Cryptopolitan would like to extend an enthusiastic welcome to Greg Abel, the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, who today took control of the company from Warren Buffett, along with an unprecedented $358 billion in cash.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, investors (including the author of this article) eagerly want one thing answered ASAP; What happens next? Where are we going to allocate all this capital?
Now, of course, the shareholders know Greg is no Warren, so we are not expecting magic tricks. However, Berkshire did sell more stocks than it bought for 12 straight quarters, and Warren completely stopped buying even Berkshire shares. Buybacks paused for five consecutive quarters. Nothing like this has happened before.
Berkshire’s cash position leaves few easy choices for Greg
Cryptopolitan reported earlier that the S&P 500 posted a 16% rally Y/Y in 2025, extending a 3-year streak that began in 2022, as companies in the index now trade at more than five times net assets, well above the 10-year average of 3.9 times.
Berkshire’s own Class B shares traded at a 1.6 price-to-book ratio, based on FactSet data. The numbers explain the silence. Prices stayed too high.
Warren called the cash pile an “enormous asset” at the 2025 annual meeting in May, but the man Google calls the greatest investor who ever lived also said this gives protection if markets fall.
In a statement to The Wall Street Journal, Warren said, “Greg has exceeded my expectations in every respect—and I hope he gets a 20-year run or more.”
Berkshire crossed a $1 trillion market value in 2024, something only one other non-tech U.S. company has done in history. The group now employs about 400,000 people, its businesses including BNSF Railway, Dairy Queen, Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, and Geico. The size makes deals harder, because buying small companies does nothing, and buying big ones costs time + patience.
Some of us think Greg will wait for a recession, while others think the cash stays untouched until prices crack.
Though a dividend remains unlikely, since you, know, Berkshire has only ever paid one dividend, and it was like 10 cents per share in 1967. Taxes still matter, folks.
Greg Abel’s personal life is so different from Warren’s, but he is largely trusted by insiders
Now let’s talk about Mr. Greg. He was born in the Canadian Prairies, and as a kid, he delivered ad flyers, collected bottles for cash, and filled fire extinguishers. Hockey filled his free time, and he still helps coach his son’s team to this day.
At the 2025 annual meeting, he told us that:- “If I had to be remembered as something right now, obviously I’d want to be remembered as a great father, but equally, a coach.”
He also said, “We will remain Berkshire. How Warren and the team have allocated capital for the past 60 years, it will not change.”
Greg joined Berkshire more than 20 years ago. The company bought 75% of MidAmerican Energy, based in Des Moines, where Greg was president. After the deal, he expanded the business across the central and western U.S. It was renamed Berkshire Hathaway Energy. Growth came through acquisitions and long-term investments in power assets.
In 2018, Greg took control of all noninsurance units. That included everything from candy brands to footwear to building materials. He stayed out of the spotlight. No TV ads. No cameos. No opinion columns. Shareholders never saw him try to play Warren on screen.
Mark Oman, a former Wells Fargo executive and longtime friend, described gatherings at Greg’s home in Des Moines with hockey families. He recalled a night watching Olympic curling. Greg joked, “Oh, I think I could probably coach you to be the best in Iowa.” Oman later said he thought, “That’s kind of a low bar.”
Greg’s name had appeared for years in Warren’s annual letters. Charlie Munger let the plan slip in 2021. As CEO-in-waiting, Greg joined Warren on stage at annual meetings filled with thousands of investors attending either physically or virtually from all over the world.
Warren believes that Greg should make capital calls on his own. At 2024’s shareholder meeting, he told us, “He [Greg] understands businesses extremely well. If you understand businesses, you understand common stocks.”
Berkshire Class B shares dropped about 7% after Warren said he was retiring. Some investors blamed the loss of the so-called Warren premium. The shareholder base remains global and heavy with regular people.
Warren still works from the Omaha office. He is nearby. The cash is there. Greg holds the checkbook.
Source: https://www.cryptopolitan.com/what-is-ceo-greg-abel-going-to-invest-in/
