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(Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)
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Greg Abel resumed Berkshire buybacks as his first CEO purchase after consulting Warren Buffett, demonstrating continuity with Buffett’s approach and belief the stock trades below intrinsic value.
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Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A)(NYSE:BRK-B) is in a new era. After decades at the helm, Warren Buffett stepped back from day-to-day control, handing the CEO reins to Greg Abel at the start of 2026. Investors and analysts have watched closely to see how faithfully Abel would follow Buffett’s legendary playbook of patience, discipline, and opportunistic capital allocation.
With Berkshire sitting on a massive $373 billion cash war chest — built over several years of being a net seller of stocks — Abel has now made his first purchase since becoming CEO, and it was of Buffett’s favorite stock.
Berkshire Resumes Buybacks After Nearly Two-Year Hiatus
SEC filings confirm that Berkshire Hathaway repurchased $15 million worth of its own Class A and Class B shares. Though modest relative to the enormous amount of dry powder it has available, the move is highly notable: it marks the first repurchase of Berkshire shares since the second quarter of 2024. For years prior, Buffett had strung together an unbroken track record of 24 consecutive quarters of Berkshire share repurchases — a streak that ran from mid-2018 through the second quarter of 2024 and totaled nearly $78 billion in buybacks.
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It wasn’t always possible for Buffett to buy his own company’s stock so freely. For decades, Berkshire’s board imposed strict hurdles, limiting repurchases to prices no more than 10% (later 20%) above book value. Only in the past decade did the board relax those rules, authorizing buybacks whenever shares traded below a conservatively estimated intrinsic value. That policy change unlocked Buffett’s aggressive repurchase program, which ran uninterrupted for those 24 quarters before pausing as valuations rose and opportunities elsewhere remained scarce. Now, under Abel, the buybacks have begun again.
Abel Puts His Own Money Where His Mouth Is
Separately, Abel also personally purchased approximately $15 million of Berkshire stock — exactly the after-tax amount of his annual salary. He bought 21 Class A shares on Wednesday, bringing his total holdings to 249 Class A shares, worth roughly $182 million. Abel has pledged to continue devoting his full after-tax salary to Berkshire shares every year going forward.
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The purchase addresses questions some investors had raised about Abel’s “skin in the game.” Before this transaction, his Berkshire stake stood at around $164 million. While substantial, it paled next to Buffett’s own commitment — Buffett has long said roughly 99% of his net worth remains in Berkshire stock. Abel’s move, and his commitment to repeat it annually, sends a clear message of alignment with shareholders.
In a CNBC interview, Abel revealed he conferred directly with Buffett before the transactions. He emphasized that both the company’s buyback and his personal purchase reflect a belief that Berkshire shares are trading below intrinsic value. “I absolutely talked to Warren,” Abel said, underscoring the continuity of decision-making even as leadership transitions.
Key Takeaway
This is not a transformative purchase in size — $15 million barely registers against Berkshire’s $373 billion cash pile or its market capitalization. Yet it is notable nonetheless. Berkshire traditionally does not announce its stock repurchases in real time or issue press releases about them. Abel chose to break that silence. As he explained, he “felt it was important to communicate to our shareholders, our partners, our owners, with the transition of leadership.”
The signal is deliberate: the new era at Berkshire is off to a reassuring start. Abel is not reinventing the wheel — he is oiling it exactly as Buffett would. By putting both the company’s capital and his own salary to work in Berkshire stock — and by consulting the Oracle of Omaha himself — the 62-year-old successor has demonstrated fidelity to the timeless principles that made Berkshire one of the most admired companies on earth.
Shareholders who worried about Berkshire Hathaway being adrift under new leadership can breathe easier. The playbook isn’t just intact; it’s being actively reinforced from day one.
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