runaway inflation. He and his deputies dug deeper into the U.S. stock market and expanded the conglomerate’s stakes in Chevron Corp. and Activision Blizzard Inc., even as Buffett acknowledged the “extraordinary” price increases in Berkshire’s businesses.
Buffett, who held court in Omaha, Nebraska, on Saturday at Berkshire’s annual shareholder meeting, had faced questions about why he didn’t take advantage of the downturn when the pandemic took hold. Now, as war and inflation fuel market volatility, prompting the S&P 500’s worst quarter in two years, he’s ramped up amid the uncertainty, making $41 billion in net stock purchases in the first quarter. That’s the most in data going back to 2008.
