Alex Wong / Getty Images Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has permission to more than double its Bank of America stake to 24.9%, a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve's Richmond, Virginia outpost told Business Insider this week. The billionaire investor's company bought about $1.7 billion of the bank's stock in the last two weeks of July, lifting its ownership to 11.8%. The Richmond Fed approved Berkshire's application to raise its 10% ownership limit in April. However, Berkshire will have to file to become a bank-holding company if it wants to own 25% or more of Bank of America. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories. Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has the green light to more than double its Bank of America stake to 24.9%, a spokesperson for the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond told Business Insider this week. The famed investor's conglomerate spent about $1.7 billion on the bank's shares in the space of nine trading days in July, boosting its ownership to 11.8% — a position worth more than $25 billion based on Bank of America's closing share price on Monday.See the rest of the story at Business InsiderNOW WATCH: Why Pikes Peak is the most dangerous racetrack in AmericaSee Also:A market-research expert breaks down the 3 sectors and 4 stocks that he says are best to own as a new Cold War between the US and China heats up3 Wall Street pros managing $12 billion in assets share their strategies for profiting from the economy's recovery — and explain why investors should be aggressively taking risks now'Castles built on sand': Famed economist David Rosenberg says investors are being too reckless as stocks rally — and that a vicious long-term bear market is far from over