Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Just Sold 16 Stocks, but Piled Into an AI Titan That's Now a Top-5 Position for Berkshire Hathaway
Key Points
Warren Buffett's retirement as CEO on Dec. 31 means Greg Abel has the final say on Berkshire's day-to-day operations and its mammoth investment portfolio.
Quarterly Form 13F filings show Abel green-lit the complete sale of 16 stocks in the first quarter -- and valuation likely played a big role.
Meanwhile, Berkshire's new boss more than tripled his company's stake in a virtual monopoly that's also a foundational player in the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution.
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Big changes are afoot at Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB). With Warren Buffett retiring as CEO on Dec. 31, 2025, the baton was handed to his longtime understudy, Greg Abel. Though the Oracle of Omaha remains chair of the board, Abel has the final say on Berkshire's day-to-day operations and its massive investment portfolio.
On May 15, Form 13F filings uncovered that Abel's first quarter in charge was a busy one. He completely exited 16 positions and made artificial intelligence (AI) titan Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG) a top-five holding.
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Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO on Dec. 31, 2025. Image source: The Motley Fool.
A historically pricey market likely had Abel running for the exit
Although changes were expected with Abel in charge, one undeniable similarity he shares with Warren Buffett is a desire to get a good deal. While Buffett occasionally bent or broke one of his unwritten investing rules, he never chased a stock he didn't perceive as a value. Abel shares this philosophy.
During the first quarter, Abel oversaw the complete sale of 16 stocks, including Amazon, Domino's Pizza, UnitedHealth Group, Visa, and Mastercard. While it's unlikely he thinks less of these businesses or their management teams, value is an undeniable issue amid a historically expensive stock market.
For 14 consecutive quarters (13 with Buffett as CEO), Berkshire Hathaway has been a net seller of stocks, to the cumulative tune of roughly $195 billion.
Stock Market has reached its most expensive valuation in history after the Warren Buffett Indicator crossed 230% for the first time ever 🚨🤯👀 pic.twitter.com/oflmZKfjSy
-- Barchart (@Barchart) May 12, 2026
The market-cap-to-GDP ratio, better known as the Buffett indicator, hit a record high of 235% last week. This valuation tool, which Buffett once referenced as "probably the best single measure of where valuations stand at any given moment," has averaged 88% since December 1970.
Finding value has been challenging, as Abel's selling spree indicates.
Image source: Getty Images.
AI juggernaut Alphabet is now a core holding
But perhaps the bigger story of Abel's first quarter at the helm isn't that 16 positions were jettisoned -- it's that one of Wall Street's most prominent artificial intelligence companies, Alphabet, was promoted to a top-five position in Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio.
Berkshire's 13F shows 36,403,656 Class A shares (GOOGL) were bought (a 204% increase from Dec. 31, 2025), along with 3,585,215 Class C shares (GOOG), the latter of which is a new position. In aggregate, Berkshire's stake in Alphabet is worth around $23 billion.
The longtime lure of Alphabet has been its virtual monopoly status in internet search. According to data from GlobalStats, Google has accounted for 89% to 93% of global internet search traffic over the trailing decade.
However, Alphabet's more enticing long-term growth driver is its cloud infrastructure service platform, Google Cloud. Since integrating generative AI and large language model capabilities into Google Cloud, sales growth in this high-margin segment has rapidly accelerated. With cloud margins notably juicier than ad margins, it's not out of the question that Google Cloud soon becomes Alphabet's leading cash-flow driver.
Google Cloud is the fastest growing hyperscaler in the entire world.
-- Qualtrim (@qualtrim) May 14, 2026
- Cloud Revenue: 63% YoY
- Cloud Backlog: 400% YoY
- Cloud Margin: 33%$GOOGL $GOOG pic.twitter.com/Tyfy0v1uBx
Alphabet checks all the right boxes for Abel: it possesses a sustainable moat, a cash-rich balance sheet, a strong management team, and a generous capital-return program. Best of all, it's historically offered a value proposition amid a pricey stock market.
We're witnessing the dawn of a new era for Berkshire Hathaway, with tech stocks firmly on the menu.
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Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, Domino's Pizza, Mastercard, and Visa. The Motley Fool recommends UnitedHealth Group. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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