In a move that closes a two-decade chapter of regret, Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has finally taken a major position in Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google. The conglomerate disclosed a $4.3 billion stake in the tech giant during the third quarter of 2025, marking its first-ever direct investment in the company it famously missed during its 2004 initial public offering.
A Long-Standing Regret Finally Addressed
The investment follows years of public remorse from Buffett and his late partner, Charlie Munger, who called missing Google one of their biggest blunders. A resurfaced clip from a 2017 shareholders meeting captured Munger's blunt admission: "We screwed up." Buffett elaborated that they had direct, insider evidence of Google's potential through their own subsidiary, GEICO. The insurance unit was spending heavily on Google ads—paying $10 per click with a "marginal cost of exactly zero" for Google—and seeing massive returns.
Munger lamented the inaction, stating, "We could see in our own operations how well that Google advertising was working. And we just sat there sucking our thumbs." He termed the oversight "shameful" and had previously hinted that Berkshire's enormous investment in Apple might have been a form of "atonement" for the Google miss.
Berkshire's $4.3 Billion Bet on Alphabet's Future
The regret has now been formally addressed. In Q3 2025, Berkshire Hathaway purchased approximately 17.8 million shares of Alphabet, predominantly Class A voting stock. As of September 30, 2025, the position was valued at $4.3 billion, instantly making Alphabet Berkshire's 10th-largest holding. It represents about 1.6% of Berkshire's colossal $267 billion equity portfolio and roughly 0.3% ownership in Alphabet.
The disclosure in November 2025 coincided with Buffett trimming Berkshire's top holding, Apple, by 15% to $61 billion, and continuing to reduce its position in Bank of America. Analysts see the Alphabet purchase as a dual-purpose move: silencing a long-held regret and making a strategic bet on the company's future, particularly its AI ambitions through the Gemini models. The investment also acknowledges the profitable growth of Google Cloud and the enduring, dominant strength of Google's core search advertising business—the very zero-marginal-cost model GEICO benefited from years ago.
Market Validation and a Tech Tilt for the Future
The market reacted positively to the endorsement from the "Oracle of Omaha." Following the disclosure, Alphabet shares rallied about 6% to new highs. The stock had already been on a strong run, gaining almost 70% through 2025, which boosted the value of Berkshire's new stake to around $5.7 billion by the end of the year.
This investment marks a quiet but significant shift for Berkshire Hathaway, increasing its exposure to the technology sector as Buffett prepares to hand over the CEO role to Greg Abel in 2026. The investment community will be watching closely when Berkshire's Q4 2025 filing is released in mid-February 2026. That document will reveal whether Buffett added to his long-delayed Google position in the final quarter before relinquishing the investment reins.
The Berkshire-Alphabet story is a powerful reminder that even the most celebrated investors can miss obvious opportunities in their own backyard. However, it also demonstrates that it's never too late to act on a conviction, especially when it's backed by decades of evidence and a clear vision for a company's future in artificial intelligence and digital advertising.
