After 55 years at the helm of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. class A, Warren Buffett officially relinquished his role as chief executive officer at the end of 2025. He will continue serving as chairman of the board and plans to remain actively involved in the firm’s strategic reviews. His long-time annual salary of $100,000—with no bonus or equity awards—underscores his legacy of frugality and shareholder alignment.

Berkshire Hathaway extended its streak of net equity sales for a 12th consecutive quarter, selling over $24 billion of publicly traded stocks through September 2025. These divestitures follow a $143 billion reduction in 2024 holdings and have swelled the conglomerate’s cash and cash equivalents to an unprecedented $354 billion as of the third quarter, providing substantial dry powder for future acquisitions or share repurchase initiatives.

Despite the broader selling trend, Berkshire’s investment team deployed $4.3 billion to open a new position in Alphabet Inc. during the first half of 2025. This purchase represents the tenth‐largest stake in the portfolio and reflects Buffett’s selective approach—acquiring shares of a leading technology firm with a dominant search franchise and rapidly growing cloud business at a valuation deemed attractive relative to peers.

Greg Abel, who assumed the CEO title on January 1, 2026, will receive an annual cash salary of $25 million, as disclosed in the company’s latest SEC filing. This represents a significant premium over Buffett’s prior compensation and positions Abel among the highest-paid executives of S&P 500 companies. Abel, 62, previously served as vice chair of non-insurance operations and chair of Berkshire Hathaway Energy.