Berkshire’s Post-Buffett Era Opens With a Growing Cash Mountain and a Slow Deployment Start

Corporate Succession

By Rhea LoboMay 2, 2026

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Berkshire’s Post-Buffett Era Opens With a Growing Cash Mountain and a Slow Deployment Start

Corporate Succession

By Rhea LoboMay 2, 2026

The Oracle stepped aside, but his playbook is still running the show. Berkshire Hathaway opened Greg Abel’s first quarter as CEO with a record ~$381B cash pile, a 14th straight quarter of net stock sales, and profits that more than doubled year over year. Abel stuck to the script, warning against the “ABCs — arrogance, bureaucracy, and complacency” creeping in.

Berkshire Hathaway dumped $24B in stocks while buying $15.9B — its biggest sale since trimming Apple in 2024.
Operating earnings rose 18%, while the conglomerate repurchased $234M of its own stock in March, ending a 22-month buyback drought.

The torch passes: Abel told the “Woodstock for Capitalists” crowd, “We’re not going to do AI for the sake of AI,” while doubling down on Berkshire Hathaway’s “core four” — Apple, American Express, Moody’s, and Coca-Cola. However, Class A shares are down 12% since the day before Warren Buffett announced his exit, trailing the S&P 500 over the same stretch. And although Buffett called the succession “100% successful,” investors want to see that firepower deployed.

Berkshire’s Post-Buffett Era Opens With a Growing Cash Mountain and a Slow Deployment Start

Berkshire’s Post-Buffett Era Opens With a Growing Cash Mountain and a Slow Deployment Start

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