Warren Buffett said Apple CEO Tim Cook lacks Steve Jobs' design genius - but his global knowledge stands out

• Warren Buffett touted Tim Cook's rich understanding of the world in a recent interview.
• The investor said the Apple CEO lacks Steve Jobs' design chops, but excels in other ways.
• Cook has praised Buffett and celebrated Berkshire Hathaway's backing in the past.
• $4.

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Warren Buffett praised Apple CEO Tim Cook's diplomatic skills and lauded his deep knowledge of global supply chains in a recent $4.

"Tim may not be able to design a product like Steve," the billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO said, referring to Steve Jobs, the late Apple cofounder and Cook's predecessor as CEO.

"But Tim understands the world to a degree that very, very few CEOs I've met over the past 60 years could match," Buffett added.

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Berkshire owned 944 million shares in Apple at the last count, giving it a 5.6% stake worth close to $130 billion as of Monday's close. Buffett's company is Apple's second-biggest shareholder, and Apple is $4 in Berkshire's stock portfolio.

Buffett and Cook first connected nearly a decade ago, when Cook called up the investor to ask what he should do with Apple's roughly $100 billion cash pile. Buffett told him to spend some of it on buybacks if he viewed the stock as undervalued, and Cook followed his advice, he $4 in 2019.

Cook has also celebrated Berkshire's backing on several occasions.

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"The fact that we've got the ultimate long-term investor in the stock is incredible," he $4 in 2018.

"I'm overjoyed, I'm thrilled because Warren is focused on the long term," he said in a $4 in 2018. "We're in sync. It's the way we run the company, it's the way he invests. I could not be happier."

The Apple chief also admires Buffett's willingness to educate others, he $4 in 2019.

"Warren to me, other than the obvious wisdom, integrity, humility, plain language ... I don't think there's a better teacher," he said.

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Buffett, who received $4 on how to use an iPhone, has praised Apple and its CEO many times.

"It's an incredible business run by a fellow who is one of of the great managers of all time," he $4 in 2018. "He was underrated for a while, but now he's being seen for what he really is."