ProPublica Reveals Warren Buffett’s Private Stock Trades Mirrored Berkshire’s Market Moves

In a recent report, ProPublica disclosed that legendary investor Warren Buffett engaged in stock trades in his personal account on at least three occasions, mirroring Berkshire Hathaway’s transactions either in the same quarter or the one preceding. The nonprofit investigative journalism organization obtained details of Buffett’s trades from leaked Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data.

The investigative piece kicks off by highlighting Buffett’s actions concerning Wells Fargo. Despite publicly praising the bank’s effective business model in April 2009, within four days, as the bank’s shares surged by 13 percent, Buffett reportedly privately sold $20 million worth of Wells Fargo shares in his personal account.

The report also delves into Buffett’s 2012 interview, where he revealed investing in JP Morgan Chase due to Berkshire’s existing ownership of Wells Fargo shares. The constraints of Berkshire’s holdings led him to explore alternative investments. Notably, in 2012, Buffett sold Johnson & Johnson shares worth $35 million, aligning with Berkshire’s simultaneous divestment. This raised eyebrows, especially after Berkshire’s David Sokol resigned in 2011 for acquiring shares in a company soon after Berkshire’s acquisition.

Buffett, in a 2011 statement, asserted that the real issue lay in individuals breaking rules, not the rules themselves. However, the subsequent year saw Buffett selling Johnson & Johnson shares, and over the next two quarters, Berkshire followed suit by selling millions more shares.

ProPublica’s findings suggest potential inconsistencies with Berkshire’s policy, which stipulates that employees aware of the company altering its position in an investee company should refrain from trading in the investee company’s shares “prior to the public disclosure by Berkshire of its actions.”