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To think that our criterion for Apple is different than the other businesses we own. It just happens to be a better business than any we own. And we put a a fair amount of money in it, but we haven't got more money in it than we've got in the railroad. And Apple is a better business and our railroad is a very good business, but it's not remotely as good as Apple's business.
One of the insane things that's taught in modern university education is that a vast diversification is absolutely mandatory in investing in common stocks. Damodaran mentioned that he is not comfortable with positions becoming a large part of his portfolio. For example, when they reach 25 to 35%. He mentioned that Apple is now 35% of Berkshire's portfolio and thinks that that is near a danger zone.
Wonders [clears throat] if Warren and Charlie can comment. I'll leave him one comment first, but Charlie will come up with I think he's out of his mind. Yeah, I knew that But Apple is not 35% of Berkshire's portfolio. Berkshire's portfolio includes the railroad, the energy business, Grinnell's, you name it, See's Candy.
They're all businesses. And the good thing about Apple is that we can go up. They buy in their stock and instead of owning 5.6%, you know, they get down [clears throat] to they got about 15 billion 700 and some million shares outstanding. They get down to 15 and a quarter billion without us doing anything.
We got 6%. So, we can't own more than 100% of the BNSF. We can't own more than 100% of Grinnell's or See's Candy. And it'd be nice. We'd love to own 200%, but that just isn't doable. But they're all the same. They're good businesses. And to think that our criterion for [clears throat] Apple is different than the other businesses we own.
It just happens to be a better business than any we own. And we put a a fair amount of money in it, but we haven't got more money in it than we've got in the railroad. And Apple is a better business and our railroad is a very good business, but it's not remotely as good as Apple's business. Apple, you know, has a position with consumers where they're paying maybe they pay 1,500 bucks or whatever it may be for a phone and these same people pay 35,000 dollars for having a second car.
And if they had to give up a second car or give up their iPhone, they'd give up their second car. I mean it's it's an extraordinary problem. We don't have anything like that that we own 100% of, but we're very very very happy to have 5.6 or whatever it may be percent and we're delighted every tenth of a percent that goes up.
That's like adding 100 million dollars to our earnings. I mean our share of the earnings and they use their earnings to buy out our partners which we're glad to see them sell out, too. The index funds have to sell them. They bring the number of shares down and we went up slightly last year and I made a mistake a couple years ago when I sold some shares when I had certain reasons why gains were useful to take that year from a tax standpoint, but having heard me say that, it was a dumb decision.
And Charlie, you've already given your comment about it, but but we do not have 35% of Berkshire's portfolio. Berkshire's portfolio is the funds we have to work with and we want to own good businesses and we also want to have plenty of liquidity and beyond that, the sky's the limit or or our mistakes, who knows what the bottom is.
Charlie, do you want to add anything to your earlier comment? Well, I think that is an insane idea. It's not that easy to have a vast plethora of good opportunities that are easily identified and if you've only got three, I'd rather be in my best ideas instead of my worst. Now, some people can't tell their best ideas from their worst and in the act of deciding that an investment idea is good, they they get to thinking it's better than it is.
I think we make fewer mistakes like that than other people and that is a blessing to us. We're not so smart, but we kind of know where the edge of our smartness it is. That is a very important part of practical intelligence. And a lot of people who are geniuses on IQ tests think they're a lot smarter than they are.
And what they are is dangerous. But but if you know the edge of your own ability pretty well, you should ignore most of the notions of our experts about what I call deworsification of portfolios.
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