Berkshire’s Greg Abel Spent $14.4 Billion on Buffett’s Favorite Stock

Detailed summary

Berkshire sat on a mountain of cash for years while Wall Street wondered what the post-Buffett era would bring. Greg Abel's first big move points to the one asset he trusts most, and the clues are in the filings.

Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B) has reportedly spent $14.4 billion buying back its own shares so far in 2026. For decades, the stock Warren Buffett owned with the most conviction was Berkshire itself. Now his successor is spending billions on it. The $14.4 billion is a reported year-to-date repurchase total. It is the first full measure of how Greg Abel, who has taken over leadership from Warren Buffett, uses the company's cash. Berkshire's own filings back up the rate: about $4.8 billion in buybacks over the first six months, followed by $9.6 billion in third-quarter share repurchases.

This figure marks a reversal. In the third quarter of 2025, Berkshire refrained from buybacks and remained a net seller of equities while cash reserves stood at $381.6 billion. By the first quarter of 2026, cash stood at $380 billion.

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Then the money started moving. Berkshire resumed buybacks in early 2026. It became a net buyer of stocks for the first time in over three years during the second quarter, putting about $23.5 billion into equities, including a $10 billion private placement in Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL). Over the full year so far, Berkshire has gone from $10.6 billion in net stock sales in 2025 to roughly $11.2 billion in net purchases in 2026.

Abel has also bought shares with his own money: he made a $15 million personal investment in Berkshire shares. Berkshire has long said it buys back stock only when management believes the shares trade below intrinsic value. Spending $14.4 billion on its own stock is a clear signal of what the new CEO thinks the company is worth.

The businesses behind those shares are also making more. Second-quarter operating earnings rose to $12.98 billion from $11.16 billion a year…

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