The mystery is over. Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway disclosed a major stock in the insurance company, Chubb. This investment was revealed after keeping it under wraps since last year.
Buffett’s company initially purchased 8.1 million Chubb shares worth $1.7 billion at the end of September, then boosted the position to 20.1 million shares valued at $4.5 billion at December’s close. It raised the bet to 25.9 million shares worth $6.7 billion at the end of March, Securities and Exchange Commission filings revealed on Wednesday.
Buffett’s company had shielded the position from public knowledge requesting the SEC for “confidential treatment” in its previous filing as it was trying to build a stake.
Many people expected the confidential stake to be a bank stake as the conglomerate’s cost basis for “banks, insurance and finance” equity holding jumped by $1.4 billion in the first quarter after the increased $3.59 billion in the second half of last year.
Chubb’s stock jumps 8%
Insurer Ace Limited acquired Chubb in 2016 for $29.5 billion in cash and stock, and together the combined company was called Chubb.
Chubb operates in 54 countries and provides everything from property to health insurance, reinsurance and life insurance, which made headlines in March after the company underwrote President Donald Trump’s nearly $92 million appeal bond in E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit.
The shares of Chubb jumped nearly 8 per cent in after-hours trading on Wednesday after Berkshire’s revelation.
Berkshire also revealed the reduced investment in Apple in the annual General meeting. It had also sold off its 10 million shares of Apple in the first three months of the year.