Forbes: Buffett is 'likely the biggest philanthropist of all time'

Warren Buffett again tops the annual Forbes ranking of America's 25 most generous givers, with an estimated $5.4 billion in donations in 2022.

Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates are second with $5 billion. The magazine notes that Mr. Gates gave $20 billion to the Gates Foundation in July, but it only counts "contributions paid out by those foundations, rather than gifts made to them."

Forbes says that since pledging in 2006 to give away almost all of his fortune, Buffett has donated $51.5 billion, making him "likely the biggest philanthropist of all time."

Warren Buffett, Melinda Gates French, and Bill Gates on CNBC's "Squawk Box" in 2015. Photo: CNBC/Lacy O'Toole 

While the majority of that money has been given to the Gates Foundation and will continue to go there under the plan he outlined 17 years ago, Buffett resigned as one of its trustees in 2021.

And The Wall Street Journal reported last year that Buffett may be planning to direct as much as $100 billion of his unpledged fortune to a family foundation that supports abortion rights, instead of having it go to the Gates Foundation.

Berkshire is on Morningstar's list of undervalued stocks

Berkshire Hathaway is one of Morningstar's "33 Undervalued Stocks for Q1 2023."

The investment services firm says that after last year's losses, "stocks look downright cheap according to our metrics" going into this year.

It estimates Berkshire's stock price was 84% of its fair value as of the end of December and gave it four stars out of five.

Musk sees Chinese EV makers as Tesla's strongest competition

Speaking on Tesla's earnings call this week, CEO Elon Musk praised Chinese car companies for working the "hardest" and smartest," and said, "If I were to guess ... probably some company out of China is the most likely to be second to Tesla."

While Musk says Tesla is "winning" in China right now, its Model 3 was the fifth best-selling new energy vehicle car last year, after models made by Berkshire-backed BYD and SAIC-GM-Wuling, according to the China Passenger Car Association.

As of January 3, Berkshire reported owning a 14% stake in BYD, currently valued at $4.9 billion, although it has sold nearly a third of the shares it bought in 2008 and held as of the end of 2021.

BUFFETT AROUND THE INTERNET

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• Des Moines Register on Yahoo: MidAmerican ordered to release studies, reaches settlement on $4 billion plan 

• Business Insider: Warren Buffett's favorite EV maker is poised for a major overseas expansion with talks to buy a Ford plant in Europe, report says

• New York Times: In Omaha, a Streetcar Named Undesirable by Warren Buffett

• Kaiser Health News: A $30 Million Gift [from Howard Buffett's foundation] to Build an Addiction Treatment Center. Then Staffers Had to Run It.

BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH

BERKSHIRE'S TOP U.S. STOCK HOLDINGS - Jan. 27, 2023

Berkshire's top holdings of disclosed publicly-traded U.S. stocks, and BYD, by market value, based on today's closing prices.

Holdings are as of September 30, 2022 as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on November 14, 2022, except for:

• Apple, Bank of America, Chevron, and U.S. Bancorp, which also include shares held as of September 30, 2022 as disclosed in New England Asset Management’s 13F filing on November 14, 2022
• BYD, which is as of December 8, 2022

The full list of holdings and current market values is available from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS

Please send any questions or comments about the newsletter to me at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't forward questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

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-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch