Berkshire CEO Greg Abel Sends His First Shareholder Letter

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel took the reins from Warren Buffett on January 1, and has since been busy running the trillion-dollar conglomerate. 

Abel released his first annual shareholder letter on Saturday, and the 20-page document both honors Buffett’s legacy and signals how he will run the company. Abel promised cultural continuity, tight capital discipline and a sharper focus on operating performance across Berkshire’s vast portfolio. 

Here are four key points from the letter. 

1. Tribute to Buffett

Abel opened the letter by calling Buffett “arguably the greatest investor of all time” and “a very hard act to follow,” then spent several paragraphs explaining what he learned from Buffett about treating shareholders as true partners. 

“Our culture begins with a partnership attitude,” Abel wrote in the letter. “Our shareholders are our partners whose trust we have earned and must work to keep. Their interests are at the center of our decision-making.”

Abel also highlighted Buffett’s continued involvement in the business, with the 95-year-old billionaire remaining chairman of Berkshire. He is in the office five days a week and still deeply involved in insurance, non‑insurance operations and capital deployment, even as the CEO role and annual letter responsibilities pass to Abel.

2. Values and employees

Abel laid out Berkshire’s “foundational values,” which include decentralized decision-making, integrity, financial strength, capital discipline, risk management and operational excellence. This is the framework that governs him “every day” as CEO, he stated. 

He also wrote that Berkshire’s success depends on its 400,000 employees, who are committed to applying the company’s culture and values across its operating businesses, from See’s Candies to Geico. He stated that Berkshire’s culture would “remain unchanged” and “continue into perpetuity,” explicitly committing to preserving the company’s culture and mindset. 

3. Selective investments

Abel also indicated that he would be highly selective about new investments. He wrote that Berkshire maintains a “fortress-like balance sheet” and holds over $370 billion in cash and U.S. Treasuries. 

He rejected the idea that a big cash pile means Berkshire is retreating from investing, but insisted that the company will only deploy capital when it clearly increases value over a very long horizon. 

“We continue to evaluate many opportunities and will remain patient and disciplined in pursuing the right ones for the benefit of our owners,” the CEO wrote.

4. Discipline across insurance and operating businesses

Abel’s final major theme was “discipline, not growth for growth’s sake,” especially in insurance and major operating units like Berkshire Hathaway Energy. In these units, the conglomerate prioritizes performing well over being the biggest company. 

Abel wants Berkshire’s businesses to do careful, smart work — even if that means doing a little less, rather than chasing every deal or customer just to say they are growing quickly. 

Sign up for the Entrepreneur Daily newsletter to get the news and resources you need to know today to help you run your business better. Get it in your inbox.

Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel took the reins from Warren Buffett on January 1, and has since been busy running the trillion-dollar conglomerate. 

Abel released his first annual shareholder letter on Saturday, and the 20-page document both honors Buffett’s legacy and signals how he will run the company. Abel promised cultural continuity, tight capital discipline and a sharper focus on operating performance across Berkshire’s vast portfolio.