The giant Berkshire Hathaway of the legendary Warren Buffett gave up more than half of his interest in Apple. The billionaire sold shares worth $76 billion, generating a whopping profit of $47.2 billion

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway has halved its stake in iPhone maker Apple as part of a series of sales in which the billionaire investor lost $76 billion worth of stock.

The company cut its position in Apple by more than $50 billion to $84.2 billion in the second quarter, generating a significant return on investment, according to documents released Saturday.

The data shows that Berkshire sold about 390 million Apple shares, or about half of its stake, according to calculations by the Financial Times. The sale of Apple stock and other stocks in the quarter produced an after-tax profit of $47.2 billion, a huge return on an investment started by one of Buffett’s supporters in 2016.

The sale of the shares raised Berkshire’s cash holdings to $277 billion, $88 billion higher than in the previous quarter. The company invested that money in short-term Treasuries, while Buffett withdrew from the US equity markets.

At the end of last year, Buffett began to reduce Berkshire’s interest in Apple, and in early 2024 he accelerated the pace of stock sales. In May, Buffett told shareholders that he believed Apple would remain one of the rally’s top contributors, listing it among his top long-term investments. including Coca-Cola and American Express.