At lower portfolio sizes, income investing feels like something of a compromise. A 4% yield on $200,000 gives you $8,000 a year, which is barely $667 a month, so it's supplemental income at best. However, jump up to $500,000, even a moderate 5% blended yield can produce $25,000 a year, or right around $2,080 monthly.
Holding a bad position out of pride is far more expensive than taking the loss. Abel is signaling he won't be sentimental with capital. Freeing up roughly $7.7 billion from a stagnant holding and redeploying it into something with actual momentum is exactly what a new CEO should do.
Berkshire's stake in the Tesla rival dates back to 2008, when it wrote in its annual report it owned a 10% stake in an "amazing Chinese company" named BYD, which was building the vehicle of "the future ... a new plug-in electric car." But according to a 10-Q form for Berkshire's energy arm filed for the period ending June 30, 2025, the Buffett-led company has reduced its stake to zero.