Buffett’s Latest Play

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The Oracle is often inscrutable. “What the genius does at first,” said a friend of mine, reflecting on Warren Buffet’s decision to back up the Berkshire truck on a pair of oil and gas companies, “the amateur does later.” These recent investments are likely anathema to the E.S.G. crowd, but at age 91, with a net worth of around $100 billion, Buffet almost surely does not care. Once again, he seems to be taking the long view.

Bill

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What Is Warren Buffett Thinking?

While so many asset managers are titillated by post-correction Big Tech stocks, the Oracle is doubling down on… oil and gas? Will the asset-heavy, lower multiple play be his ultimate zag?

WILLIAM D. COHAN

If we’ve learned anything about Warren Buffett over the decades, it’s that he buys in when others bail. “Be fearful when others are greedy and greedy when others are fearful,” he once famously said, perfectly capturing his investment philosophy. In 2008, when investors were running away from Goldman Sachs as fast as they could, Buffett bought $5 billion worth of Goldman Sachs preferred stock, and made about a $3 billion profit on the investment. He made similarly profitable investments in Bank of America and in GE at around the same time.

Now, he’s at it again, albeit with much less fanfare. In recent weeks, he’s backed up the truck on two companies, Occidental Petroleum and Chevron, that most other money managers wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole, largely because they are so capital intensive and heavily regulated, to say nothing of how politically incorrect it has become to own anything to do with oil, gas, or other fossil fuels. But apparently Warren doesn’t care about being politically correct or that he might get called on to the carpet by the E.S.G. police. He’s 91 years old and the eighth-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg, with a net worth of around $100 billion...

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