Ten days ago, the news broke: Warren Buffett, famed value investor and CEO of consumer brands mega-conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRK.A) (NYSE: BRK.B), bought a $549 million stake in supermarket chain Kroger (NYSE: KR). The so-called "Oracle of Omaha" vote of confidence immediately lifted Kroger stock, which closed last week's trading up 7.4% from where it was when the news was first announced. There's just one problem with that: Warren Buffett didn't actually decide to buy Kroger -- at least, not personally. Image source: The Motley Fool. Instead, as CNBC reports this morning, one of Buffett's lieutenants under him made the decision. Either way, it was not actually Mr. Buffett himself who demonstrated confidence in Kroger sufficient to lay out half a billion dollars to invest in it. In fact, while Buffett says Kroger is doing a good job, he also said grocery is a "tough business," which suggests he isn't quite so sanguine about Kroger's business as recent stories on the Berkshire purchase may have made it sound. Caveats and quibbles, you say? Perhaps. At the very least, Buffett did decide to delegate the decision to buy Kroger stock to his lieutenants. And so far today, Kroger stock is holding up very well against the market rout, with its shares up 0.6% at 10:30 a.m., versus an S&P 500 that's down 2.9%. 10 stocks we like better than Berkshire Hathaway (A shares)When investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Berkshire Hathaway (A shares) wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Berkshire Hathaway (B shares) and recommends the following options: long January 2021 $200 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), short January 2021 $200 puts on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares), and short March 2020 $225 calls on Berkshire Hathaway (B shares). The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source