How a Late Investment in a Mega-Cap Stock Paid Off Big Time

At the 2025 Berkshire annual meeting, Buffett said that Tim Cook has made more money for Berkshire $BRKA than he ever did.

Indeed, Buffett's $11.9 billion Apple $AAPL investment has made more money for Berkshire Hathaway $BRKA than any other investments he has made since acquiring $BRKA in 1965.

This statement really blew my mind!

Buffett first bought $AAPL in 2016, 36 years after its IPO, when it was already one of the largest stocks in the market.

He bought $AAPL at a time when it significantly undervalued, because of fears that iPhone was losing market share to Google Pixel, Samsung, Huawei etc...

Since then, Buffett's investment in $AAPL has made $BRK approximately US$143 billion in gains (capital gains realised + unrealised + dividends). This is a gain of 12X gain.

What are the lessons to be learnt?

1) You do not have to buy small speculative stocks to make huge gains. You can make huge gains investing in established mega cap stocks, if you buy them at undervalued prices (which happens from time to time during times of temporary bad news).

2) Since its IPO in 1980, Apple $AAPL had already gained 260X before Buffett bought in at $26 (split adjusted price) in 2016. So, you do not have to buy a stock in its early years to make huge returns from it. A stock can have already gained 200X, and still be a great investment if the runway is long.

3) We can have many many mediocre or losing investments (like Buffett has made) but we just need 1 or 2 home runs to achieve extraordinary outperformance. The key is to hold onto great investments long enough for them to compound our portfolios.

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

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This is a gain of 12X gain.  </p><p>What are the lessons to be learnt? </p><p>1) You do not have to buy small speculative stocks to make huge gains. You can make huge gains investing in established mega cap stocks, if you buy them at undervalued prices (which happens from time to time during times of temporary bad news).  </p><p>2) Since its IPO in 1980, Apple $AAPL had already gained 260X before Buffett bought in at $26 (split adjusted price) in 2016. So, you do not have to buy a stock in its early years to make huge returns from it. A stock can have already gained 200X, and still be a great investment if the runway is long.  </p><p>3) We can have many many mediocre or losing investments (like Buffett has made) but we just need 1 or 2 home runs to achieve extraordinary outperformance. The key is to hold onto great investments long enough for them to compound our portfolios.</p></body></html>","htmlText":"<html><head></head><body><p>At the 2025 Berkshire annual meeting, Buffett said that Tim Cook has made more money for Berkshire $BRKA than he ever did.  </p><p>Indeed, Buffett's $11.9 billion Apple <strong>$AAPL</strong> <v-v data-views=\"1\"></v-v>  investment has made more money for Berkshire Hathaway $BRKA than any other investments he has made since acquiring $BRKA in 1965.  </p><p>This statement really blew my mind!   </p><p>Buffett first bought $AAPL in 2016, 36 years after its IPO, when it was already one of the largest stocks in the market.  </p><p>He bought $AAPL at a time when it significantly undervalued, because of fears that iPhone was losing market share to Google Pixel, Samsung, Huawei etc...  </p><p>Since then, Buffett's investment in $AAPL has made $BRK approximately US$143 billion in gains (capital gains realised + unrealised + dividends). This is a gain of 12X gain.  </p><p>What are the lessons to be learnt? </p><p>1) You do not have to buy small speculative stocks to make huge gains. You can make huge gains investing in established mega cap stocks, if you buy them at undervalued prices (which happens from time to time during times of temporary bad news).  </p><p>2) Since its IPO in 1980, Apple $AAPL had already gained 260X before Buffett bought in at $26 (split adjusted price) in 2016. So, you do not have to buy a stock in its early years to make huge returns from it. A stock can have already gained 200X, and still be a great investment if the runway is long.  </p><p>3) We can have many many mediocre or losing investments (like Buffett has made) but we just need 1 or 2 home runs to achieve extraordinary outperformance. The key is to hold onto great investments long enough for them to compound our portfolios.</p></body></html>","text":"At the 2025 Berkshire annual meeting, Buffett said that Tim Cook has made more money for Berkshire $BRKA than he ever did. Indeed, Buffett's $11.9 billion Apple $AAPL investment has made more money for Berkshire Hathaway $BRKA than any other investments he has made since acquiring $BRKA in 1965. This statement really blew my mind! Buffett first bought $AAPL in 2016, 36 years after its IPO, when it was already one of the largest stocks in the market. He bought $AAPL at a time when it significantly undervalued, because of fears that iPhone was losing market share to Google Pixel, Samsung, Huawei etc... Since then, Buffett's investment in $AAPL has made $BRK approximately US$143 billion in gains (capital gains realised + unrealised + dividends). This is a gain of 12X gain. What are the lessons to be learnt? 1) You do not have to buy small speculative stocks to make huge gains. You can make huge gains investing in established mega cap stocks, if you buy them at undervalued prices (which happens from time to time during times of temporary bad news). 2) Since its IPO in 1980, Apple $AAPL had already gained 260X before Buffett bought in at $26 (split adjusted price) in 2016. So, you do not have to buy a stock in its early years to make huge returns from it. A stock can have already gained 200X, and still be a great investment if the runway is long. 3) We can have many many mediocre or losing investments (like Buffett has made) but we just need 1 or 2 home runs to achieve extraordinary outperformance. 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