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Buffett's habit of "scouring for YouTube rabbit holes" at night revealed
Warren Buffett reads CNBC in the morning, but almost every evening, he sits on a recliner in front of a "giant" television at his home in Omaha to watch YouTube short videos, and he can never get enough of them.
The Wall Street Journal quoted a friend this week as saying that he “almost never” reads anything related to investing or finance, but he is a “fan of Berkshire Hathaway’s own content” and “proud of its performance on video platforms.”
On the contrary, the content he watched included "clips of Glenn Close... advertisements from the 1950s... videos by Paul Anka... speeches by completely unknown individuals... excerpts from musicals, the era of big bands, Nebraska, as well as Frank Sinatra's early performances from the 1930s."
He also tends to dive into some “random rabbit holes.”
For example, Buffett might “walk into the office and excitedly talk about a touching version of ‘My Way’ performed by an amateur.”
The Wall Street Journal reported that Sharon Osberg, a three-time world bridge champion, also often watches the games with Buffett. She has taught both Buffett and Bill Gates more advanced skills of this game.
She said, "Warren has a wide range of interests. He watches even the funniest things," such as "a very good documentary about Roy Cohen" or "the Uzbek version of 'America's Got Talent'."
Osborg said that Buffett has recently been watching clips of his late friend and business partner Charlie Munger, including a appearance he made at the University of Michigan in 2017.
"When he looked at Charlie, you could feel the bond between the two of them. It was really special."
The Wall Street Journal also denied the claim that Buffett's use of YouTube is related to Berkshire's substantial investment in Alphabet, with Alphabet being the parent company of that platform.
“Friends say that he just really enjoys watching these videos.”
He is not the only one who does this.
The article points out that although 96-year-old Buffett is known for his slow adoption of new technologies, in this regard, he has aligned himself with a ongoing trend: people are shifting from streaming media to short videos, which has also made YouTube the most watched video service platform on American televisions.
Lennar Position continues to rise
Berkeley Hathaway added another $192.6 million to its bet on the housing builder Lennar later last week.
Berkshire disclosed in a document submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Monday that on Thursday, October 1st, and Friday, October 2nd, the company purchased 2.4 million shares of Class Lennar A stock at an average price of $79.65 per share, and 15,000 shares of Class Lennar B stock at an average price of $78.33 per share.
Since mid-September when Berkshire's shareholding exceeded 10%, according to the SEC rule, the company was required to disclose any additional purchases within two trading days.
As of now this week, there have been no new declarations, so it seems that there will be no new purchases at least until Tuesday.
In the 11 trading days since September 17th, Berkshire Hathaway has increased its holdings of Lennar stock by a total of $595.3 million.
Calculated based on today's closing price, the disclosed 12.2% stake of 29 million shares has a market value of 2.2 billion US dollars.
As of the end of last year, Berkshire held only 7.2 million shares, which were worth $742 million at that time.
During this period, LEN has fallen by more than 25%, due to rising interest rates that have reduced the affordability of housing.
Buffett and Berkshire on the Internet
Some links may require a subscription:
- The Motley Fool: Will Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares eventually be split?
Key contents from the Buffett profile from CNBC
"What matters is the mental share."(1997)
Warren Buffett discusses the importance of how consumers perceive a company.
Audience question:Could you please explain in more detail what you mean by "the consumer's mindset" and "the essence of a product"?
Warren Buffett:You know, when you enter the consumer goods sector, what you really care about – or rather, what you really need to think about – is: how many people in the world currently have an impression of a certain product in their minds, and what that impression might be like in five, ten, or twenty years from now?
Now, almost everyone on Earth – well, perhaps we should narrow the scope to 75% of the world’s population – has some kind of concept of Coca-Cola in their minds.
The term “Coca-Cola” holds meaning for them. You know, RC Cola holds little to no meaning for almost no one in the world.
Of course, it makes sense for the person who owns RC, and it also makes sense for the bottlers.
But everyone has some impressions of Coca-Cola in their minds. And overwhelmingly, these impressions are positive. It is associated with pleasant experiences.
A part of it is deliberately designed. What I mean is, it appears in places where you feel happy. It’s there at Disney Parks, at Disney World, and also on the sports fields. It’s present wherever you might smile, including at the Berkshire Hathaway annual meetings. I’d like to add one more thing. (Laughter)
And this position in the mind has become quite solid. It has been established in the hearts of people in nearly 200 countries around the world.
A year later, it will take root in the hearts of even more people. Its overall position will also change, little by little, bit by bit. Ten years later, that position will move again, just a little bit more.
That is mental share. It's not market share; rather, mental share is what matters.
The same is true for Disney. Disney holds meaning for billions of people. If you are a parent of two young children and have 50 videos to choose from, you wouldn't sit down to preview each one for an hour and a half before deciding which one to show your kids.
You know, you have certain impressions of Disney in your mind. You don’t have such impressions of ABC Video Company. In fact, you don’t even have such impressions of other companies; you don’t have such impressions of 20th Century Fox, nor of Paramount. You know, you don’t have such impressions of Paramount either.
So this name is meaningful to billions of people, including many outside of this country. Moreover, this meaning is overwhelmingly positive. It will also be further reinforced by the company's other businesses.
Think about it, if someone could really buy that “mental share” in the minds of billions of people around the world, how much would they be willing to pay? You can’t do it.
You can't achieve this with an advertising budget of $1 billion, $3 billion, or by hiring 20,000 super salespeople.
Berkshire Hathaway Stock Observations
Surrounding
Twelve months
BRK.A Stock Price: $774,295.00
BRK.B Stock Price: $515.62
BRK.B Price-Earnings Ratio ( TTM ): 12.97
Berkshire's market value: $1,104,215,482,465
Berkshire's cash as of June 30: $365.5 billion (a decrease of 8.0% from March 31)
After deducting railway cash and subtracting the treasury bonds payable: $359.2 billion (a decrease of 3.8% compared to March 31)
In the second quarter of 2026, Berkshire Hathaway repurchased $4.5 billion of its own shares.
Berkshire's Top Ten Equity Holdings - October 9, 2026
Berkshire's disclosed holdings of publicly traded stocks in the United States and Japan, calculated by market value, are based on the latest closing prices.
Position data as of June 30, 2026, from Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing submitted on August 14, 2026, except for the following situations:
- Mitsubishi's data as of April 30, 2026
The complete list of holdings and the current market value can be viewed in Berkshire Hathaway's Portfolio Tracker at CNBC.com.
Questions or comments
If you have any questions or suggestions, please send them to alex.crippen @ cnbc.com. (Sorry, we will not forward your questions or suggestions to Warren Buffett himself.)
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In addition, Buffett's annual letter to shareholders is also very worth reading. It can be viewed in its entirety on the Berkshire Hathaway website.
—— Alex Crippen, Editor of "Warren Buffett Observations"
