Buffett Says Tim Cook Made Berkshire More Money Than He Ever Did

[MacRumors]

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett offered rare public praise for Apple CEO Tim Cook at the holding company's annual shareholder meeting on Saturday, during which Buffett confirmed he was stepping down.

"I'm somewhat embarrassed to say that Tim Cook has made Berkshire a lot more money than I've ever made," Buffett told the audience, alluding to the 680% surge in Apple's stock since Berkshire first began acquiring shares in early 2016.

Buffett also reflected on the late Steve Jobs and credited him for building Apple, but he was quick to underline Cook's contributions to the company's success. "Nobody but Steve could have created Apple, but nobody but Tim could have developed it as he has," he said.

The 94-year-old investor, who announced his intention to step down as CEO by year's end, made billions investing in Apple despite his long-standing wariness of tech investments. At one point in 2024, Buffett was even Apple's largest investor outside of Exchange-Traded Funds (ETFs).

In 2024, Berkshire's stake in Apple was valued at $174 billion, which the company had acquired for $40 billion over several years. That said, the conglomerate has been shedding its holdings in the company throughout the past year, and it has now sold nearly 70% of the 905 million shares it held at its peak.

Since Cook took over as CEO in 2011, Apple's stock has seen remarkable growth, climbing from under $15 on a split-adjusted basis to $205. The roughly 14-fold increase has propelled Apple's market capitalisation to over $3 trillion.

Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha and arguably the world's most successful investor, told his company's annual meeting he would hand over the reins to vice-chairman Greg Abel.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1918745258818482382

"There's never been someone like Warren, and countless people, myself included, have been inspired by his wisdom," Cook wrote on X (Twitter) after attending the shareholder meeting. "It's been one of the great privileges of my life to know him. And there's no question that Warren is leaving Berkshire in great hands with Greg."

Article Link: Buffett Says Tim Cook Made Berkshire More Money Than He Ever Did

 

[JanoschR]

In terms of money, Cook was exactly the right person for Apple at the right time.

 

[wanha]

When it comes to concrete things like money and HW, Apple has done extremely well under Cook.

But the more ambiguous things are (like software, new product categories, or subscriptions), the harder it has been for Apple post Jobs to keep the quality high.

 

[tyranne201]

Making trash like FineWoven and making rich people richer. Thanks Tim applez

 

[swingerofbirch]

I wish that people were embarrassed that money itself is their product.

I'm not saying it should be illegal to invest, but with a bit of shame it might not grow to such a preposterous scale.

Prostitution, for example, exists and is legal in some places like Nevada. But there are no titans of that industry who are exalted.

 

[darngooddesign]

Making trash like FineWoven and making rich people richer. Thanks Tim applez

FineWoven wasn't the a superb success like Jobs' iPhone 4 bumpers that warped and stretched. /s

 

[t0rqx]

Making trash like FineWoven and making rich people richer. Thanks Tim applez

And selling Macbook Pros with dents in the screen.

 

[StrollerEd]

Form, functionality & fashion; a successful combo. Tim Cook is hardly a fashion icon himself but it is in this third price-inelastic category that Apple has made its money under his leadership.

 

[green_diyos]

I’ve been reflecting on an investment I should've made when I was living in Florida back in 2009. The markets were still shaking from the financial crisis, and Apple ($AAPL) stock had dropped to just $78.20 per share. I should have took risk and bought 4,000 shares, which would have cost me $312,800—worth about ₱12.6 million then at a ₱40.29 exchange rate.

Now in 2025, after multiple stock splits (28-for-1 total), those 4,000 shares have become 112,000 shares. With Apple now trading at $198.89, my portfolio would be worth a stunning:

👉 $22.28 million
👉 Or ₱1.24 billion at today's ₱55.60 rate

And that’s just capital appreciation.

Since Apple started paying dividends in 2012 (3.5 years later), I’d now be earning:

• ₱1.43 million per quarter in dividends
• That’s over ₱15,000 per day just from holding
• Over the past year, that’s ₱5.6 million in passive income

In short, that one bold move in 2009 would have now generate me more in quarterly dividends than I ever imagined earning in a year. And the total value? Grew 71x in USD, and nearly 100x in pesos.

The lesson? Hold quality. Be patient. Don’t underestimate long-term compounding, especially with companies like Apple. I didn’t buy a stock—I bought a lifelong cash machine.

