QuestionerDo you think Apple would do better spending $100 billion on buybacks or buying other productive businesses the way you have generally preferred? $100 billion is a lot of money?
WarrenI used to think so. The Apple has an incredible consumer product, which you understand a lot better than I do. Whether they should buy in their shares, they shouldn't buy in their shares at all unless they think that they're something. They're selling for less than their worth, and if they are selling for less than their worth and they have the money and they don't see an acquisition that's even more attractive, they should buy in their shares. And I think that that's very, because I think it's extremely hard to find acquisitions that would be accretive to Apple that would be in the $50 or $100 billion range. They do a lot of small acquisitions. And, you know, I'm delighted to see them repurchasing shares. We own, let's say we own 250 million or so shares. They have, I think, $4,923 million or something like that, a few. And mentally, you can say we own 5% of it. But I figure, you know, with the passage of a little time, we may own 6% or 7% simply because they repurchase shares. And I find it, you've got an extraordinary product in the ecosystem, and there's lots to be done. I love the idea of having our 5% or whatever it may be grow to 6% or 7% without us laying out a dime. I mean, it's worked for us in many other situations. But you have to have some very, very, very special product. which has an enormous, enormously widespread ecosystem. And the product's extremely sticky and all of that sort of thing. And they're not going to find $50 or $100 billion acquisitions that they can make it remotely a sensible price that really become additive to that. They may find it. Who knows? But there certainly, as I look around the array. And I don't see anything that would make a lot of sense for them in terms of what they'd have to pay and what they would get. Whereas I do see a business that they know everything about and where they may or may not be able to buy it at an attractive price when they repurchase their shares that remains to be seen. The reason these companies are buying their stock is that they're smart enough to know that it's better for them than anything else. That does not mean we approve of every buyback at all, though. I mean, we've seen... No, no, no, no. I think some people just buy it to keep the stock up. And that, of course, is insane. And immoral. But apart from that, it's fine.