Berkshire’s New CEO Greg Abel Signals a Break From Warren Buffett’s Patient Playbook

Fresh into his tenure as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, Greg Abel is beginning to show hints at how his leadership might take shape. In a bold move, one of the nascent executive’s first actions will likely be to undo a rare mistake made by his successor, Warren Buffett.

Berkshire is clearing the way to potentially sell its 27.5 percent stake in Kraft Heinz, according to a Jan. 20 SEC filing by the food processing company that noted Berkshire “may offer to sell” its more than 325 million shares. Such a move would unbind the conglomerate from the ailing Kraft Heinz, which has shed 70 percent of its market value over the past decade.

Berkshire and Kraft Heinz did not respond to requests for comment from Observer.

Buffett oversaw Berkshire’s investment in the food company more than a decade ago, when he teamed up with Brazil’s 3G Capital Management to buy H.J. Heinz in 2013. Two years later, the duo merged it with Kraft Foods, and Berkshire hasn’t touched its stake—acquired for $9.8 billion—since 2015.

The investment, for which Buffett has since admitted he “overpaid,” has failed to benefit Berkshire. Kraft Heinz shares fell 22 percent in the past 12 months alone and are down more than 30 percent over the past five years. Berkshire in August 2025 said it took a $3.7 billion write-down on the stake during its second quarter, following a $3 billion write-down in 2019. And, in a sign that the conglomerate was preparing to unwind its position, Berkshire in May ceded two of its seats on the company’s board of directors.

Buffett also expressed dismay in September when Kraft Heinz announced plans to split into two companies. Flagship brands like Heinz Ketchup and Kraft Mac & Cheese will fall under a company known as Global Taste Elevation Co., while less succesful businesses like Oscar Mayer and Lunchables will become part of North American Grocery Co. While the 2015 merger evidently hasn’t paid off, separating Kraft Heinz won’t fix its issues, Buffett told CNBC in an interview, adding that both he and Abel were disappointed in the decision.

Buffett, 95, stepped down from the helm of Berkshire at the end of 2025, ending a 55-year run as one of America’s most successful investors. His shoes are now filled by Abel, 63, a long-time Berkshire executive widely seen as Buffett’s heir apparent.

Berkshire’s newest move “reflects Abel’s desire to clean up its investment portfolio early in his tenure,” said Erin Lash, Morningstar’s senior director of consumer equity research, in an analyst note. “We think the market is unlikely to grant a higher valuation until a durable improvement in volumes becomes evident.”

So far, Abel has expressed a desire to follow in Buffett’s footsteps. But moving forward with a sale of Berkshire’s Kraft Heinz stake would mark a departure from the former CEO’s playbook, which was defined by a reluctance to sell underperforming assets.

Berkshire is “very reluctant to sell sub-par businesses as long as we expect them to generate at least some cash and as long as we feel good about their managers and labor relations,” Buffett told shareholders in 1996. “Gin rummy managerial behavior (discard your least promising business at each turn) is not our style,” he added.