---

📊 Apple Investment Journey: 2009 to 2025​

Metric	Jan 20, 2009	May 6, 2025
Forex ($ → ₱)	₱40.29	₱55.60
AAPL Price	$78.20	$198.89
Effective Pre-Split Price	$5,568.92	-
Stock Splits	28-for-1 (cumulative)	-
Shares Owned	4,000 (pre-split)	112,000 (post-split)
Portfolio Value ($)	$312,800.00	$22,275,680.00
Portfolio Value (₱)	₱12,602,712.00	₱1,238,594,713.00
Years Until First Dividend	3.56	-
Quarterly Dividend per Share	-	$0.23
Quarterly Dividend Total ($)	-	$25,760.00
Quarterly Dividend Total (₱)	-	₱1,432,333.37
Daily Dividend (₱)	-	₱15,696.80
Last 4 Quarters Dividend Total ($)	-	$100,800.00
Last 4 Quarters Dividend (₱)	-	₱5,604,782.75
Daily Dividend (₱, annualized)	-	₱15,355.57

 

[fatTribble]

Margaret Houlihan:
Money is far down on my list, Major. Money comes second, maybe even third.

 

[Godspeed8230]

Imagine: Instead of buying Apple products you would have purchased shares.

 

[Aeronauts]

Steve Jobs will be remembered for his vision, innovation and a stream of great products.

Tim Cook will be remembered for killing any innovation and turning Steve’s products into a vast cash generating machine.

 

[dampfnudel]

Steve Jobs will be remembered for his vision, innovation and a stream of great products.

Tim Cook will be remembered for killing any innovation and turning Steve’s products into a vast cash generating machine.

Hopefully Tim will be remembered for being the “vehicle” that delivered Apple into the hands of the next visionary.

 

[Pitogyro]

Buffet's statement about the money Cook made him has finally solidified what Cook will be remembered for.

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Steve Jobs will be remembered for his vision, innovation and a stream of great products.

Tim Cook will be remembered for killing any innovation and turning Steve’s products into a vast cash generating machine.

And getting sued by any country with a flag in the process.

 

[Aeronauts]

Nothing ever changes. The rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer.

 

[ThailandToo]

Long time Buffett fan and from the same hometown. The most famous thing about Buffett, he doesn’t know anything about technology. All he knows is profitability. So yes, Tim Crook has ensured the top 1% made BILLIONS as did he. All the other stakeholders paid the price and in the long run so much goodwill built by Steve has been destroyed. Hopeful Apple’s board will see the problems and hire an innovator at the helm.

 

[L92]

Making trash like FineWoven and making rich people richer. Thanks Tim applez

It was case, get over it already.

 

[dannys1]

Nothing ever changes. The rich continue to get richer and the poor continue to get poorer.

It does change though the amount of poor increase as the amount of super rich buy everything that the middle class could ever hope to own.

End days capitalism. We'll have to reset at some point in the next 20-40 years.

 

[Arran]

I should have took risk and bought 4,000 shares, which would have cost me $312,800—worth about ₱12.6 million then at a ₱40.29 exchange rate.

Now in 2025, after multiple stock splits (28-for-1 total), those 4,000 shares have become 112,000 shares. With Apple now trading at $198.89, my portfolio would be worth a stunning:

👉 $22.28 million
👉 Or ₱1.24 billion at today's ₱55.60 rate

It’s nice to dream about what could have been, but you can’t ignore risk. Few have $312,800 laying around they can afford to lose if the bet goes the wrong way. $312,000 in 2008 was a couple of houses.

So, if it was a “bet the farm” (and your kids’ college fund) sort-of investment, then as soon as you’d (say) doubled your money, the smart move would have been to sell half, take profits and diversify your portfolio. Hindsight only works backwards.

 

[Arran]

It does change though the amount of poor increase as the amount of super rich buy everything that the middle class could ever hope to own.

End days capitalism. We'll have to reset at some point in the next 20-40 years.

I think that’s why Big money wants to colonize Mars so badly. To escape the inevitable reset here on Earth.

 

[RalfTheDog]

Tim Apple made me a few million too.

 

[ZipZilla]

Warren Buffett is a great example of a very simple philosophy in investing: investing in something you understand, that has a proven track record, that people are always going to want. It really isn't rocket science beyond that. Guys like Warren Buffet and the late Jack Bogle are where I get my investing philosophy. Hold it forever and get rich slowly.

 

[I7guy]

[…]Hopeful Apple’s board will see the problems and hire an innovator at the helm.

What’s taking them so “long”?

 

[Naraxus]

Tim Cook will be remembered for killing any innovation....

That's patently untrue