Aug 05, 2024 12:36 PM IST
Steve Jobs had called to get advice on what to do with Apple’s huge cash pile, Warren Buffett recounted.
Steve Jobs once called ace investor Warren Buffett for some advice on where to invest Apple’s cash reserves. Recalling the memorable phone call that happened in 2010, Warren Buffett called it an “interesting conversation”. The instance was widely shared on social media following the release of Apple’s Q3 earnings report which exceeded expectations.
Warren Buffett said on the call from Steve Jobs, “It was an interesting conversation because I hadn’t talked to him in a long time.” Steve Jobs had called to get advice on what to do with Apple’s huge cash pile, Warren Buffett recounted, adding, “He said, ‘We’ve got all this cash. What should we do with it?’ So we went over the options.”
At the time, Warren Buffett said that companies usually have four choices for using cash: stock buybacks, dividends, acquisitions, or holding onto it. Steve Jobs then told Warren Buffett that Apple wouldn’t go for big acquisitions that required a lot of cash.
He said, “I went through the logic of each thing. He told me they would not have the chance to make big acquisitions that would require lots of money. And then I asked him the question, I said, ‘I would use it for buybacks if I thought my stock was undervalued.’ And I said, ‘How do you feel about that?’ The stock was 200-and-something. He said, ‘I think my stock is very undervalued.’ I said, ‘Well, what better to do with your money?’”
Warren Buffett said Steve Jobs interpreted their conversation as the former endorsing his decision to hold onto the cash. He said, “I later learned that he said I agreed with him to do nothing with the cash.”