By Amanda Breen Billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s big bet on Apple has paid off in a major way, making more than $120 billion on paper as the tech giant reached a milestone $3 trillion market valuation this week, CNBC reports. Berkshire Hathaway started purchasing Apple stock in 2016, and by mid-2018, the conglomerate had amassed 5 percent of the company—a stake that cost $36 billion. In 2022, that Apple investment is worth a whopping $160 billion. The iPhone maker also rewards its investors with dividends, and Berkshire has received regular payouts averaging $775 million per year. Despite Apple’s clear and sustained growth, investing in Steve Jobs’s brainchild wasn’t always on Buffett’s radar; historically, the “Oracle of Omaha” has been wary of heavy-hitting tech stocks, but that’s changed in recent years. Today, Berkshire’s Apple stake comprises more than 40 percent of its equity portfolio, per InsiderScore.com calculations, and Buffett has referred …