OMAHA, Neb. — Berkshire Hathaway has dramatically increased its stake in Alphabet after determining that Google, founded in 1998, may finally possess enough operating history to qualify as something other than a speculative technology startup.
The investment reportedly makes Alphabet one of Berkshire’s largest stock holdings, marking an important milestone for a company whose products are used by billions of people and whose business model has now survived several recessions, multiple wars, the smartphone revolution, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and Ask Jeeves.
“We try not to chase trends,” said one person familiar with Berkshire’s thinking. “Search engines have had a strong run, but we wanted to see whether consumers would stick with them.”
Analysts praised the discipline.
Where other investors rushed recklessly into Google shortly after its 2004 IPO, Berkshire waited until the company had accumulated hundreds of billions of dollars in revenue, built one of the world’s dominant advertising businesses, created Android, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and a global cloud platform, and demonstrated modest early signs of product-market fit.
The purchase is consistent with Berkshire’s preference for understandable businesses with durable competitive advantages.
Google now apparently qualifies.
Investors said Berkshire may next begin researching several other promising technologies, including online shopping, smartphones, and electricity.
Bitcoin remains under review.
Inspired by:
Reuters - "Alphabet becomes Berkshire Hathaway's third-largest investment" (August 15, 2026)
