Buffett invested in Heinz in 2013 and two years later, Heinz merged with Kraft Foods. He bought 326 million shares during this merger at a cost of around $24.6 billion. He has held on to that stake, which is now worth $11.4 billion.

Warren Buffett-led Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRK.A)(NYSE: BRK.B) had a substantial investment in General Motors (NYSE: GM). According to Berkshire's SEC filings, the conglomerate owned 50 million shares of GM at the beginning of that year,

Buffett -- as well as his late great partner Charlie Munger -- would recommend avoiding leverage at all costs in your portfolio. Why? Because when the market turns (which it will inevitably do at times), the downside can wipe you out. The levered Nasdaq ETF went into a massive drawdown in 2022, and that was just one year of bad returns.

S&P 500 investors are playing it safer in 2025 — so Warren Buffett's careful stock-picking is in style again.

Some of the Oracle of Omaha's most-popular buys -- as well as Berkshire's largest holding -- offer robust upside potential in 2025.

With as impressive of an investing track record as Warren Buffett has achieved, you'd expect his Berkshire Hathaway portfolio would be loaded with great stocks. And you'd be right. The good news is that you don't need a huge amount of cash to buy many of those stocks.