Warren Buffett: “I’d rather have Greg handling my money than any of the top investment advisors or any of the top CEOs of the United States.”

Quick Read

• Warren Buffett called new CEO Greg Abel a “perfect 10,” signaling his strongest confidence in Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-B) leadership after the first transition since 1965.

• BRK-B trails the S&P 500 by 38% over one year while trading at a disciplined 14x trailing P/E with an intact $380B cash position and resumed buyback activity.

• The analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 stocks and Berkshire Hathaway wasn’t one of them. Get them here FREE.

Warren Buffett does not hand out personal endorsements of his money manager every day. That makes the line he delivered about Greg Abel, who formally became President and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway on January 1, 2026, worth pausing on. For shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-B), it is the strongest possible vote of confidence after the first leadership transition at the top of the company since 1965.

Who Abel Actually Is

Born in Edmonton in 1962, Abel earned a Bachelor of Commerce in accounting from the University of Alberta in 1984 and started at PwC before joining CalEnergy in 1992. He architected the Northern Electric acquisition in 1996, became CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Energy in 2008, Chairman in 2011, and Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance operations in 2018. The character details matter: a CPA discipline, a hockey team-player ethos, and 25 years inside Buffett’s orbit before getting the keys.

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Skin in the Game

Buffett describes the relationship as a “perfect 10.” Abel has put real money behind that trust. In June 2022 he sold his 1% BHE stake for roughly $870 million and reinvested heavily in Berkshire Class A shares; in early 2026 he plowed his entire $15.3 million after-tax salary back into Berkshire stock. SEC filings show Abel acquiring 21 Class A shares on March 4, 2026, in a tight $725,210 to $733,300 price range. His net worth and shareholder outcomes are now welded together.

The Capital Allocation Continuity

Q2 2026 results filed May 7 showed operating earnings of $11.35 billion versus $9.64 billion a year earlier and a record $380 billion cash position. In March 2026 Abel authorized roughly $234 million in buybacks, the first repurchase in 21 months, triggered when price-to-book dipped to 1.4. That is disciplined capital allocation in action. Abel now oversees about 94% of Berkshire’s $327 billion equity portfolio after Todd Combs’s December 2025 exit, consolidating around Apple, Coca-Cola, American Express and Moody’s. The full 8-K exhibit is worth reading.

Time Will Tell

Berkshire is in a testing phase. BRK-B is down 5.48% year to date and 8.32% over the past year, while SPY is up 7.28% YTD and 30.37% over one year. The Buffett premium is being repriced. Yet shares trade at a trailing P/E of 14 with a beta of 0.622, and analyst targets sit at $520.33 versus a $475.08 quote.

Abel’s style is more granular, more confrontational on underperformers, and more tech-forward than Buffett’s. The fortress balance sheet, the decentralized operating model, and the float-driven capital base are intact. Buffett’s quote is the endorsement. The buyback, the cash pile, and Abel’s reinvested salary are the evidence behind it.

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