Warren Buffett's successor has made two significant moves within a week, demonstrating his investment and acquisition prowess to shareholders through concrete deals.

In May, during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder meeting, CEO Greg Abel met with investors.

Key Highlights

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel has recently finalized two major investments: a $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison and a $10 billion increase in holdings of Google's parent company, Alphabet.

Over the past year, Greg Abel has consistently reassured investors that Berkshire Hathaway would maintain the Buffett-era style of seizing opportunities for quality acquisitions.

Despite his positive assurances, the company's stock price remained sluggish, with shareholders eager to see tangible, executed transactions. In a single weekend at the end of May, Abel delivered.

Since officially succeeding Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway in January, Abel secured the $6.8 billion purchase of homebuilder Taylor Morrison over one weekend. He followed this with another major announcement on Monday: a $10 billion investment in Alphabet stock.

Buffett commented on his successor in an interview: "Greg's efficiency is astonishing, making my pace seem slow. Even at the peak of my career, I couldn't accomplish in a day what he can."

These two deals rank among Berkshire Hathaway's largest investments in recent years, reflecting both the classic Buffett investment philosophy and Abel's unique approach to reshaping the conglomerate's structure.

CFRA research analyst Cathy Seifert stated, "This sends a clear signal to the market: Greg Abel is ready to deploy capital, willing to invest in out-of-favor sectors, continuing Berkshire Hathaway's consistent investment logic."

Since Buffett announced in May 2025 that he would step down as CEO by year-end, Abel has been convincing shareholders that he will preserve Berkshire Hathaway's core identity as a diversified conglomerate spanning railroads, energy, consumer goods, and toys, anchored by a leading insurance segment, with the CEO overseeing major stock investments.

Abel's background is strong in operations and management, leading to prior market skepticism about his merger and stock-picking abilities. Many investors were uncertain if he could replicate Buffett's large-scale acquisitions, a key reason Berkshire Hathaway's Class A shares fell over 6% in the past year. Dow Jones Market Data shows that since the start of 2026, Berkshire Hathaway has underperformed the S&P 500 by the widest margin since 1990.

A major market focus has been when Abel would deploy Berkshire Hathaway's massive cash reserves, exceeding $100 billion. At the May shareholder meeting, Abel told investors he had a list of preferred acquisition targets, waiting for the right price to enter. Additionally, he restarted the stock buyback program, paused since 2024, and invested in a Japanese insurance company, increasing exposure to the Japanese market.

As of the end of March, Berkshire Hathaway held over $380 billion in cash. While the two large investments are unlikely to significantly dent these reserves, they each replicate two classic investment models from Berkshire Hathaway's origins.

Taylor Morrison operates in the homebuilding sector, which is depressed due to high mortgage rates and elevated home prices, precisely the type of industry Buffett favored for buying low over decades. Abel commented on the acquisition: "Homeownership remains a core part of the American dream. This investment helps us deepen our presence in the housing market." This statement echoes Buffett's view during the peak of the 2008 financial crisis when he wrote in The New York Times: "Short-term unemployment is rising, the economy is weakening, and negative market news is frequent, but I am buying American stocks."

Berkshire Hathaway initiated a position in Alphabet in the third quarter of last year. Apple remains its largest holding, with the conglomerate's overall technology sector exposure previously being relatively low.

Sources familiar with the matter revealed that Abel finalized the terms for the Alphabet investment with its investment bank, Goldman Sachs, on a Sunday, met with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai on Monday to close the deal, and secured the shares at a significant discount to the market price.

Henry Abel, President of Polaris Group, a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder, expressed indifference to short-term stock price declines and welcomed Abel's continued push for acquisitions.

"If the current market represents a low point, we welcome more such investments and also expect the company to aggressively buy back its own stock at these levels," he said.

Departing from the Buffett-era practice of largely autonomous subsidiary operations, Abel announced plans to integrate the newly acquired Taylor Morrison with Berkshire Hathaway's existing manufactured housing unit, Clayton Homes, to create a unified housing business platform.

During Buffett's tenure, even subsidiaries in similar businesses mostly operated independently. The plan to consolidate the real estate segments is seen by the industry as a signature move by Abel to reshape the group's management model.

Berkshire Hathaway has already been gradually integrating similar operations: last year, it placed Helzberg Diamonds and Ben Bridge Jeweler under the same executive management, and in December, it created a new President of Consumer, Services, and Retail position.

Analyst Seifert commented, "To some extent, this runs counter to the traditional Berkshire Hathaway model. How much Greg will adjust the classic system moving forward is worth watching closely."