The Gates Foundation, the charitable organization belonging to Bill and Melinda Gates, snapped up more than half a million Apple shares during the first three months of 2020, a new report claims.
According to an SEC filing, reported by Smarter Analyst, the largest private foundation in the world purchased some 501,044 Apple shares in the first quarter of 2020. At present, AAPL is trading at $320.40, having made back the value it lost during the coronavirus pandemic.
On one level, “large private foundation buys successful stock” isn’t particularly surprising. But it’s certainly got a tinge of irony (in that semi-ironic, Alanis Morissette way) given the history of Apple and Bill Gates. While the Microsoft co-founder actually made his name as a Mac developer, his company famously feuded with Apple throughout the 1990s. In 1995, the idea that — a quarter-century later — Gates would invest heavily in Apple would have seemed absurd.
Interestingly, the Gates Foundation also trimmed holdings in Berkshire Hathaway during the quarter. Berkshire Hathaway’s biggest investment? Apple, of course. It just goes to show that, wherever you look in the financial world, there are people betting on the Cupertino tech giant right now.
And all 10 years to the day since Apple overtook Microsoft as the world’s most valuable tech company!
Via: PED30