The greatest in % of assets terms was American express after the salad oil fiasco which was 25% of investible assets at the time.


It certainly would be great for someone who wants a challenge to come up with a list of the biggest investments, in proportion to Berkshire's size at the time the investments were made. I'm not sure what you mean by 'investible assets', but one might calculate the proportion of Berkshire's then market cap that was spent on stock or company acquisitions (when the full size of the positions was reached, for instance). That would be interesting, and it might give us an idea of how high Buffett might go if he gets another fat pitch to swing at.

While we're waiting for some kind soul to take on this task, who wants to guess which of the following is bigger, or add to the list:

a. GenRe
b. BNSF
c. Apple
d. Coca-Cola
e. American Express
f. Wells Fargo


I've taken a stab at their order by size, but I'm sure I'm missing some big ones, especially from the early years, and my order is surely wrong.

Berkshire Hathaway FAQ

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