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Abel: Berkshire’s tradition and values ‘stay unchanged and can proceed into perpetuity’
In his first letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, new CEO Greg Abel did not attempt to emulate Warren Buffett’s folksy, conversational writing type.
He did, nevertheless, emphasize he will not be making main modifications to the way in which the corporate has operated for many years underneath Buffett’s management.
On the prime of his letter, Abel known as Buffett “arguably the best investor of all time,” and acknowledged that “Warren is clearly a really laborious act to observe.”
Berkshire Vice Chairman Greg Abel speaks with shareholders in the course of the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. annual shareholders’ assembly, in Omaha, Nebraska, U.S., Could 2, 2025.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Abel wrote that final month, he “despatched a letter to our staff to emphasise that Berkshire’s cultures and values stay unchanged and can proceed into perpetuity.”
“We’re dedicated to strengthening the nice legacy” constructed by Buffett and Charlie Munger, “making certain it endures by means of our dedication to excellence.”
Abel mentioned Munger’s remark on the 2021 annual assembly that “Greg will preserve the tradition” will “without end resonate with me” as a “reminder that our tradition is our most treasured asset, a name to keep up what defines Berkshire, and a problem to make sure our tradition continues.”
No change on buybacks or dividends
Any buyers hoping Abel could be extra particular about standards for buybacks did not get satisfaction.
His sentence on the topic might have been written by Buffett himself: “We are going to purchase again Berkshire shares after they commerce under our estimate of intrinsic worth, conservatively decided, making certain that repurchases improve per-share worth for persevering with house owners.”
There have been no buybacks in the course of the fourth quarter, extending a streak that goes again to Could 2024.
Abel additionally dissatisfied any shareholders hoping he may reverse Buffett’s longstanding opposition to utilizing a few of Berkshire large money pile to pay a dividend.
“Our strategy to money dividends continues to be that Berkshire won’t pay dividends as long as multiple greenback of market worth for shareholders is fairly prone to be created by every greenback of retained earnings.”
No ‘retreat from investing’
Abel vowed to keep up Buffett’s “fortress-like steadiness sheet, making certain Berkshire’s basis isn’t compromised.”
Calling the money Berkshire’s “dry powder,” he acknowledged there’ll “undoubtedly be incremental alternatives to deploy our proprietor’s capital with out compromising Berkshire’s resilience. My position is to make sure our liquidity ranges and capital deployment stay intentional and deliberate.”
“Many occasions in Berkshire’s historical past, some observers have recommended that our substantial money place alerts a retreat from investing. It doesn’t. We proceed to guage many alternatives and can stay affected person and disciplined in pursuing the best ones for the good thing about our house owners.”
Greg Abel speaks in the course of the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Assembly in Omaha, Nebraska on Could 3, 2025.
CNBC
Berkshire nonetheless has lots of money
Berkshire’s general money decreased 2.2% within the fourth quarter to $373.3 billion as of December 31.
Excluding BNSF’s money and subtracting T-bills payable, it elevated 4.1% to $369.0 billion.
Working earnings fell 29.8% from final yr’s fourth quarter, coming in at $10.2 billion. Insurance coverage underwriting was down 54%, insurance coverage funding earnings fell 25%, whereas BNSF gained 5.3% and manufacturing, service and retailing edged 3.3% increased.
Ajit, Kraft, and the who’s operating the portfolio
Abel praised Ajit Jain’s “judgment and disciple” over 4 a long time however did not present any clues on who might finally succeed him as Berkshire’s insurance coverage chief.
He additionally gave no indication on whether or not Berkshire nonetheless plans to scale back or get rid of its stake in Kraft Heinz now that its new CEO shelved plans to separate the corporate in two, saying solely the return “has been effectively wanting enough.”
Abel did affirm the duty for Berkshire’s fairness portfolio “finally resides with me as CEO,” with Ted Weschler persevering with to handle about 6% of the investments, together with these beforehand overseen by Todd Combs who left in December for a brand new job at JPMorgan.
Warren Buffett and Greg Abel walkthrough the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Assembly in Omaha, Nebraska on Could 3, 2025.
David A. Grogen | CNBC
New additions to annual assembly Q&A
There shall be some new faces becoming a member of the Q&A periods on the firm’s shareholder assembly on Could 2 in Omaha.
