Greg Abel took over day-to-day control of Berkshire Hathaway and its $356 billion portfolio when Warren Buffett retired at the end of the year. In the first quarter, Abel sold 16 stocks, reduced six others and added to Alphabet, now Berkshire's No. 3 holding. The article says Berkshire spent close to $4.8 billion on buybacks of its own stock in the first six months of 2026 ($234 million in Q1 and $4.53 billion in Q2), while Buffett and Abel have deployed about $82 billion on buybacks since mid-July 2018. Berkshire traded at a 40% to 50% premium to book value for most of the third quarter, a range that has historically signaled buybacks, so the author estimates Abel likely spent billions more in that quarter.
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