The investing legend Warren Buffett announced at the age of 94 during the annual shareholders' meeting on Saturday that he will retire at the end of the year. At the meeting, he specifically praised Apple CEO Tim Cook, stating, "He has earned more money for Berkshire than I have myself."

Buffett has transformed Berkshire Hathaway from a textile company into an investment giant, achieving remarkable results. According to the Wall Street Journal, Buffett had avoided technology stocks for a long time until investing in Apple in 2016, which became one of the most successful investments of his career.

In 2016, at the time of his initial investment in Apple, Buffett, along with his investment partner Charlie Munger, had always steered away from tech companies, believing they could not fully grasp the rapidly changing industry. However, he tasked an investment manager to find a S&P 500 company that met three specific criteria, including a reasonable P/E ratio of no more than 15 and a high confidence in growth over the next five years. The manager identified Apple as fitting those criteria.

At that time, Apple's stock price was already performing well and was not considered cheap. Nevertheless, Buffett recognized Apple's strong customer appeal, as his grandchildren were fans of the iPhone, and the company boasted a retention rate of 95%. Berkshire initially purchased nearly 10 million shares of Apple, worth about $1 billion, and continued to invest. Despite recent significant reductions, by the end of 2024, Berkshire still holds 300 million shares of Apple, valued at $75.1 billion, making it the company's largest holding.