Buffett buys back record $5.1 billion in Berkshire stock as coronavirus hits operating earnings

PUBLISHED SAT, AUG 8 20208:29 AM EDTUPDATED 8 MIN AGOFred Imbert@FOIMBERT

Warren BuffettGerard Miller | CNBC

Berkshire Hathaway announced on Saturday it bought back a record amount of its own stock during the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic dented operations for Warren Buffett’s conglomerate. 

The company said it repurchased a total of $5.1 billion worth in stock in May and June. Berkshire repurchased more than $4.6 billion of its Class B stock and about $486.6 million in Class A shares.

The share repurchase is the most ever in a single period for Buffett, nearly double the $2.2 billion the conglomerate bought back in the final quarter of 2019. In fact, the amount is slightly more than what Buffett spent buying back Berkshire stock in all of 2019.

Those buybacks come during a tough period for some of Berkshire’s wholly owned businesses as the pandemic thwarted economic activity in the U.S. and ac