TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Berkshire Hathaway revealed on Monday (May 15) that it sold the last of its shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) amid concerns by company Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett that China could invade Taiwan.
In February, the firm revealed that it had sold off 86% of its TSMC shares in the fourth quarter of last year, leading to speculation that Buffet had concerns about the security of TSMC's Taiwan fabs amid increasing military maneuvers by China. In the first quarter of this year, the firm sold off its remaining TSMC stock.
During a shareholder's meeting on May 6, Buffet praised TSMC as "one of the best-managed companies and important companies in the world." However, he justified his selling off of shares in the firm by saying: "I don't like its location and reevaluated that...there's no one in the chip industry that's in their league, at least in my view..."
Buffet again lauded the Taiwanese chipmaker by saying "Marvelous people and marvelous competitive position, but I'd rather find it in the United States." He then continued his bullish sentiment toward Japan by saying, "I would feel better about capital that we've got deployed in Japan than in Taiwan...I wish it weren't so, but I think that's the reality."
According to Berkshire Hathaway's latest Form 13F report, the company has sold its remaining 8.9 million shares of TSMC valued at US$700 million (NT$21.5 billion), reported Barron's.