Value investor Mario Gabelli told CNBC on Monday that he first started buying shares of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway back in 1986. Decades later, he has made more than 60 times his money, reflects the power of buy and hold investment.
In an interview on “Squawk Box,” the CEO of Gamco Investors said the purchases were for two of his assets: Gabelli Equity Trust Inc. and Gabelli Property. The investment began a few months apart in 1986.
Collectively, the funds own 220 shares of Berkshire Hathaway Class A stock, which traded around $ 377,000 every Monday afternoon. Gabelli said his cost base – the average price paid to build the position over time – is $ 6,000 per share, or $ 1.32 million in total.
The holdings are now worth around $ 83 million, representing a yield of nearly 6,200%, based on Monday’s price of Class A stock in Berkshire. Berkshire also has lower-priced Class B shares, launched in 1996, which will trade on the New York stock exchange. (Gamco also owns approximately 135,000 Berkshire Class B shares, at a share price of the A shares, at approximately $ 250 per share.)
Gabelli ‘s interview on CNBC came two days after Buffett, widely regarded as one of the greatest investors ever, released his annual letter to shareholders. The letter and Berkshire’s annual general meeting a month or two later are being closely monitored throughout the investment community. Like last year, a Berkshire meeting will be meaningful because of Covid.
Before the coronavirus epidemic, tens of thousands of people came to the annual meeting, called The Woodstock of Capitalism. Gabelli has been going to the Berkshire gathering for decades.
“In the short span of 232 years of existence … no place has been introduced for the spread of human potential like America,” wrote the 90-year-old Buffett, known as the “Oracle of Omaha.” Despite some setbacks, our country ‘s economic progress has been remarkable. Our unexpected conclusion: Never bet against America. “
Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire, revealed in the letter that the company has already bought back more of its own stock this year, after buying a record high of $ 24.7 billion in 2020.