Berkshire Bets Big on Alphabet as Ackman Largely Sells Into Microsoft

Overview

• Berkshire Hathaway disclosed in mid‑May 13F filings that it nearly tripled its Alphabet stake to about 57.8–58 million shares, a position valued near $16.6 billion that lifted Alphabet into Berkshire’s top five holdings.
• Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square sold more than 95% of its Alphabet holding and redeployed the proceeds into Microsoft, citing Microsoft’s roughly $37 billion AI business run rate, 40% Azure growth, and a commercial RPO near $627 billion.
• Alphabet’s strong Q1 results included $109.9 billion in revenue, EPS well above estimates, and a Google Cloud growth rate of 63% with a contracted backlog that nearly doubled to about $460 billion, a figure companies and investors treat as legally binding future revenue.
• The trades reflect two distinct ways to gain AI exposure: Berkshire and others are backing Google Cloud’s infrastructure and contracted demand while Ackman is targeting Microsoft’s enterprise AI traction and its restructured OpenAI stake.
• Markets may feel second‑order effects from these moves through larger-cap flows and valuation debates, since Berkshire bought into Alphabet at a forward P/E near 25x and Alphabet’s announced $80 billion financing and higher capex could affect near‑term per‑share metrics.