Berkshire Hathaway Selling Part of Verisign Stake; Stock Falling After-Hours

Jul 28, 2025 19:48:00 -0400 by Andrew Bary | #Warren Buffett

A cardboard cutout of Warren Buffett during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb., on May 4, 2024. (Dan Brouillette/Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway is taking advantage of the strength in Verisign stock to sell 4.3 million shares of the internet and domain registry services company and bring its stake below 10%, according t o a press release from Verisign after the close of trading Monday.

The price of the offering hasn’t been set yet but it could raise $1.2 billion based on Verisign’s stock price in after-hours trading. Berkshire will own about nine million shares following the deal, which will be underwritten by J.P. Morgan.

Verisign said the deal is being sized so that Berkshire’s stake will fall below the 10% threshold after the completion of the sale. A stake above 10% brings additional regulatory burdens on the holder, including the need to disclose any purchases or sales within two business days. Berkshire’s remaining stake will be worth about $2.6 billion.

Verisign shares were down 6.6% to $285.84 in after-hours trading after being little changed at nearly $307 a share in regular trading Monday. The stock was up nearly 50% year to date based on Monday’s close.

Verisign noted that Berkshire has been a shareholder since 2012, and Berkshire was adding to its position in late 2024 and early 2025 when the stock was around $200.

Some Berkshire watchers think the Verisign holding is managed by Todd Combs or Ted Weschler, investment managers who run about 10% of Berkshire’s $300 billion equity portfolio. CEO Warren Buffett handles the rest.

Selling part of a holding through an underwritten sale is unusual for Berkshire. When it cut its stake in Bank of America to under 10% from over 12% in the summer and fall of 2024, Berkshire sold shares in the open market and had to disclose those sales within two business days.

Buffett prefers to keep Berkshire equity investments under 10% to avoid disclosures of purchases or sales which can have a market impact. Verisign stock is less liquid than Bank of America, which may have helped prompt Berkshire’s decision. Berkshire agreed to a 365-day lockup on its remaining Verisign shares.

Write to Andrew Bary at andrew.bary@barrons.com