In a CNBC interview aired in early January, Warren Buffett publicly declared that he would trust Greg Abel to manage his personal wealth—currently represented by his 247 500 Class A shares valued at approximately $147.5 billion—over any leading U.S. investment adviser or CEO. Speaking just days after announcing his year-end step-down, Buffett praised Abel’s track record running Berkshire’s noninsurance operations in the U.S. and U.K., his ability to achieve in one week what Buffett could in a month, and his grounded lifestyle outside the office. The endorsement underscores Buffett’s confidence as he transitions to chairman and cedes day-to-day capital-allocation authority to Abel, whom he calls “the decider” for a company with nearly 400 000 employees and a multigenerational outlook.

On Greg Abel’s first official day as CEO, Berkshire Hathaway Class A shares fell 1.4%, underperforming the benchmark S&P 500, which rose 0.2% for the session. This gives Berkshire A shares a 1.60 percentage-point lag versus the index year-to-date, and a 7.0 percentage-point underperformance for full-year 2025 when comparing S&P total returns including dividends. Analysts attribute the modest selloff to initial investor uncertainty over Abel’s ability to deploy Berkshire’s record cash reserves—now north of $380 billion—while maintaining the disciplined capital-allocation approach that drove a 19.9% compounded annual gain from 1964 through 2024.