Elon Musk finally has Warren Buffett as a shareholder — sort of

Elon Musk has long wanted to call Warren Buffett a shareholder. Mike Blake/Reuters; Kevin Lamarque/Reuters Elon Musk has wanted Warren Buffett as a shareholder for years. His wish has finally come true, in a sense.As of June 30, Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway indirectly owned about 0.04% of SpaceX, a stake worth over $800 million, according to Business Insider's calculations.This "look-through stake" — a term coined by Buffett — is based on Berkshire owning part of Alphabet, which in turn owns part of SpaceX.Berkshire reported a roughly 0.9% stake in Alphabet, worth about $38 billion, in its second-quarter portfolio update on Friday.Alphabet revealed in its portfolio filing that it owned about 4%, or $94 billion worth, of SpaceX on June 30.Berkshire's stake in Alphabet represents a proportional claim on Alphabet's assets, including its SpaceX holding. Its piece of the $94 billion position was worth about $815 million at the end of June, but closer to $700 million at Tuesday's market close, following share-price declines for both Alphabet and SpaceX this quarter.That's a tiny financial interest for Berkshire, which owned about $1.3 trillion of assets at the end of June, including $324 billion of stocks.But Alphabet's stake in SpaceX is worth about $79 billion today, or roughly 2% of Alphabet's market value, making it a material asset for the search, advertising, and AI giant. Berkshire will be monitoring the holding closely, given how much money it has riding on Alphabet. Buffett — who stepped down as CEO at the turn of this year, but remains Berkshire's chairman and largest shareholder — established the Alphabet stake during the third quarter of 2025. Less than 12 months later, on June 30, Berkshire counted Alphabet as its third-biggest stock holding after Apple and American Express.Tesla, SpaceX, and Berkshire didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.'Maybe Buffett should invest in Tesla haha'Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has been clamoring for Buffett's backing on X for years."He should take a position in Tesla. It's an obvious move," Musk posted in 2024."Too bad he didn't invest in Tesla when it was 0.1% of today's value lol," Musk wrote in 2023."Munger could've invested in Tesla at ~$200M valuation when I had lunch with him in late 2008," Musk said in another post that year, referring to Buffett's late business partner, Charlie Munger."Maybe Buffett should invest in Tesla haha," Musk tweeted in 2021.Yet Buffett refrained from buying into Tesla, preferring to back the EV maker's Chinese rival, BYD, for about 17 years, from 2008 to 2025.There's also no sign that Berkshire has directly invested in SpaceX, which had its blockbuster public-market debut in June.Buffett's restraint isn't surprising, as he's a renowned bargain hunter known for investing in mature, predictable businesses that he understands deeply.Tesla and SpaceX both trade at punchy valuations, and between them, they're racing to build everything from humanoid robots and self-driving cars to spaceships capable of transporting people to Mars.Even with Buffett out and Greg Abel in as Berkshire CEO, a direct SpaceX bet looks unlikely anytime soon, as it would mark a huge departure from Buffett's school of investing.Buffett and Musk go way back SpaceX boss Elon Musk has a complicated history with Warren Buffett. Steve Nesius/Reuters Over the years, Musk has praised Buffett's work, recognized his expertise, and quoted him multiple times on Tesla earnings calls.But he's also questioned some of Buffett's investing principles, and championed his own focus on building businesses and products, while dismissing Buffett's focus on studying companies and allocating capital as "super boring."Buffett has also jabbed at Musk in the past. But he's also applauded him for Tesla's success and for taking on momentous challenges."It's a dedication to solving the impossible, and every now and then he'll do it," Buffett said about Musk during Berkshire's shareholder meeting in 2023. "But it would be torturous to me or Charlie."Munger also hailed Musk's taste for difficulty, joking, "Warren and I are looking for the easy job."Musk welcomed the pair's comments in an X post: "Appreciate the kind words from Warren & Charlie."Betting on SpaceXBerkshire's indirect bet on SpaceX doesn't carry the usual weight of Buffett's vote of confidence, given it's an unavoidable product of its Alphabet investment, and neither Buffett nor his team has publicly acknowledged the look-through stake.But Musk's company was clearly an attractive play for Alphabet when it originally invested $900 million in 2015, and Alphabet was evidently a compelling wager for Berkshire given how quickly it has amassed a big stake in the business.For now, assuming Alphabet and Berkshire haven't altered their stakes since the end of June, Musk can at least say Buffett is one of the biggest shareholders in one of his biggest shareholders. Read next Theron Mohamed is a London-based correspondent on the International team at Business Insider. His coverage spans finance, investing, wealth, markets, and the economy.Theron joined BI in 2019 as a reporter at Markets Insider and rose to the rank of correspondent before moving to the Trending team then the broader International team. He previously covered tech, media, and telecom stocks for Investors Chronicle magazine and had a brief stint on the Financial Times' Data team. He interned at the Wall Street Journal in New York where he primarily wrote for Heard on the Street.Theron has freelanced for The Independent, The Telegraph, WIRED, and several smaller publications. He holds an undergraduate degree in geography from the London School of Economics, and a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University.Theron often covers Warren Buffett, Michael Burry, and other elite investors. He also writes about the world's wealthiest people and shares financial advice from all manner of rich and successful people.Email Theron at tmohamed@businessinsider.com and follow him on X @theron_mohamed. Finance Tech Elon Musk More Warren Buffett SpaceX Tesla Alphabet Berkshire Hathaway Investing Stocks