Greg Abel Poured $23 Billion of Berkshire's Cash Into Alphabet Stock

When Warren Buffett stepped down as Berkshire Hathaway's (NYSE: BRKA) (NYSE: BRKB) CEO at the end of 2025, he left his successor, Greg Abel, some big shoes to fill. Many investors were worried that Abel, the former CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy, wouldn't be able to expand the company's stock portfolio as shrewdly and efficiently as the Oracle of Omaha.

Buffett left Abel with roughly $369 billion in cash and equivalents, as well as dozens of cash-rich companies, to expand its closely watched stock portfolio. Abel subsequently invested in several companies, including Delta Airlines, The New York Times, Macy's, and Lennar. However, his biggest investment to date has been in Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) (NASDAQ: GOOGL), the parent company of Google.

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How much did Greg Abel invest in Alphabet?

Berkshire Hathaway initially took a position in Alphabet under Warren Buffett in the third quarter of 2025. At the time, Berkshire bought 17.85 million shares (primarily Class A shares).

But under Abel, Berkshire bought approximately 40 million additional shares (both Class A and Class C) in the first quarter of 2026 for about $13 billion. In early June, he negotiated a $10 billion private placement of another 28.6 million shares. After that $23 billion investment, Berkshire's position in Alphabet is now worth $31.5 billion, or 8.8% of its entire portfolio, making it its fifth-largest holding.

Why is Greg Abel so bullish on Alphabet?

Abel's big investment in Alphabet is a bold long-term bet on its cloud and AI businesses. Google Cloud, the world's third-largest cloud infrastructure platform, is rapidly expanding to deliver more storage and computing power to the booming AI market. It's also developing its own AI accelerator chips to cut costs and curb its long-term dependence on Nvidia.

Moreover, Google is using AI to upgrade its online search and targeted advertising businesses. At the same time, its Gemini generative AI platform helps it directly compete with newer challengers such as OpenAI's ChatGPT and Anthropic's Claude. In short, Google is one of the few companies that controls both the infrastructure and applications for the global AI market, which Grand View Research expects to expand at a 30.6% CAGR from 2026 to 2033.

From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Alphabet's revenue and EPS to grow at CAGRs of 21% and 17%, respectively, as the AI market expands. Yet its stock trades at just 17 times this year's earnings. That's probably why Abel is so confident in Alphabet's growth potential.

Leo Sun has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Berkshire Hathaway, Lennar, Nvidia, and The New York Times Co. The Motley Fool recommends Delta Air Lines. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.