Abel and Jain will do the morning session as could be anticipated, however the afternoon session will embrace Abel, BNSF’s Katie Farmer, and Adam Johnson, who runs NetJets and is president of shopper merchandise, service, and retailing, a new place created late final yr.
Early evaluations
In an e-mail to Warren Buffett Watch, Gabelli Funds portfolio supervisor Macrae Sykes praises Abel for protecting all of Berkshire’s main segments within the letter, saying he “confirmed humility” and “expressed readability in communication and confidence in his position as the brand new CEO.”
He additionally likes the inclusion of Farmer and Johnson in a Q&A. “Good to see the delegation of communication tasks and emergence of management past Greg and Ajit.”
Christopher Davis of Hudson Worth Companions tells me we could also be seeing “the primary ‘Abel Rule’ added to the Berkshire playbook,” a desire for fast full management of personal companies it acquires.
He cites Abel’s remark that whereas Berkshire first invested in Pilot in 2017, its means to handle it was contractually delayed till 2023. “That mistake won’t occur once more.”
Davis additionally thinks Abel saying the corporate might buy giant blocks of shares from main holders “when the chance presents itself,” helps his thesis there shall be a “very giant buyback program” of Buffett’s shares after he dies “as his youngsters put the cash to work in philanthropy.”
Famous Berkshire analyst sees a decade of 10% to 12% annual returns
Bloomstran believes Abel could also be extra aggressive with Berkshire’s money than Buffett has been.
“It is possible that Berkshire underneath Greg Abel’s management will commit a big portion of at this time’s outsized money reserves at materially increased returns than are presently being earned on U.S. Treasuries.”
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HIGHLIGHTS FROM CNBC’S BUFFETT ARCHIVE
Remark is ‘coaching in itself’ to be Berkshire’s CEO (2006)
Warren Buffett explains why his successor, who he anticipated would come from inside Berkshire, wouldn’t want any formal coaching.
AUDIENCE QUESTION: How do you practice your successors? What do you inform them? How do you summarize to them what’s essential to you? …
WARREN BUFFETT: We would like managers to hitch us who imagine within the kind of operation we now have, a partnership with shareholders, a lifetime dedication to the companies. We would like these individuals to hitch us.
We would like what they see after they be a part of us to underscore the values we now have. So the whole lot we will we hope is in keeping with what most individuals would name a “tradition” at Berkshire.
So the written phrase, what they see, what they hear, what they observe. And that’s coaching in itself.
It is the identical kind of coaching you get as a baby. I imply, you — if you find yourself within the house and also you’re studying one thing on daily basis by the conduct of those terribly essential individuals, these large individuals which might be round you.
And a house has a tradition. A enterprise has a tradition. To some extent, a rustic can have a tradition. And we attempt to do the whole lot that is in keeping with that. We attempt to do nothing that’s inconsistent with that.
And, imagine me, if you happen to’re a vivid Berkshire supervisor — and they’re vivid — you understand, they purchase into it to start out with, they see that it really works, you understand, and it does not require formal classes or mentoring or something of the kind.
I imply, if you happen to discuss to our Berkshire managers, you’ll discover that they suppose constantly with how, in impact, Charlie and I feel.
There are many individuals that do not, and so they do not be a part of us…
The great factor about it’s our tradition is so well-defined that there aren’t many errors, when it comes to individuals getting into it or behaving in a means inconsistent with it.
So I feel that — I do not suppose there’s any formal coaching needed…
CHARLIE MUNGER: At headquarters, we aren’t coaching executives. We discover them. And so they’re not laborious to search out.
, if a mountain stands up like Everest, you do not have to be genius to acknowledge that it is a excessive mountain.
BERKSHIRE STOCK WATCH
BRK.A inventory worth: $757,000.00
BRK.B inventory worth: $504.95
BRK.B P/E (TTM): 16.15
Berkshire market capitalization: $1,089,124,099,188
BERKSHIRE’S TOP EQUITY HOLDINGS – Feb. 27, 2026
Berkshire’s prime holdings of disclosed publicly traded shares within the U.S. and Japan, by market worth, based mostly on the most recent closing costs.
Holdings are as of September 30, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F submitting on November 14, 2025, aside from:
The complete listing of holdings and present market values is obtainable from CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS
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Additionally, Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are extremely beneficial studying. There are collected right here on Berkshire’s web site.
— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
