Warren Buffett said that Apple is “probably the best business I know in the world,” and that he does not consider the tech giant as stock but his “third-largest business,” instead.
In an interview with CNBC, Buffett, one of the world’s most prominent business tycoons, said that Apple comes after his very successful insurance and railroad empire.
“I don’t think of Apple as a stock. I think of it as our third business,” Buffett told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”
The Oracle of Omaha’s annual letter to Berkshire shareholders, released on Saturday, showed a 5.7% year-end ownership in Apple stock. In a report reported by the company at the end of last year, Berkshire owned more than 245 million shares of Apple. Buffet’s company’s stake in Apple is worth nearly $72 billion.
“It’s probably the best business I know in the world. And that is a bigger commitment than we have in any business except insurance and the railroad,” Buffett said.
Buffett expressed his regret for not buying Apple stocks before he did. He said: “I should have appreciated it earlier.”
The tycoon’s encouraging statements come after Apple announced that it closed down its manufacturing factory and stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak that has been affecting many companies across different industries around the world.
