Warren Buffett just turned 95. He also just stepped down as the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Think about that for a second. Most people are decades into retirement by that age, but the "Oracle of Omaha" spent his 94th year selling off massive chunks of Apple and Bank of America while sitting on a cash pile so big it could probably fund a small country.
As of early 2026, Berkshire is sitting on roughly $380 billion in cash.
People are freaking out. They see the headlines and think Buffett has lost his touch or that he’s predicting a total market collapse. Honestly? They’re missing the point. If you want to understand warren buffett on investing, you have to stop looking at the tickers and start looking at the temperament.
The "Digital Nuclear Weapon" and Why Buffett is Scared of AI
It’s the talk of every board room. Artificial Intelligence.
While everyone else is chasing the next shiny GPU maker, Buffett is sounding more like a doomsday philosopher than a stock picker. Just yesterday, on January 14, 2026, he called AI a "digital nuclear weapon." He wasn't talking about Skynet or robots taking over the world in a sci-fi sense. He was talking about the "genie being out of the bottle."
He basically admitted that even the smartest people in the world have no clue where this is going.
Does he own it? Sorta. He bought a massive stake in Alphabet (Google) midway through 2025. But don't mistake that for a "HODL" crypto-bro mentality. He views it through the lens of a "moat." If Google's search dominance is protected by AI, he likes it. If AI makes the business model unpredictable? He stays away.
He's always been clear: if you can't predict what a company will look like in ten years, you shouldn't own it for ten minutes.
Most investors think they're being "forward-thinking" by buying AI startups. Buffett thinks they're being "fools at the end." He famously said that what the wise do in the beginning, fools do in the end. Right now, the AI trade is crowded, loud, and expensive. That’s exactly when Buffett starts looking for the exit.
Berkshire’s 2025 Moves: It’s Not a Crash, It’s a Rotation
In his final Thanksgiving letter as CEO, Buffett dropped a truth bomb that most people ignored. He told investors not to panic when the stock price moves "capriciously."
He’s seen Berkshire’s stock drop 50% three different times in 60 years.
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He didn't sell Apple because he hated the iPhones. He sold roughly 20 million shares of Apple in 2025 because he wanted to manage risk and build a war chest. You've got to realize that for Buffett, cash isn't just "money under the mattress." He calls it "oxygen." You don't notice it when things are fine, but you'd kill for it when the air runs out.
What he actually bought recently:
- UnitedHealth (UNH): He put about $1.6 billion into this. It's a classic contrarian move. The sector was battered, people were scared of regulations, and Buffett saw a sturdy cash engine at a discount.
- Nucor (NUE): Steel. Boring, heavy, industrial steel. It’s the opposite of a chatbot. It’s a cyclical bet on American infrastructure.
- Lennar and D.R. Horton: He’s still betting big on U.S. housing. He thinks the "durable demand" for homes isn't going anywhere, regardless of what the Fed does with interest rates.
He also had a weird "blip" with Ulta Beauty. He bought it, then dumped it almost immediately in late 2024. The stock soared 40% in 2025 right after he left. Even the GOAT makes mistakes. He called delaying the correction of a mistake a "cardinal sin." He'd rather look "wrong" in the short term than stay in a business he no longer believes in.
The Index Fund Paradox: Why He Tells You to Ignore Him
This is the part that kills professional money managers.
Warren Buffett is arguably the greatest stock picker in history. Yet, he spent his final years as CEO telling 99% of people to stop picking stocks.
Why? Because math is hard and emotions are harder.
He’s a huge fan of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (VOO). He’s said repeatedly that a "know-nothing" investor who just buys an index fund will beat almost every pro on Wall Street.
Active managers charge fees. They trade too much. They get scared. An index fund just sits there. It owns the 500 biggest companies in America. If one fails, the index kicks it out and brings in a winner. It’s a self-cleaning oven.
If you’re trying to copy his 2025 UnitedHealth trade, you’re probably too late. The 13F filings are delayed by 45 days. By the time you see what Buffett did, the "value" might be gone. That’s why the index is the "great equalizer."
What Most People Get Wrong About "Value"
People think "value investing" means buying "cheap" stocks.
That’s old-school. That’s the "cigar butt" style Buffett learned from Ben Graham—finding a soggy cigar on the ground with one free puff left.
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Charlie Munger changed his mind on that decades ago.
Now, the philosophy is simple: buy a wonderful business at a fair price, not a fair business at a wonderful price. He’d rather pay a bit more for a company with a "moat"—a competitive advantage like a brand (Coca-Cola), a massive network (American Express), or a literal monopoly on a bridge or railroad.
If a company has to have a prayer meeting every time they want to raise prices by 5%, it's not a good business. If they can raise prices and the customers don't care? That's a moat.
Actionable Steps for Your Portfolio
You don't need a $380 billion cash pile to act like Buffett. You just need a different calendar.
- Audit your "Circle of Competence." If you can’t explain how a company makes money to a 10-year-old in three sentences, don't buy the stock. It doesn't matter how fast the stock is going up.
- Check your "Oxygen" levels. Are you 100% invested in high-risk tech? If the market dropped 30% tomorrow, would you be forced to sell to pay rent? Buffett keeps cash so he's never a "forced seller."
- Automate the boring stuff. If you aren't willing to spend 20 hours a week reading balance sheets and annual reports (which Buffett does), put the majority of your money in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund.
- Stop "Thumb-Sucking." If you know an investment was a mistake, get out. Don't wait for it to "break even" just to save your ego.
Buffett is stepping back, but his "The Intelligent Investor" framework hasn't aged a day. The market is still a device for transferring money from the impatient to the patient. It worked in 1965, and it’s still working in 2026.
Focus on the business, ignore the noise, and for heaven's sake, don't chase the "digital nuclear weapons" unless you really know how to handle them.
Next Steps:
- Review your current portfolio and identify any "cigar butts" that are dragging you down.
- Compare your brokerage fees against a standard S&P 500 index fund to see how much "drag" you're paying for.
- Read Berkshire’s 2025 Annual Letter (the final one under Buffett’s tenure) to understand the transition plan for Greg Abel and the future of the conglomerate.