Greg Abel promised Berkshire Hathaway shareholders he will act “decisively” and make “significant” investments in stocks or acquisitions when opportunities arise.
When will that be? Be patient.
Leading the conglomerate’s annual gathering in Omaha for the first time over the weekend, the 63-year-old chief executive, who took over from Warren Buffett earlier this year, said the company’s mammoth $380 billion cash and treasury portfolio meant Berkshire was not “beholden to anyone”.
He added he was “not anxious to deploy capital into subpar opportunities”.
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“Do we have any idea what will occur tomorrow or will that event be three years from now, two years from now?” Abel asked. “But there will be dislocations in markets that again will allow us to act.”
The famed annual meeting marked a shift from years past, not least because Buffett was seated in the front row alongside the company’s other directors. The meeting itself was shorter, with less time for shareholders’ questions, and the videos that traditionally precede the meeting – featuring cameos from celebrities such as Jamie Lee Curtis – were not aired.
He did not provide his broader views of the world or offer the professorial wisdom that shareholders had come to cherish from his predecessor. The crowd in Omaha was smaller than in previous years – particularly in recent meetings when many shareholders flew in worried that it could be the last time they saw Buffett speak in person. Parts of the upper sections of the arena were sparsely filled; Berkshire did not respond to a request for attendance figures.
Abel joked he knew the company’s board and his family would attend, but he was not sure who else would be in the audience.
Abel, like Buffett before him, repeatedly said he would be patient and disciplined when investing. Buffett has previously lamented the sky-high valuations on US stocks, which limited his options to dive into the market. A flood of private equity capital has also challenged Berkshire’s ability to compete on deal making.
Berkshire has been steadily shedding stocks for more than three years, and it has only drawn on its cash pile to fund a handful of large-scale acquisitions. That has meant that the tens of billions of dollars that flood into its subsidiaries each year are being funnelled into US treasuries. Its cash level has risen sixfold over the past decade.
Buffett, speaking on Saturday, said during his 60 years leading Berkshire he had maybe five “juicy” years, nodding to the crises that offered the so-called Oracle of Omaha lucrative investment opportunities. More recently, the company has tended to stay on the sidelines.
The influx of private capital to markets has affected Berkshire’s insurance operations as competition drives down the rates insurers charge. Abel and Berkshire vice-chair Ajit Jain, who oversees the company’s insurance businesses, have said they will underwrite less business as a result.
Abel gave a full-throated defence of Berkshire’s conglomerate structure as investors questioned whether the company should stay in its current form without Buffett in charge.
He signalled a willingness to sell underperforming businesses and divisions that could cause reputational harm, but as to whether he would break up the business: “Absolutely not.”
“We are a conglomerate but we are an efficient conglomerate,” he said.
Abel made a concerted effort to signal that he was the right shepherd to lead Berkshire into its next phase after six decades under Buffett, who used the acquisition of insurer National Indemnity to transform a foundering textile manufacturer into a $1 trillion company.
Badges for the event were emblazoned with the phrase “The Legacy Continues”. Giant pop-art illustrations with Abel’s and Buffett’s faces greeted attendees, in a nod to American artist Shepard Fairey’s Barack Obama “Hope” poster.
Buffett acknowledged the challenge for an incoming chief executive whose predecessor is deeply influential. He asked Apple chief executive Tim Cook, who has attended the annual meeting for years, to stand for applause.
“How would you like to step into the shoes of Steve [Jobs] and come through his record?” Buffett asked. “I mean, it’s one of the miracles of American business management.”
The timing was apt, given the trial Abel is facing as Berkshire’s new chief executive.
“This is not my show today,” Buffett said. “Greg is doing everything I did and then some. And he’s doing it better in all cases.” – Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2026
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