Berkshire Hathaway to hold Japanese stocks for ‘50 yrs or forever’ after stake rises to 9.8% in Mitsubishi, 4 others

Berkshire Hathaway chairman and CEO Warren Buffet endorsed the five main Japanese trading houses in which his conglomerate has invested at his 60th annual shareholding meeting 2025 on Saturday, May 3. The billionaire investor spoke at the annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, over a month after Berkshire raised its stakes in Itochu, Marubeni, Mitsubishi , Mitsui and Sumitomo to 9.8 per cent.

Berkshire's investments in the Japanese companies had totaled $23.5 billion at the end of 2024. "In the next 50 years, we won't give a thought to selling those," Buffett told shareholders during the meeting. “We have been treated extremely well by the five companies…Our main activity is just to cheer and clap.”

Berkshire Hathway's Japanese stock holdings

Greg Abel, Berkshire vice chairman who is expected to succeed Buffett as chief executive officer (CEO), added that he envisioned Berkshire owning the trading houses for 50 years “or forever. We're building relationships," he said, "and we really hope to do big things with them."

Known as "sogo shosha," Japanese trading houses trade in a variety of materials, products and food, often serving as intermediaries, and provide logistical support. They are also deeply involved in the real economy in areas such as commodities, shipping and steel.

Berkshire began investing in the trading houses in 2019, and revealed five per cent ownership stakes on Buffett's 90th birthday the following August 2025. The ‘Oracle of Omaha’ prefers to avoid businesses he says he does not understand, and has likened the trading houses to his own conglomerate.

Berkshire Hathaway Q1 results 2025

The multinational conglomerate reported a lower operating profit in the first quarter, hurt by weaker results from its insurance operations, while its cash pile continued to grow. The operating profit for the conglomerate dropped 14.1 per cent to $9.64 billion, just over one-third of last year's profit from $11.22 billion a year earlier.

Ahead of the shareholder meeting, Berkshire reported its first-quarter results that indicated Buffett is still cautious. The company was a net seller of stocks for a 10th straight quarter, as it bought $3.18 billion and sold $4.68 billion.

The profit numbers were weighed down by a drop in the value of its investments and $860 million in insurance losses related to policies that Geico and its other insurance companies wrote before the Southern California wildfires. Berkshire earned $4.6 billion, or $3,200 per Class A share, in the first quarter, down from $12.7 billion, or $8,825 per Class A share, last year.

With inputs from Reuters