Warren Buffett doesn't have a computer in his office and has only sent one e-mail in his life. His record of tech investments before Apple has also been minimal, with him avoiding investing opportunities in Microsoft & Google.
Buffet's advisors at his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, Todd Combs and Ted Weschler, acted as catalysts to convince him tp purchase $1B worth of Apple shares in 2016. By 2018, Berkshire owned Apple shares worth $36B.
A large chunk in Buffett's list of investment accounts for monopolies. He called the iPhone "probably the best business I know in the world," impressed by the growing monopolistic ecosystem that Apple has built around the smartphone.
Tim Cook, in his early days as Apple's CEO called Buffett to seek advice, who told him it would be best to repurchase shares if they seemed undervalued. Cook took his advice and started Apple's buyback program, which boosted Apple's profits and turned out to be extensively beneficial for Berkshire.
Apple became the first company in the world to close with a $3 trillion market cap in Jan. 2022. Consequently, Berkshire Hathaway now owns a 5.4% stake at Apple worth $160B as of Jan. 2022 with a massive gain of more than $120B on paper. Berkshire is now Apple's largest shareholder apart from index and exchange trade fund providers. By the end of 2020, Berkshire sold 12% of its Apple shares, which could have resulted in a potential gain of $6 billion had they still been intact.
Buffett has often praised Cook's leadership, calling him "One of the best manager in the world." Apple makes for more than 40% of Berkshire's equity portfolio, bringing in close to $775 million annually in dividends. Buffett has called it a "family jewel" and "third business" instead of a stock.
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