Markets

Warren Buffett says Berkshire could buy back $100 billion stock: FT

Key Points
  • Warren Buffett said Berkshire Hathaway could repurchase as much as $100 billion of its stock, the Financial Times said, without providing a time frame.
  • Buffett had said in his February annual letter to shareholders that over time Berkshire would likely be a "significant" buyer of its own stock, when it traded below the company's estimate of its intrinsic value.
Warren Buffet walks the floor at the 2018 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder's Meeting in Omaha, NE on May 5th, 2018.
Lacy O'Toole | CNBC

Warren Buffett said his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway could repurchase as much as $100 billion of its stock, the Financial Times said on Thursday without providing a time frame, citing a recent interview with the billionaire.

Berkshire did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Buffett had said in his February annual letter to shareholders that over time Berkshire would likely be a "significant" buyer of its own stock, when it traded below the Omaha, Nebraska-based company's estimate of its intrinsic value.

Berkshire repurchased $1.3 billion of its stock last year, after Buffett loosened the company's buyback criteria.

The buybacks began in part because of Buffett's inability to make a major acquisition, a significant reason Berkshire ended 2018 with $111.9 billion of cash and equivalents.

In the interview, Buffett "waved off" the idea of paying a shareholder dividend.

He also lamented the prospect of a time when Berkshire's stock traded at a fair price, and other companies and stocks also looked expensive. "That's my nightmare," he said.

Berkshire's market value is more than $520 billion, based on reported shares outstanding.

Buffett, 88, has run Berkshire since 1965, and has not publicly signaled any intention to stop.

"I have more fun here than I think any 88-year-old is having, virtually, in the world," he said in the interview from Berkshire's headquarters.