Warren Buffett sells airline stock

news-single-imgcaption" style="width:240px">For American magnate William Buffet, investing in airlines was a mistake. (Keystone)

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Warren Buffett said on Saturday that his Berkshire Hathaway holding company sold its entire stake in the four major US airlines in April, saying the pandemic was game-changing and that the investment was “a mistake”.

“It turns out that I was wrong,” admitted Mr. Buffett Saturday at the general meeting of his holding company, commenting on this acquisition of ten percent in American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines .

Berkshire Hathaway paid $ 7 billion to $ 8 billion, and “we sold for a lot less than that,” said the world’s fourth richest man and considered an outstanding investor.

Between the time when the holding company bought its stakes over many months and the resale, “the air transport sector has changed very profoundly” and could therefore no longer meet the profitability criteria set by the company.

Buffett said the companies are well managed but the uncertainty about the future of air transportation is too great for Berkshire to remain invested.

The revelation may still weigh on airlines pushed to the brink by the Covid-19 pandemic, which reduced air traffic to a bare minimum.

The federal government has come to the rescue, with $ 25 billion, to avoid bankruptcy and layoffs in a sector that directly employs more than 750,000 people in the United States. (awp)

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