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The company spent $16.8 billion within two days to acquire residential home builder Taylor Morrison Home Corporation and assist Google in expanding its artificial intelligence business. These investments may finally begin to satisfy investors who have been calling for the exchange to take action—ever since taking over Warren Buffett as CEO in January, investors have hoped he would do things his predecessor never did: use more of Berkshire’s cash. Many investors and analysts said that as of March 31, Berkshire’s total cash holdings stood at $380.2 billion, which has weighed on the stock price of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate. The stock has fallen 13% from its all-time high in May 2025, while the S&P 500 Index, with a high proportion of technology stocks, has risen 34% over the same period. On Monday, Berkshire agreed to purchase $10 billion worth of stock in Google’s parent company Alphabet via a private placement, as part of the Mountain View, California-based company’s $80 billion equity financing plan. This investment demonstrates Berkshire’s confidence in Alphabet’s leadership in artificial intelligence. Berkshire’s $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison was announced on Sunday; the company operates in 12 U.S. states.

This rise in inflation reflects the growing impact of higher oil prices amid Middle East tensions and a weaker Korean won against the US dollar, both of which continue to drive up import costs. Statistics Korea announced on Tuesday that the benchmark Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 3.1% year-on-year in May, marking the fastest pace since March 2024, compared with a 2.6% increase in April. The latest figure exceeds the median estimate of a 3.0% increase from a Wall Street Journal survey of nine economists. Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 0.5% in May, faster than the 0.3% expected in the survey. Consumer prices were also up 0.5% month-on-month in April. In May, the core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, climbed 2.5% year-on-year and 0.5% month-on-month. Last week, at the first policy meeting under Governor Shin Hyun-song, the Bank of Korea kept interest rates unchanged, but signaled a more hawkish stance, citing upside risks to growth and inflation.

Glonghui, June 2｜Coca-Cola said on Monday that it is considering an initial public offering in Mumbai for its largest bottler in India—Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages.