Warren Buffett, the legendary investor, and current CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, is always in the news for his audacious financial gambles. He’s unique for his deep philanthropic commitment. Buffett, as of June 30, 2025, is the second richest person on the annual Forbes 400 list. He is second only to Elon Musk, who has a mind boggling net worth of $428 billion. Recent filings by Berkshire Hathaway reveal a complex picture of Buffett’s holdings and investments, particularly in light of his recent stock donations and market activities.
Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on August 14, 2025, highlighted Buffett’s top holdings in publicly traded stocks across the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong. This bottom-line report pays due credit to the strength of his investments. The 10% rise in Berkshire A shares over the last year has in some ways been deceptive. These gains are impressive, though, as they paint a picture of just how well his portfolio has performed overall during a time of extreme market volatility.
It was earlier this summer that Buffett made his biggest philanthropic move yet. He gifted $6.0 billion of that stock to the Gates Foundation and four family foundations. This giant gift serves as a powerful reminder of his still lasting commitment to philanthropy. What it does is highlight his antipathy toward how wealth is distributed.
Yet for all these happy turns of events, Buffett was disconsolate. As Amazon’s biggest shareholder at the time, he publicly opposed a company’s leadership decision to go ahead with the plans. He expressed these frustrations in an interview with CNBC, explaining how disappointed he was by all the steps the company was taking.
“The power of capitalism is incredible.” – Unknown Source
Buffett’s investment strategies are again placed under the microscope as analysts attempt to figure out what his latest stock buys could mean. With it, he purchased 5 million shares of Schwab. At the share price close to that low of $248.88, it would be well under total $1.3 billion cost. Throughout Q2, Berkshire hit an all-time high of $606.36 a share. Had they sold their share by then, they would have taken a loss of about $3.1 billion, a 42% loss.
Given Buffett’s reputation, market analysts are watching Buffett’s every move with rapt attention. This is particularly significant given that Berkshire Hathaway owns more than a 10% stake in dozens of companies. Buffett is required to publicly disclose any sales within two business days. Doing otherwise invites panic selling by jittery investors.
Don Bilson from Gordon Haskett commented on the situation, stating, “Beyond any worries that investors might have with the plan itself, they must also grapple with the possibility that Buffett will now dump his stock.”
Buffett’s bets are important not just because of the size of his personal fortune but because of the companies that he invests in. Recently, for example, his investments in Itochu and Mitsubishi remain a topic of intrigue as Japan’s tumultuous stock markets have swung widely. The stock price of one of their top holdings has soared 13% from its Q2 closing price of $311.97 on 6/30. This increase is occurring at a time that makes it more difficult to objectively evaluate the performance of his investments.
Jim Cramer weighed in on the health of another investment, stating, “If something was wrong with UnitedHealth, the CEO would have said so.” By the way, this last quote speaks volumes to the certainty of some journalists and analysts on the safety of companies that comprise Buffett’s secret sauce.