Warren Buffett's public Kraft Heinz criticism is extremely unusual for the typically passive owner

Wall Street shared Buffett's disappointment.

Kraft Heinz shares fell arsenic overmuch arsenic 7.6% connected Tuesday after the announcement early that morning, but made backmost immoderate of that loss, finishing down conscionable 2.4% for the holiday-shortened week.

Will Buffett's unhappiness punctual Berkshire to merchantability immoderate oregon each of its stake?

He didn't regularisation it out, saying, "We volition proceed to bash immoderate we deliberation is successful the champion involvement of Berkshire."

Buffett did add, "If we are approached astir selling our shares, we wouldn't judge the artifact bid unless the aforesaid connection is made to different Kraft Heinz shareholders." That is, unless idiosyncratic is consenting to bargain the full company.

Becky reported Buffett doesn't similar the $300 cardinal successful further overhead costs that volition beryllium spent to instrumentality the divided implicit the adjacent year, and helium doesn't deliberation it volition bash overmuch good.

"It surely didn't crook retired to beryllium a superb thought to enactment them together, but I don't deliberation taking it isolated volition hole it."

In 2013, Berkshire joined with Brazil's 3G Capital Management to bargain H.J. Heinz for $23.3 billion.

Two years later, when Kraft merged with Heinz, Berkshire emerged with much than 325 cardinal shares successful the caller institution valued astatine astir $24 cardinal when the woody closed in July of 2015. 

While the worth of Berkshire's involvement did good instantly aft the merger, rising to astir $30 cardinal successful 2016, it slid sharply implicit the pursuing 3 years and has been bouncing astir $10 cardinal since 2020.

In his 2015 missive to shareholders, Buffett wrote the shares outgo Berkshire $9.8 billion, truthful close present it has an wide nonaccomplishment of astir $1.0 billion.

Berkshire wrote down the concern by $3.8 billion in the 2nd 4th to amended bespeak its marketplace value. It did a $3.0 cardinal write-down in 2019.

In a 2019 unrecorded CNBC interview with Becky Quick, Buffett had immoderate regrets astir Berkshire's relation successful the Kraft Heinz merger, saying helium had "overpaid" for a bully company.

The banal terms has dropped 69% since the merger closed.

The divided did not travel arsenic a implicit surprise.

In July, The Wall Street Journal reported Kraft Heinz was "eyeing spinning disconnected a ample chunk of its market business, including galore Kraft products."

Two Berkshire executives resigned from the KHC committee successful May after the institution revealed an "ongoing valuation of strategical transactions to unlock shareholder value."

Those resignations prompted speculation astatine the clip Berkshire could commencement selling, "creating an overhang connected the stock," according to 1 analyst.

That overhang is adjacent much ominous now.

Because Berkshire owns much than 10% of KHC shares, it volition request to study immoderate unfastened marketplace income wrong 2 concern days, which could punctual different investors to besides sell.

Buffett isn't unsocial successful his disapproval of the split.

The Financial Times writes, "At its heart, Kraft Heinz's occupation is it has failed to respond to changing user tastes." It thinks the divided is "less a bold strategical pivot, and much the effect of years of underperformance caused by prioritising [UK spelling] outgo cuts implicit innovation."

Reuters columnist Jennifer Saba calls the "remaking [of] the sausage ... arsenic unpleasant to spot arsenic ever."

"Despite producing a wide assortment of brands, the endless rhythm of wheeling and dealing seems to travel successful lone 1 yucky flavor" with "implausibly optimistic" fiscal engineering.

Why Berkshire paid excessively overmuch for Kraft (2019)

Warren Buffett admits Berkshire Hathaway paid excessively overmuch for Kraft successful its merger with Heinz, citing the increasing pricing powerfulness of retailers implicit brands.

Berkshire's apical holdings of disclosed publically traded stocks successful the U.S., Japan, and Hong Kong, by marketplace value, based connected today's closing prices.

Holdings are arsenic of June 30, 2025 arsenic reported in Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on August 14, 2025, but for:

• Itochu, which is arsenic of March 17, 2025, and Mitsubishi, which is arsenic of August 28, 2025. Tokyo Stock Exchange prices are converted to U.S. dollars from Japanese yen.

The afloat database of holdings and existent marketplace values is disposable from CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please nonstop immoderate questions oregon comments astir the newsletter to maine at alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don't guardant questions oregon comments to Buffett himself.)

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Also, Buffett's yearly letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There are collected here connected Berkshire's website.

-- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch