Famous for their wit, anecdotes and philosophical asides, Warren Buffett’s stockholder books have been must-reads for investors for decades. Greg Abel, his successor, wisely didn’t try to repeat that folk voice in his first book as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. Instead, he chose a direct approach—one of the first few ideas between the two leaders. Regarding the stock, Abel assured investors that Berkshire’s culture and values will remain the same.
In his first shareholder letter, Abel first hailed Buffett as “the greatest investor of all time” and “obviously the hardest act to follow.” Buffett, who recently stepped down as CEO after 60 years at the helm, will remain chairman of the company and will continue to be in its Omaha office five days a week.
Abel, 63, has long been seen as Buffett’s heir apparent. The Canadian-born executive joined CalEnergy in 1992, the geothermal company that later became MidAmerican Energy Holdings and was eventually acquired by Berkshire. As he got to know Buffett and his late colleague Charlie Munger, Abel said he grew to admire their collaboration. “I liked the way they worked together to build a business that reflected their beliefs about business and life today,” said Abel, who recently became vice chairman of non-insurance operations at Berkshire.
Abel’s first letter came alongside a slight deterioration in Berkshire’s results, driven mainly by weakness in its insurance business. Total revenue for the last three months of 2025 fell 25 percent year over year to $19.2 billion, while operating income fell 30 percent to $10.2 billion.
Sticking to the status quo
Shortly after taking over, Abel sent a letter to employees promising that “Berkshire’s culture and values have not changed and will continue forever.” He is committed to maintaining the company’s structure, limiting governance, aligning words and actions and judging long-term competitive performance rather than short-term results.
He also emphasized the importance of protecting Berkshire’s $370 billion in cash and US Treasury assets. “While some of this money is needed to support our insurance activities and protect Berkshire in extreme situations, it is also our dry powder,” said the new CEO, who called the balance sheet “a strategic asset that must be used at the right time.”
Abel confirmed that he will oversee Berkshire’s equity portfolio, whose major positions include Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Moody’s. While he did not directly address any potential sale of Berkshire’s 27.5% stake in Kraft Heinz, he echoed Buffett’s criticism of the company’s performance. “Our investment in Kraft Heinz was disappointing,” Abel said, adding that Berkshire’s return was “bad enough.”
He also acknowledged a basic truth: his tenure will not match Buffett’s six-decade tenure. “I’m not going to be your CEO for the next 60 years as the statistics make that—shall we say—an ambitious strategy,” Abel said. His leadership structure will be different as well. He indicated that other executives would take on prominent roles, singling out Ajit Jain, vice chairman of insurance operations, for praise.
That partnership will be on display at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting in May, which Buffett has long chaired. Instead of asking questions alone, Abel said the show will have two Q&A sessions: one with Jain, and the other with Katie Farmer, CEO of BNSF Railway, and Adam Johnson, president of Berkshire’s consumer products, services and sales group.
