Did Warren Buffett Buy Tesla? The April Fools’ Day Prank Explained
April 1, 2025, saw a popular April Fools’ Day prank go viral across the internet’s various platforms with a very bold claim that Warren Buffett’s firm, Berkshire Hathaway, had bought Tesla for an all-time high sum of $1 trillion cash. This humorous article, posted by GoBankingRates, contained a satirical statement that was attributed to Buffett himself, stating, “While I’ve publicly insisted I don’t get tech companies, I’ve quietly been cruising around my Nebraska neighborhood at night in a Cybertruck.” This outrageous assertion most certainly raised quite a few eyebrows and created extensive interest among many individuals as they questioned whether Buffett had indeed reversed his long-held opinion about not investing in risky tech stocks such as Tesla.
But the idea of Warren Buffett buying shares in Tesla appears extremely unlikely and improbable, particularly by taking into consideration his widely publicized conservative investment strategy. Buffett has built his reputation by focusing on firms that exhibit stability and follow back-to-the-old-formula business models, and in the past years, he has often expressed his aversion and skepticism towards technology stocks in general. During the 2023 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, he seized the opportunity to praise Elon Musk on his success but also staunchly made it very clear, “We don’t want to compete with Elon in a lot of things,” which serves to further reinforce his disinterest or lack of enthusiasm in buying stock in Tesla.
Despite the clear indication that the article was meant to be a prank, a large number of people were taken in by it, and the statement soon made the rounds on the internet and went viral. People on most social media platforms reacted with a combination of shock and amusement, finding themselves left wondering if the account was genuine or not. However, it should be noted that the article did include a disclaimer at the end, which unashamedly declared, “APRIL FOOLS!” Sadly, too many readers did not catch this important detail until the prank had already gained a lot of momentum and spread far and wide.
This April Fools’ Day prank worked because it cleverly juxtaposed the surprise and improbable pairing of Warren Buffett, the well-known investor, with Tesla, the innovative electric car company. This mismatched couple pairing created a preposterous and funny tale that engaged a great number of people. Warren Buffett did not actually purchase Tesla, and the entire tale was merely a harmless and funny joke created for the day. This event is an important reminder for all of us to always verify sensational and outrageous news reports, particularly on April Fools’ Day when jokers and falsehoods are at their peak.
