Buffett Vows Long-Term Investment in Japanese Traders

Jiji Press

11:15 JST, May 4, 2025

OMAHA (Jiji Press) — Prominent U.S. investor Warren Buffett said Saturday that his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will keep holding shares in five major Japanese traders over the long-term.

At an annual shareholders meeting of Berkshire held in Omaha, Nebraska, the same day, Buffett gave high marks to the five traders again and said he will not think about selling the shares over the next 50 years.

Greg Abel, vice chair of Berkshire, said the U.S. investment company may hold on to the shares forever, showing his expectation for cooperation with the five traders.

At the meeting, Buffett, 94, said he plans to retire as Berkshire CEO at the end of this year. Buffett suggested that Abel, 62, should be the successor, saying that he will propose this to the board of Berkshire.

Berkshire bought shares in the five Japanese trading houses—Mitsubishi Corp. Mitsui & Co., Sumitomo Corp., Marubeni Corp. and Itochu Corp.—first in 2019.

Berkshire then continued to invest in the firms, with its equity stake rising above 9% recently for Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Sumitomo and Marubeni and above 8% for Itochu.

At the shareholders meeting, Buffett warned against weaponizing trade, apparently referring to the high tariff policy of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump. Keeping uncertainty over U.S. policies in mind, Buffett said things that make investors willing to possess many currencies other than the dollar may happen.