12 Apr 2017 Berkshire reluctantly trims Wells Fargo stake to stay below 10% threshold ( Portfolio )

After several months of discussions with representatives of the Federal Reserve, we have concluded that the commitments that would be required of us by the Federal Reserve to retain ownership of 10% or more of Wells Fargo’s outstanding common stock would materially restrict our commercial activity with Wells Fargo. Therefore, it would be simpler to keep our ownership below 10%. Accordingly, on April 7, 2017, we informed the Federal Reserve that we were withdrawing our filing and that we intend to reduce our ownership in Wells Fargo common stock below 10% within 60 trading days.

We will monitor the outstanding share count of Wells Fargo in the future and, if necessary sell shares in amounts to keep our ownership interest slightly below 10%. Berkshire has no present intention to sell Wells Fargo shares in amounts beyond the quantity required to provide a small safety margin below 10%.