Days after Warren Buffett hosted Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting, fellow billionaire Elon Musk has some advice for the chairman about what investing moves he should make next.
In response to a post on X saying Buffett should sell all of his shares in Apple, Musk suggested that Buffett consider buying shares of his electric vehicle company Tesla.
He should take a position in Tesla. It’s an obvious move.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 6, 2024
“He should take a position in Tesla,” Musk wrote. “It’s an obvious move.”
Buffett and Berkshire have had a stake in Apple since 2016.
At the end of Q3 2023, it was estimated that Berkshire owned roughly $174.3 billion in Apple shares, which dropped about $135.4 billion by the end of Q1 2024. According to calculations by Reuters, Berkshire offloaded an estimated 115 million Apple shares, or 13% of its total holdings.
“Unless something dramatic happens that really changes capital allocation, we will have Apple as our largest investment,” Buffett said during Saturday’s shareholders meeting.
During Saturday’s shareholder meeting, Buffett revealed that Berkshire had offloaded its entire stake in Paramount Group. Berkshire once held the majority of nonvoting shares.
An investment from Buffett could be a good look for Tesla, which has been struggling in recent months amid attempts to cut costs and redirect focus on a newer, more affordable car model slated to begin production in 2025.
Related: Warren Buffett’s Successor Says Berkshire Hathaway’s Culture Will Stay the Same
The company reported a 9% quarterly revenue decrease during its Q1 2024 earnings call last month, its biggest drop since 2012, just days before Musk reportedly laid off 500 employees from the Tesla Supercharger team in the middle of the night and rescinded internship offers for students just weeks before they were set to begin.
Musk and Buffett have disagreed in the past, but during Berkshire Hathaway’s 2023 annual shareholder meeting, he praised Tesla’s CEO.
“Elon is a brilliant guy. He dreams about things and his dreams have got a foundation,” Buffett said last year. “I just like the way I’m living, and I wouldn’t enjoy being in his shoes but he wouldn’t enjoy being in my shoes either.”
Musk promptly thanked Buffett and his late business partner, Charlie Munger, for their “kind words” on X following the meeting.
Tesla was up over 4.3% year over year as of Tuesday morning.
Related: Read Warren Buffett’s Annual Letter to Berkshire Shareholders
