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Berkshire Hathaway owned 151.6 million American Express shares at December 31, 2025, equal to 22.1% of American Express common stock. Berkshire reported a $56.088 billion year-end market value, a $1.287 billion cost basis and $479 million in American Express dividends received during 2025. A later-filed SEC Form 13F lists 151,610,700 shares valued at $51,282,319,275 for its own reporting date; that figure is not the same snapshot as the annual-report total.
How much of American Express does Berkshire own?
Berkshire Hathaway’s 2025 annual report is the clearest year-end statement: 151.6 million American Express shares represented 22.1% of the company’s outstanding common stock on December 31, 2025. That makes Berkshire one of American Express’s largest shareholders and gives the investment substantial weight inside Berkshire’s equity portfolio.
The SEC Form 13F information table filed in 2026 reports 151,610,700 shares across three American Express entries, with a combined reported value of $51,282,319,275. Form 13F reports holdings for a prior quarter-end and uses market prices for that reporting date. It should therefore be labeled by filing period rather than treated as a live quote or as a replacement for Berkshire’s December 31 annual-report figure.
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What is Berkshire’s American Express stake worth?
| Measure | Reported figure | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| Shares owned | 151.6 million | Berkshire’s December 31, 2025 annual-report position |
| Ownership | 22.1% | Share of American Express outstanding common stock at year-end |
| Cost basis | $1.287 billion | Berkshire’s recorded cost for the investment |
| Market value | $56.088 billion | Fair value at December 31, 2025 |
| 2025 dividends | $479 million | Dividends Berkshire reported receiving during 2025 |
| SEC Form 13F value | $51,282,319,275 | Value attached to 151,610,700 shares for the 13F’s reporting date |
The cost basis and market value are different measurements, not competing estimates. The cost basis is what Berkshire records as its investment cost, while market value changes with American Express’s share price. The $479 million dividend figure is cash income received during 2025, not a deduction from the reported market value.
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Why Berkshire continues to hold American Express
Berkshire’s shareholder letter says a large portion of its portfolio is concentrated in a small number of American companies, including American Express, Apple, Coca-Cola and Moody’s. Berkshire describes these as businesses it understands well, respects for the quality of their leaders and expects to compound over decades. The stated approach is long-term ownership rather than frequent trading.
The letter also says activity in these core holdings should remain limited unless a company’s long-term economic prospects change fundamentally. That explains why Berkshire can retain a very large American Express position through ordinary market cycles without treating each price movement as a reason to sell.
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What that does—and does not—say about Warren Buffett
Gregory E. Abel is identified as Berkshire’s chief executive officer, while Warren E. Buffett is chairman and former CEO. The current filings establish Berkshire’s corporate holding; they do not support attributing a particular 2025 purchase or sale decision solely to Buffett. Any claim about a specific transaction should be tied to a dated filing or statement.
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American Express was one of Berkshire’s five largest equity holdings at December 31, 2025. Together, those five positions represented 65% of the fair value of Berkshire’s equity securities, showing how concentrated the portfolio is.
| Comparison point | American Express | Other named core holdings |
|---|---|---|
| Included among five largest equity holdings | Yes | Apple, Coca-Cola and Moody’s are named as core businesses; individual rankings are not stated |
| Ownership percentage disclosed in the cited materials | 22.1% of American Express common stock | Not stated |
| Year-end market value | $56.088 billion at December 31, 2025 | Not stated in the cited materials |
| 2025 dividend contribution | $479 million | Not stated |
| Accounting treatment | Fair value | Individual treatments are not stated here |
The available figures support a comparison of scale and concentration, but not a complete ranking by value, ownership or dividends. Berkshire’s 65% aggregate figure applies to the five holdings as a group, not to American Express alone.
Why Berkshire uses fair-value accounting for the investment
Berkshire reports that it has had an agreement with American Express since 1995 to vote a significant portion of its shares in line with recommendations from American Express’s board. Berkshire also reports Federal Reserve passivity commitments that limit its ability to exercise significant influence over American Express’s operating and financial policies.
Because those commitments constrain significant influence, Berkshire records the American Express investment at fair value rather than using the equity method. In practical terms, changes in American Express’s quoted share price flow through the reported value of Berkshire’s equity securities, while Berkshire does not record a proportional share of American Express’s underlying earnings under equity-method accounting.
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What is not established about the ownership history
The cited official materials do not provide a complete transaction-by-transaction history of Berkshire’s American Express purchases, including exact dates and prices. The current share count and cost basis should not be turned into an invented acquisition timeline. Secondary accounts may describe earlier purchases, but those details are outside the documented figures used here.
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The two headline values also should not be mixed: $56.088 billion is Berkshire’s December 31, 2025 annual-report market value, while $51,282,319,275 is the value reported in the SEC Form 13F for its separate filing period. Different dates and market prices can produce different values even when the reported share counts are nearly identical.
The Bottom Line
Berkshire still owned 151.6 million American Express shares, or 22.1% of the company, at December 31, 2025. Berkshire valued the position at $56.088 billion, carried it at fair value because of passivity restrictions, and received $479 million in 2025 dividends. Its own explanation is a decades-long strategy of concentrating capital in businesses it understands and expects to compound over time.
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