Moneywise

Wed, Jun 4, 2025, 2:25 AM8 min read

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Warren Buffett is not only one of the savviest investors of our time, but also one of the wealthiest.

The Oracle of Omaha, who announced on May 5 that he plans to retire as chief executive of Berkshire Hathaway at the end of the year, now has an estimated net worth of over $160 billion.

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The veteran investor has long been an advocate of investing in as simple a manner as possible.

"There’s huge amounts of money that people pay for advice they really don’t need … In my view, for most people, the best thing to do is to own the S&P 500 index," he said in May 2020.

Buffett also once said that 90% of his wife's inheritance will go into an S&P 500 index fund.

But SEC filings data from March revealed that Buffett's company Berkshire Hathaway unloaded its entire positions in the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF and SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust — two low-cost exchange-traded funds the company had previously held for years.

That’s a move that may be spooking investors and causing them to question their own portfolios.

Buffett didn’t say why his company chose to completely exit two established S&P 500 ETFs last quarter. But there are a number of reasons why he might have gone this route.

"This could indicate concerns about market valuations, increased volatility, or even a shift toward individual stock selection over broad index exposure," Daniel Milks, founder of Fiduciary Organization & Woodmark Advisors, told etf.com.

Collectively the shares were a relatively small position for Berkshire at only $45.3 million of a $267 billion portfolio. It's possible that the exit was a means of cleaning up Berkshire’s portfolio, something it has reportedly done before.

"Given Warren Buffett's history of emphasizing long-term investing, this isn't necessarily a warning sign for retail investors to panic," Milks said.

Between Buffett dumping Berkshire’s S&P 500 ETFs and other stocks, plus his growing cash pile, investors may worry he's anticipating a near-term market crash. After all, recent market volatility due to U.S. tariff rollouts has caused many investors and analysts to question if the country is headed for a recession.