Bill Gates’ five most significant buys of 2022, according to Cooper Academy’s latest video might surprise you. However you feel about the market, inflation, and debt, to ignore the actions of one of the world’s great business minds would be folly. The names that make up Gates’ portfolio should never be overlooked.
Gates’ Portfolio Takes Shape in 2022
His most significant purchase was of his own company: Microsoft – the second largest company in the world with a market cap of nearly $1.8 trillion. And he isn’t always buying his own stock. According to Cooper Academy, Gates was selling Microsoft before the tech bubble burst.
Amazingly, Gates increased his position in Microsoft (MSFT) by 4056% in Q3 of 2022, or 38.32 million shares – making it by far Gates’ stock of choice last year. Microsoft now makes up 26% of the current portfolio.
CN Railway | Portfolio Jumps by 14.2%
Canadian National Railway (CNI) remains a core position for Gates. His foundation began buying the stock back in 2007 and continues to add – most notably in Q3 of 2022. It pays a solid dividend, is more than 100 years old and has little competition. The company now makes up 17.2% of Gates’ portfolio.
Next up, Berkshire Hathaway
The famous friendship between Bill and Warren should be noticed. They first met in 1991 and have been close ever since. Interestingly, they both agreed shortly after the meeting that focus was the key to their success. He respects Buffet immensely and added big to his Berkshire Hathaway position in Q3 of 2022. The Gates Foundation increased its allocation by 9.3% in Q3 of 2022; however, the total position now represents a whopping 23.32% of the entire portfolio – Gates’ second-largest holding. As a result, Berkshire continues outperforming despite volatility and downward pressure in 2022.
Gates Continues to Accumulate Waste Management (WM)
Waste Management is one of these stocks that remained resilient to the market weakness in 2022. Cooper Academy notes a high PE ratio of 29 – but does pay a small dividend. The company now makes up about 16.6% of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation portfolio.
Deere & Company Rounds Out Top 5
Gates’ plan becomes more apparent with this selection. No farm equipment, no food. Whatever the economy may be, our food supply chain begins with farmers and machines, and millions of those machines are John Deere (DE). The company now makes up about 3.8% of the portfolio.
The Cooper Academy concludes with this statement:
“When I personally look at most of these stocks that he bought this year. They don’t excite me massively, maybe the one exception is Berkshire Hathaway, yes, they are good businesses, but they’re just not selling for amazing prices right now. The multiples on those stocks are still quite high for fairly low growth conservative stocks.”
They also confirm that they won’t add any of Gates’ stocks to their portfolios. Yes, the stocks are conservative but consistent. They sell what people need, not what they want. And, in a recession, this is critical. Gates’ updated allocation is also a big bet on the US economy. Excluding Canadian National Railway, these companies are all headquartered in the United States and do most of their business in North America.
