Greg Abel refuses to part ways, insisting on continuing with Buffett

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New CEO Greg Abel did most of the talking at his first Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting, but Warren Buffett was still there as chairman of the board, even as he sat on the podium with other directors.

Six minutes into the meeting, Buffett’s 60-plus “sweater,” marking his 60th year as CEO of Berkshire, was hoisted into the stands of the CHI Health Center.

That was followed by a three-minute video produced by Berkshire showing videos and photos from those six decades.

Buffett then spoke from his seat on the floor saying, “This is not my program today, but there are two festivals we are celebrating today.”

It’s been one year since the board approved Abel as CEO after Buffett’s surprise announcement that he was stepping down, and “couldn’t have made a better decision.”

“That was 100 percent successful. Greg does everything I’ve done and more, and he does it better in every situation. He’s a good guy.”

It’s also been 10 years since Berkshire bought 35 billion Apple shares. Buffett said that turned out to be about $185 billion, “and I didn’t have to do a damn thing.”

He credited outgoing CEO Tim Cook with making that investment a success.

The first Q&A session began with an “in-depth” video version of “Warren of Ohama” asking Abel why Berkshire shareholders should hold on to their stock for the long term.

In his response, Abel highlighted the company’s current revenue of nearly $400 billion, which he says “creates a unique opportunity” for investment.

If there is a “strong value proposition,” Berkshire “will be prepared to take decisive action and capital. That’s what we are there for.”

And then, during the lunch break, viewers of CNBC.com’s live broadcast and those in attendance saw Buffett’s live interview with CNBC’s Becky Quick.

Asked why it’s not a good place for Berkshire to invest right now, Buffett said, “We’ve never had people in a position to gamble so much right now. [in the financial markets] but that doesn’t mean investing is bad.

“It means the prices of a lot of things are going to look really stupid.”

He reiterated his long-standing practice of investing only in companies he understands, and “I understand fewer businesses as a percentage of the total than I did ten years ago. It’s been some years since I’ve been able to learn new industries.”

The entire 25-minute interview appears below.

The theme of the meeting was “The Legacy Continues,” and Abel assured shareholders that the company’s culture will be preserved as he takes a closer look at Buffett’s subsidiaries.

Asked, “Is there a point where it doesn’t make sense for Berkshire to be a corporation, where you can break up the company?” Abela answered: “Not so.”

“We see our conglomerate structure working without bureaucracy and rising costs.

“We don’t see ourselves separating the companies under that reason or even parting with the group.”

Abel and insurance executive Ajit Jain recalled the interaction between Buffett and Charlie Munger years ago when Jain was asked if Berkshire would insure ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“The short answer is, it depends on the price,” which generated laughter from the audience and Abel’s popularity. “I like your answer Charlie.”

Before the meeting began, Berkshire reported that operating profit rose 18% in the first quarter, while insurance underwrote 28%.

The company was a net seller of shares, accounting for about $24 billion in sales versus $16 billion in purchases.

That helped boost its revenue to $397.4 billion as of March 31, up 6.5% from the end of the fourth quarter.

Excluding BNSF cash and debt issuance, which is Berkshire’s preferred metric, the total was $380.2 billion, up 3.0%.

In what it called a one-time announcement two months ago, Berkshire said it had resumed buying stock on March 4 after a nearly two-year hiatus. The SEC filing did not include details.

However, a week later, Berkshire filed a definitive proxy statement before its annual meeting that included a count of the company’s outstanding shares as of March 4, the meeting’s record date.

As we reported at the time, a comparison of the stock price in late January revealed that Berkshire had bought 309 Class A shares, or about $226 million, that day.

Some investors were hoping it would be the start of an aggressive buying spree.

It hasn’t happened, at least so far.

The company’s first-quarter 10-Q released Saturday says Berkshire bought $234 million in stock throughout March, only $8 million more than the March 4 figure, even though the shares fell at the end of the month.

And the number of shares as of April 14 listed in the 10-Q shows that there were no significant purchases in the first two weeks of last month.

Greg Abel will admit that he is not a struggler like Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

I AP reports that “attendance is down significantly this year with [18-975-seat] the arena is barely half full,” but he added that even with empty seats, “No other corporate convention comes close to matching the crowds at Berkshire’s Woodstock for Capitalists.”

CNBC.com Yun Li wrote that there is “more breathing room this year” in the exhibit hall where Berkshire-themed merchandise is sold.

“Unlike previous years, the lines were shorter and the crowds noticeably smaller.”

Legendary trader Paul Tudor Jones now says he apologizes for downplaying Warren Buffett’s investment success over the years, saying he “just happened to be in the right place at the right time,” capturing the US stock bull market.

The Evolution of Finance as the Best podcast with Patrick O’Shaughnessy, CEO of Positive Sum, Jones now admits that Buffett is “smart” to understand the power of compound interest when he was only 9 years old and to remain calm in the face of stock losses.

“Warren, if you happen to hear this, I’m so sorry. You’re the OG of compound interest, and I wish I was one-tenth as smart as you.”

Here is the section where Jones talks about Buffett and trading versus investing:

The charity’s “Seat at the Table” luncheon auction with Warren Buffett, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors and his wife, lifestyle entrepreneur Ayesha Curry, is expanding to include a series of weekly, limited, timed online auctions offering signed collectibles.

Among the items up for sale: a Warriors jersey signed by Stephen Curry and a $1 bill stamp by Buffett.

The auctions will run from April 29 to May 15 ebay.com/glide_eatlearnplay.

The luncheon auction starts on May 7 and ends on May 14 at A Seat at the Table.

Proceeds will be split between San Francisco’s Glide Foundation and Currys’ Eat. Learn. Play. A foundation “working to transform the school experience of a generation of Oakland students.”

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BRK.A stock price: $710,300.00

BRK.B stock price: $473.01

BRK.BP/E (TTM): 15.24

Berkshire’s market capitalization: $1,020,622,694,116

Berkshire Cash as of March 31: $397.4 billion (Up 6.5% from Dec. 31)

Excluding Railroad and Debt Relief Bills Payable: $380.2 billion (Up 3.0% from December 31)

Berkshire resumed stock repurchases on March 4, 2026.

Berkshire’s top publicly traded shares in the US and Japan, by market value, based on recent closing prices.

Withholding as of December 31, 2025, as reported in Berkshire Hathaway’s 13F filing on February 17, 2026, except for:

A complete list of holdings and current market values ​​is available on CNBC.com’s Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.

Please send any questions or comments about this book to alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Sorry, but we don’t send questions or comments to Buffett himself.)

If you haven’t subscribed to this newsletter, you can sign up here.

Also, Buffett’s annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading. There is a collection here on the Berkshire website.

— Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch