For the first time in 60 years, the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholder letter didn’t come from Warren Buffett. Greg Abel, the 63-year-old Canadian who officially took over as CEO at the start of 2026, published his inaugural letter Saturday — and it was as revealing for what it didn’t say as for what it did.
The headline number: Berkshire’s cash pile sits at $373.3 billion, down slightly from the $382 billion reported in Q3. Abel called it “dry powder” and “a strategic asset to be deployed at the right time.” He was emphatic that the cash is not a retreat from dealmaking. “It allows us to act decisively, invest when others are tentative or fearful, and stand firm when financial storms roll through,” he wrote. Translation: Berkshire is loaded, patient, and waiting for the right pitch.
Operating earnings fell nearly 30% to $10.2 billion in Q4, though the per-share figure of $7,092 still beat analyst estimates of $8,259. Net income held steady around $19.2 billion, helped by paper gains on investments. But there were some notable bruises: a $4.5 billion write-down on Kraft Heinz and Occidental Petroleum, and Abel’s frank admission that BNSF Railroad needs to “improve significantly” because its profits lag behind competitors.
The portfolio clues were interesting. Abel listed Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola, and Moody’s as Berkshire’s core long-term holdings — companies he expects to “compound over decades.” Notably absent from that list? Bank of America, which was still Berkshire’s third-largest holding at year-end. Meanwhile, a January filing suggested Berkshire may be looking to sell some or all of its 325 million Kraft Heinz shares. The message is clear: the portfolio is going to get more concentrated, not less.
Abel also settled a key question that had been hanging over the transition: he will personally oversee the equity portfolio. Ted Weschler handles about 6% of it, and Todd Combs, who left for JPMorgan, won’t be replaced in that role. This is significant — Abel has never made a living as a stock picker. He’s an operator, not a portfolio manager. How he handles the next major market dislocation will define whether Berkshire’s investment culture survives the transition.
The tone was deliberate. No folksy Buffett-isms, no charming anecdotes about cherry Cokes. Abel kept it factual, disciplined, and forward-looking. He promised no quarterly earnings calls, no dividend, and no significant changes to Berkshire’s decentralized structure. He also pledged to avoid buying any business “that undermines the fabric of society” — a vague standard that analyst Cathy Seifert from CFRA wondered might exclude certain AI companies.
The bottom line for investors: Berkshire under Abel will look a lot like Berkshire under Buffett, at least for now. The $373 billion war chest is the most interesting variable. In a market environment where Iran strikes are disrupting oil, defense spending is accelerating, and fintech is trading at multi-year lows, the question isn’t whether Abel will deploy that capital — it’s when, and at what price. If you’re a long-term investor, that patient discipline might be the most bullish signal in the entire letter.