Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway tops $1 trillion in market value

Conglomerate becomes first US company outside tech sector to reach milestone

Berkshire Hathaway chairman Warren Buffett. AP

Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway briefly topped $1 trillion in market value for the first time on Wednesday, becoming the first non-tech US company to do so.

Shares in the Nebraska-based company rose more than 1 per cent during morning trading to cross the threshold. Berkshire Hathaway's shares have grown 28.49 per cent so far this year, outpacing the S&P 500's yearly gains.

Mr Buffett's conglomerate joined a small list of companies to have reached a market value of $1 trillion. The others include Apple, Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon and Meta.

Berkshire Hathaway held a market capitalisation of $1.004 trillion at 7.30pm UAE time before dipping to $993.89 billion by the time trading closed in the US.

The Omaha, Nebraska-based company's cash pile rose to $276.9 billion in the second quarter of this year, it said in its earnings report in August. The jump came as Mr Buffett sold nearly half of the company's stake in Apple.

Earlier on Wednesday, he sold another $982 million of Bank of America stock. Berkshire has sold about $5.4 billion of the US bank's shares since mid-July, although it is still the company's largest shareholder.

The transactions occurred on August 23, 26 and 27, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr Buffett has remained quiet on his reasons for the moves.

He, along with the late vice chairman Charlie Munger, turned the former textile maker into a conglomerate starting in 1965.

In his annual letter to shareholders this year, Mr Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway should perform “a bit better than the average American corporation”.

“And, more important, should also operate with materially less risk of permanent loss of capital. Anything beyond 'slightly better,' though, is wishful thinking,” he wrote.

Mr Buffett paid tribute to Mr Munger, who died in November at the age of 99. He credited his business partner with being the “architect” of the present company.