Buffett's successor, Greg Abel, doubles down on one AI stock
Greg Abel took over as Berkshire Hathaway's chief executive on January 1, and he wasted very little time in rewriting the conglomerate's investment playbook.
In the first quarter alone, he exited 16 positions entirely, shrinking the portfolio from 42 holdings to 29, according to Berkshire's first quarter 2026 13F-HR filing with the SEC on May 15, 2026.
Abel concentrated the bulk of that capital in a single stock, Alphabet, the parent of Google, offering an early read on his approach.
Inside Abel's multibillion-dollar Alphabet bet at Berkshire Hathaway
Abel's Alphabet accumulation unfolded in two phases, each one escalating Berkshire's commitment to a level that Buffett's era never approached with a single technology company.
During the first quarter, Berkshire more than tripled its stake in Alphabet's Class A shares and opened a new position in its Class C shares, bringing the combined holding to nearly 58 million shares, valued at approximately $17 billion by the end of March, according to the same Q1 2026 13F filing.
Then, on June 1, Alphabet announced an $80 billion equity capital raise to fund its artificial intelligence infrastructure, and Berkshire stepped in as anchor investor with a $10 billion private placement, Alphabet's SEC filing showed.
That deal split evenly between $5 billion in Class A stock at $351.81 per share and $5 billion in Class C stock at $348.20 per share, a roughly 6.5% discount to Alphabet's closing price that day.
Combined with the open-market purchases, Berkshire's total Alphabet position now exceeds $29 billion, making it among the portfolio's five largest holdings, alongside Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Bank of America, and displacing Chevron from the top five.
Abel's selling spree ran parallel to the Alphabet buildup
The Alphabet buildup came alongside one of the most aggressive spates of selling in Berkshire's modern history. Abel fully exited Domino's, Amazon, Visa, Mastercard, UnitedHealth Group, and 11 other positions in the first quarter, Fortune reported.
Several of those exits trace back to the departure of portfolio manager Todd Combs, who left Berkshire for JPMorgan.
Abel told the Wall Street Journal in April that he sold the stocks Combs had managed, which explains the breadth of the first-quarter selling spree.
The Domino's exit stands out because Buffett himself built that 3.35-million-share position over six consecutive quarters, with no prior signal that the stake was temporary.
In total, Berkshire was a net seller of roughly $8 billion in equities during the quarter, purchasing about $16 billion while offloading approximately $24 billion, Yahoo Finance reported.
Buffett and Munger's two-decade Google regret fuels Abel's conviction
Abel's aggressive positioning has a backstory that stretches to Google's 2004 initial public offering, which was priced at $85 per share. Alphabet stock has gained more than 13,300% since its debut, and for most of that run, Berkshire owned none of it.
Charlie Munger, Berkshire Hathaway's vice chairman, called missing Google one of Berkshire's most shameful investing misses.
But I feel like a horse's ass for not identifying Google [now part of Alphabet] better. I think Warren feels the same way. ... We could see in our own operations how well that Google advertising was working. And we just sat there sucking our thumbs…,
Buffett publicly acknowledged the missed opportunity at the 2017 annual shareholder meeting.
He explained that Berkshire's subsidiary GEICO had been paying Google $10 to $11 per click for advertising, which gave him firsthand visibility into the business model's strength.
Alphabet's AI-powered earnings growth supports the Berkshire thesis
The timing of Abel's bet aligns with financial results that would appeal to any value-oriented investor.
Alphabet reported first-quarter 2026 revenue of $109.9 billion, a 22% year-over-year increase, with earnings per share surging 82% to $5.11, the company's earnings release showed.
Google Cloud, the division most directly tied to Alphabet's artificial intelligence push, delivered $20 billion in quarterly revenue for the first time, a 63% year-over-year jump. Cloud backlog nearly doubled to more than $460 billion, signaling sustained enterprise demand for AI infrastructure.
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"2026 is off to a terrific start. Our AI investments and full-stack approach are lighting up every part of the business," Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said in the earnings release, as search revenue grew 19%, with queries hitting an all-time high.
Google's search engine commands approximately 90% of global internet search traffic, a dominance that gives Alphabet extraordinary advertising pricing power.
Combined with YouTube, that moat fits the profile of durable competitive advantages that both Buffett and Abel have historically favored.
What Abel's Alphabet investment signals for Berkshire's future direction
Abel appears willing to concentrate Berkshire's portfolio in fewer higher conviction positions, and he is not avoiding technology the way his predecessor did for decades.
CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert has suggested that Abel's background as an operator may lead him to consolidate Berkshire's units to achieve greater scale and efficiency.
Steven Check, president of Check Capital Management, has echoed that view, expecting more consolidation under Abel than under Buffett.
Buffett himself has publicly endorsed the new pace.
He told CNBC in early June that Abel had executed the $6.8 billion Taylor Morrison acquisition faster and more smoothly than Buffett himself could have, and without any input from Buffett, a public endorsement of Abel's early tempo as CEO.
Alphabet shares traded at approximately $357 as of July 1, and the stock has risen nearly 89% over the past 12 months, according to Robinhood. With Berkshire still holding nearly $400 billion in cash, Abel's spending spree may only be getting started.
Related: Warren Buffett's successor Greg Abel makes another $10 billion bet
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This story was originally published July 1, 2026 at 7:47 PM.