Berkshire Hathaway Added Positions in IBM, Intel Last Quarter

Warren Buffett has famously avoided taking positions in technology companies.

"I only invest in businesses that I understand," Buffett is fond of saying. The "Oracle of Omaha" has publicly professed to not "understanding" technology companies, so he has stayed away - until now.

Back during the dot-com boom of the late '90s/early '00s, Warren Buffett was savaged and ridiculed for not investing in high-flying technology companies. Berkshire Hathaway's share price sagged, and people heaped scorn upon Buffett. How could such a smart investor miss out on such a tremendous opportunity, they wondered.

Well, the dot-com boom ended up crashing and burning, and Berkshire Hathaway soared as investors plowed their money back into "real" companies. Buffett was vindicated.

Fast forward ten years. Warren Buffett has surprised many by finally dipping his toe into the technology waters. Buffett has been ultra-bullish in recent interviews, and his bullishness has extended to some of technology's biggest companies.

Berkshire Hathaway recently released their Q3/2011 13F-HR, and it included these new positions:

Directv - 4,249,400 shares
Intel - 9,333,000 shares
IBM - 57,348,984 shares

Berkshire Hathaway has finally graduated from trains and hamburgers and car insurance policies to computer chips and digital television and software.

Who knew?

Filed under: General Market News