Warren Buffett has always said his favorite holding period is forever.
His deepening commitment to Japan’s trading houses is starting to look like exactly that
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B) (BRK.A) quietly crossed the 10% ownership threshold in two more Japanese conglomerates — Sumitomo Corp. and Marubeni Corp. — the week ending May 9, bringing all five of its Japanese trading house stakes above that symbolic level. It is a deliberate escalation of what began as a surprising 2020 bet on an overlooked corner of global markets. The timing is notable.
Greg Abel just hosted his first annual shareholder meeting as Berkshire’s new CEO. Buffett himself is stepping back. And yet the Japan strategy, widely seen as one of Buffett’s most elegant late-career moves, is being elevated rather than wound down.