Berkshire Hathaway Inc has sold its entire stakes in the four largest U.S. airlines, Chairman Warren Buffett said Saturday at the company's annual meeting.
The conglomerate held sizeable positions in the airlines, including an 11% stake in Delta Air Lines , 10% of American Airlines Co , around 10% of Southwest Airlines Co and 9% of United Airlines at the end of 2019, according to its annual report and company filings.
The conglomerate was one of the largest individual holders in the four airlines.
"We made that decision in terms of the airline business. We took money out of the business basically even at a substantial loss," Buffett said. "We will not fund a company that -- where we think that it is going to chew up money in the future."
Buffett said Berkshire had invested around $7 billion (£5.60 billion) or $8 billion amassing stakes in the four airlines including American Airlines Group Inc.
"We did not take out anything like $7 or $8 billion and that was my mistake," Buffett said at the company's annual meeting which was livestreamed. "I am the one who made the decision."