Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel is making significant strides, steering the conglomerate with major investments in both traditional and forward-looking sectors. He orchestrated a rapid $6.8 billion acquisition of homebuilder Taylor Morrison Home and dramatically expanded Berkshire’s stake in Alphabet with a $10 billion investment to fuel AI development. These moves underscore Abel’s distinct investment approach, contrasting with Warren Buffett’s historical tech skepticism.
(This article is part of the Warren Buffett Watch newsletter, providing news and analysis on Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. You can subscribe here to receive it every Friday.)
Abel's Bold Moves: New Investments in Home Building and AI
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel has decisively 'launched' his tenure with significant new investments, notably a $6.8 billion acquisition in the homebuilding sector and a $10 billion foray into artificial intelligence infrastructure.
Buffett Praises Abel's 'Fast' and 'Smooth' Acquisition
Warren Buffett shared with CNBC's Becky Quick that Abel swiftly executed his first major deal: the $6.8 billion acquisition of Taylor Morrison Home, a residential homebuilder operating in 12 states. Buffett remarked, "Greg did this faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it, and I never talked to the CEO. He has launched."
Quick highlighted Abel's efficient approach, mirroring Buffett's style. Abel met with Taylor Morrison CEO Sheryl Palmer for five hours, initially believing a deal wouldn't materialize. However, Palmer later contacted him to confirm the board's readiness to proceed at the offered price. Abel consulted Buffett and Berkshire's lead director Sue Decker, but informed the full board only after the deal was finalized, demonstrating the "Berkshire way" of swift action.
Sheryl Palmer, appearing on CNBC, expressed that joining Berkshire is a "once in a lifetime opportunity." She revealed discussions with Abel began recently, with his "pitch" focusing on integrating Taylor Morrison into Berkshire's existing ecosystem of homebuilding subsidiaries like Clayton Homes, Shaw Industries, Johns Manville, and Benjamin Moore. Abel aims to unify these operations into a combined platform to expand homeownership nationally.
This consolidation strategy is a "notable departure" from Berkshire's usual hands-off approach to subsidiaries, as noted by Christopher Davis of Hudson Value Partners, who believes investors will welcome the evolution. CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifert is keen to observe if Abel leverages his operational strength to achieve greater scale and efficiencies. UBS analyst John Lovallo suggests combining Taylor Morrison with Clayton could create one of the top five homebuilders in the U.S., signaling confidence in the long-term outlook for an industry facing a 7 million home shortage.
Abel's Significant Bet on Alphabet's AI Ambitions
In a clear vote of confidence for the future of artificial intelligence, Berkshire Hathaway will invest $10 billion in Alphabet, Google's parent company. This investment is part of Alphabet's broader plan to raise approximately $80 billion to fund its "world-class AI compute infrastructure" amidst surging customer demand.
Berkshire's investment will be executed through a private placement, purchasing $5 billion in Class A shares (GOOGL) at $351.81 each and another $5 billion in Class C shares (GOOG) at $348.20 each. This deal reportedly stemmed from a "stealthy weekend call" from Goldman Sachs to Berkshire, met with a "rapid signoff" from Abel, reinforcing Berkshire's role as a go-to investor for major capital injections and endorsements.
The purchase prices initially represented discounts of 5.5% for GOOGL and 6.5% for GOOG below market value, which have since narrowed to 4.5% and 4.8% respectively.
Prior to this, Berkshire already held $21.3 billion in Alphabet's Class A shares, making it the fifth-largest position in its equity portfolio. Abel's decision to more than triple this stake from roughly 18 million shares in the third quarter of last year to almost 58 million shares in the first quarter marks a significant shift. With the addition of these new shares, Alphabet is set to become Berkshire's third or fourth largest holding, potentially rivaling its long-standing Coca-Cola stake, currently valued at nearly $32 billion.
This enthusiasm for Alphabet stands in stark contrast to Warren Buffett's historical reluctance to invest in technology companies, as he often cited a lack of understanding of their long-term prospects. Buffett has yet to comment publicly on these recent Alphabet investments.
Buffett & Berkshire Around the Internet
- CNBC.com: Berkshire's bet on Taylor Morrison suggests the housing market may have bottomed
- Wall Street Journal on MSN: Berkshire Hathaway and Japanese builders see the same opportunity in US housing
- Wall Street Journal on MSN: Why Berkshire Hathaway went window-shopping at Macy's
- DBusiness Magazine (Detroit): My Day with Warren Buffett
- CNBC Halftime Report video: Trade Tracker: Bill Baruch buys more Berkshire Hathaway
- Investopedia: How Warren Buffett's Circle of Competence Rule Can Guide Smarter Investing Decisions
- CNBC Cures: Warren Buffett disciple Guy Spier built career on value investing. A rare cancer changed everything
Highlights from CNBC's Buffett Archive
Buffett Missed the Boat on Google (2017)
In a 2017 CNBC interview, Warren Buffett reflected on missing Google's immense profit potential, despite GEICO being an early and significant customer.
WARREN BUFFETT: Google I should have had some insight into, because GEICO was a heavy user very early on. So here we saw value in something. At — at that time — I have no idea what we're paying for a click now, but — but we were paying $10 or $11 a click for something that had no cost of goods sold, and we were going to keep doing it. I mean we could see that. So — I should have had more insight into that. Now, whether Bing was going to come along or other people were going to take away the market, that's another question. Whether you had sort of a — first user advantage that would be — would prevail — and there is a lot of technology to it. So — so somebody could have come along with a better technological product that I would not have had any insights into that. I certainly had insights into the benefit for the user.
Berkshire Stock Watch (as of Jun. 5, 2026)
Four weeks
Twelve months
- BRK.A stock price: $733,550.00
- BRK.B stock price: $488.13
- BRK.B P/E (TTM): 14.53
- Berkshire market capitalization: $1,053,525,726,365
- Berkshire Cash as of March 31: $397.4 billion (Up 6.5% from Dec. 31)
- Excluding Rail Cash and Subtracting T-Bills Payable: $380.2 billion (Up 3.0% from Dec. 31)
- Berkshire repurchased $234 million of its shares in Q1 2026.
(All figures are as of the date of publication, unless otherwise indicated)
Berkshire's Top Equity Holdings - Jun. 5, 2026
This chart displays Berkshire's top publicly traded stock holdings in the U.S. and Japan, based on their market value and the latest closing prices. Holdings are reported as of March 31, 2026, from Berkshire Hathaway's 13F filing on May 15, 2026, with the exception of Mitsubishi, which is as of April 30, 2026. The complete list of holdings and current market values can be accessed via CNBC.com's Berkshire Hathaway Portfolio Tracker.
Questions or Comments
Please direct any questions or comments about this newsletter to alex.crippen@nbcuni.com. (Note: Questions or comments are not forwarded to Buffett directly.) If you are not yet subscribed, you can sign up here. Additionally, Buffett's annual letters to shareholders are highly recommended reading and are available on Berkshire's website. -- Alex Crippen, Editor, Warren Buffett Watch
