Charlie Munger backed Costco for decades and was its second-largest shareholder; Berkshire sold 4.3 million shares for $1.3 billion in 2020 - here’s what the stake would be worth now

American businessman and investor Charlie Munger was a longtime supporter of Costco, and his connection to the warehouse retailer became closely associated with Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in the company.

According to The Motley Fool, Munger became Costco’s second-largest shareholder and never sold a single share. However, the 4.3 million Costco shares discussed in the report were held by Berkshire Hathaway, not by Munger personally.

That distinction matters when looking back at how much the investment could be worth today.

Charlie Munger was a major Costco shareholder

Costco went public on Dec. 5, 1985, at $10 a share. Over the following decades, the company grew into a major warehouse retailer.

Munger, who was Warren Buffett’s longtime business partner at Berkshire Hathaway, became Costco’s second-largest shareholder, according to The Motley Fool.

Munger was also a vocal supporter of Costco. The Motley Fool noted that he once said he wished everything in America worked as well as Costco.

Berkshire Hathaway held 4.3 million Costco shares

The 4.3 million Costco shares referenced in the report were held by Berkshire Hathaway.

In the third quarter of 2020, Berkshire Hathaway sold its entire 4.3 million-share position in Costco. The stake was worth about $1.3 billion in June 2020, according to The Motley Fool.

The sale later became notable because Costco shares continued to climb.

Warren Buffett subsequently acknowledged that selling the Costco stake was “probably a mistake,” according to the report.

Costco stock gained 138% after Berkshire sold

Costco shares gained 138% during the five years after Berkshire Hathaway sold its stake, The Motley Fool reported.

Based on that increase, Berkshire Hathaway’s former 4.3 million Costco shares would have been worth about $3.66 billion.

The company also increased its dividend by 85% during that period, while Costco had reached 21 consecutive years of annual dividend increases, according to the report.

A $100 Costco investment grew to $86,058

The Motley Fool also examined what a $100 investment in Costco at its 1985 IPO could have become.

Costco went public at $10 a share. After accounting for the stock splits that followed, the original IPO price was approximately $1.67 per share.

The article calculated that the stock's gain represented a 50,858% increase. As a result, a $100 investment at the IPO would have grown to $86,058.

Dividends provided an additional source of returns. Costco paid its first dividend in 2004 at $0.10 per share.

Because the company had not split its stock since then, an investor who initially put $100 into Costco at its IPO would be receiving $1,329 in annual dividend income, according to The Motley Fool.

Costco continued growing four decades after its IPO

Four decades after its IPO, Costco had 921 warehouses worldwide, according to the company's first-quarter 2026 results cited by The Motley Fool.

The company reported $65.98 billion in net sales for the quarter, an 8.2% increase from a year earlier. Costco also planned to open 28 new stores in fiscal 2026.

Its membership base had reached 81.4 million paying members, while its renewal rate in the U.S. and Canada stood at 92.2%, according to the report.

For Munger, Costco was a company he strongly supported. For Berkshire Hathaway, its 4.3 million-share investment became an example of the potential value left behind after selling a long-term holding. Based on the share-price performance cited by The Motley Fool, those shares would have been worth about $3.66 billion five years after the sale.