Berkshire Hathaway is moving.

Today I’m going to talk about something that caught the market’s attention yesterday. The stock of Berkshire Hathaway rose more than 2%.

The reason is that Berkshire Hathaway announced that it has restarted share buybacks for the first time since 2024. Along with that, we also learned something very interesting. The company’s new CEO, Greg Abel, personally bought about 15 million dollars worth of company shares.

So today I’m going to look at what exactly happened, what these moves mean for Berkshire Hathaway, and what Abel himself says about his relationship with Warren Buffett now that he has taken the reins of the company.

Let’s break it down.

THE BUYBACKS

Let me start with the big news.

Berkshire Hathaway announced that it has started buying back its own shares again, both Class A and Class B.

For those who may not know, the company has a very specific policy around buybacks.

It only repurchases shares when the CEO, in consultation with Warren Buffett, believes the stock price is below the company’s true value, what investors call intrinsic value.

In simple terms, if management believes the market is undervaluing the company, then Berkshire Hathaway takes advantage of the opportunity and buys back its shares.

What makes this interesting is that the last time the company carried out buybacks was in 2024. Since then it had stopped, which had started to worry several investors.

And the reason is simple.

The company has accumulated an enormous amount of cash. We’re talking about more than 370 billion dollars, one of the largest cash piles in corporate history.

So many investors were wondering what Berkshire Hathaway plans to do with all that money.

The announcement that buybacks are restarting acted as an initial signal to the market.

It is also important to note that the company has not committed to buying a specific number of shares. Repurchases can take place either in the open market or through private transactions, and they can stop at any time if market conditions change.

But the most interesting part of the story is not that.

The most interesting part is what Greg Abel himself did.

ABEL’S MOVE

In a separate announcement, Greg Abel revealed that he personally bought 15 million dollars worth of shares of Berkshire Hathaway.

There is an important detail here. The 15 million dollars roughly corresponds to his after tax salary. In other words, he took his net salary and invested it directly into the company.

When he was asked about this in an interview with CNBC, he said something even more interesting.

He said he plans to do the same thing every year for as long as he leads the company.

The reason, according to him, is simple. Complete alignment with shareholders is critical.

This has always been a key principle at Berkshire Hathaway. After all, Warren Buffett has almost his entire fortune invested in the company itself.

Today, Abel already owns about 164 million dollars worth of Berkshire Hathaway shares, and this move signals that he intends to continue the same philosophy.

Of course, there is still the big question. What happens now that Warren Buffett is no longer running the company?

THE ABEL AND BUFFETT RELATIONSHIP

Greg Abel addressed that question as well, and his answer is quite reassuring for investors.

He revealed that he still speaks with Warren Buffett almost every day.

Buffett remains chairman of the company and still goes to the office every day in Omaha, and the two of them remain in constant communication.

As Abel explained, if he is in Omaha they talk every day. If he is traveling, they speak every few days.

At the same time, he admitted something very human. Filling Buffett’s shoes is a massive challenge.

Buffett, as Abel noted, is an exceptional communicator, and writing his first annual letter to shareholders was probably the most difficult part of stepping into the role.

Even so, Abel made one thing very clear.

The philosophy of Berkshire Hathaway is not going to change.

The company will continue to operate with the same core principles
a strong financial foundation
disciplined investments
long term thinking

And when he was asked about investments in crypto, he was very clear.

He does not see Berkshire Hathaway investing in cryptocurrencies, although that does not mean the technology itself is off the table.

On the contrary, he said technology remains an area where the company may develop strong investment views in the future. 📊
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