Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway sold 70% of its investment in Activision Blizzard within the second quarter, apparently losing some profits as a federal judge said Microsoft could complete its $75 billion purchase of the video game maker.
In a regulatory filing Monday, Berkshire said it owns roughly 14.7 million shares of Activision, or 1.9%, valued at $1.24 billion on June 30, up from 49.4 million shares, or 6.3% on March 31.
The filing didn’t discuss the costs of any sale or whether Berkshire bought or sold Activision shares in July.
Berkshire didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment.
Activision’s investment was a type of arbitrage, and Buffett viewed investors as too pessimistic for regulators to conform to a merger of Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console business with the publisher of the “Call of Duty” and “Candy Crush” franchises.
Certainly one of Berkshire’s portfolio managers invested in Activision in late 2021, and Buffett increased its stake to almost 10% in 2022.
![Warren Buffett last week in Sun Valley, Idaho.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000013940867-1.jpg?w=1024)
billionaire informed the shareholders at Berkshire’s April 2022 annual meeting, he didn’t know if regulators would bless the merger, which valued Activision at $95 a share, but “one thing we all know is that Microsoft has money.”
Berkshire’s remaining stake in Activision – 14,658,121 shares – is strictly similar to before Buffett began buying, suggesting he walked out of an arbitrage bet.
Activision shares jumped 10% to $90.99 on July 11 after U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley in San Francisco dismissed Federal Trade Commission arguments that the merger would hurt competition in cloud gaming, consoles and subscription services.
The stock hit a 52-week high of $93.67 on Monday before closing at $93.21, up 3.5%.
![Microsoft and Activision Blizzard logos](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/07/NYPICHPDPICT000014201635.jpg?w=1024)
Britain’s competition regulator, the Competition and Markets Authority, also opposed the merger but agreed to place Microsoft’s appeal on hold to permit more time to resolve the dispute.
Berkshire is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. He also owns dozens of corporations, equivalent to BNSF, a railroad insurer, and Geico, in addition to stocks equivalent to Apple and Bank of America.