Berkshire Hathaway's latest 13F filing shows an 83% jump in its Alphabet stake, and Alphabet's own 4% ownership of SpaceX means Warren Buffett's conglomerate now carries indirect exposure to Elon Musk's rocket company. Berkshire never bought a SpaceX share directly — the exposure is a byproduct of its Google bet.
Berkshire Hathaway's second 13F filing of the Greg Abel CEO era revealed an 83% expansion of its Alphabet stake to nearly 106 million shares. That move makes Alphabet the conglomerate's third-largest holding, behind only Apple and American Express.
Tucked inside that bet is an unexpected link to Musk's SpaceX. Buffett never invested in SpaceX or Tesla directly, despite Musk courting his backing for years.
A look-through stake, not a direct one
Berkshire's exposure comes through what's called a "look-through stake" — the economic interest it holds in assets owned by one of its portfolio companies, in this case Alphabet. Berkshire disclosed a 0.9% stake in Alphabet worth about $38 billion at the end of Q2, while Alphabet reported owning roughly 4% of SpaceX, valued at $94 billion as of June 30.
A Business Insider report, cited by TheStreet, applied Berkshire's proportional ownership of Alphabet to Alphabet's SpaceX stake, putting Berkshire's indirect interest at $815 million at quarter-end, or 0.04% of SpaceX. After Alphabet and SpaceX shares slipped, that exposure was estimated closer to $700 million by the close on Aug. 18. The stake traces back to Alphabet's 2015 investment of about $900 million in SpaceX alongside Fidelity, a position now worth roughly 100 times what Alphabet put in.
Buffett admired Musk but never bought in
Musk spent years courting Buffett's endorsement. In 2024, Musk wrote that Buffett "should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move." Buffett never acted on it — Berkshire instead held a stake in BYD, a rival Chinese EV maker, for nearly 17 years before exiting in 2025.
Not a classic Buffett bet
SpaceX doesn't fit the businesses Buffett has traditionally favored — those with economics he could forecast years ahead. The company spent over $18 billion on capex in Q2 against just $7.8 billion in sales, and its stock trades at over 39 times forward sales estimates, far above the sector median valuation.
Berkshire never chose SpaceX, so this indirect exposure is unlikely to carry the same signaling power as a direct endorsement. For SpaceX shareholders, the fundamentals — Starlink growth, Starship execution, and dilution from newly tradable insider shares — still matter far more than Buffett's accidental link to the company.
Sources: TheStreet, Crypto Briefing
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