On this day, Buffett sat in the audience for the first time—the handover and confrontation at the 2026 Annual Meeting

The number of in-person attendees was noticeably lower than last year—a challenge in itself for Greg Abel, the new CEO stepping into the spotlight alone for the first time. Under the global spotlight, he faced scrutiny from shareholders across the world, both inside and outside the venue. From his seat in the audience, Buffett said: “This transition has been 100% successful. He hasn’t just taken over all my previous responsibilities—he’s done more, and done them better.” The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause. Beyond warmth and tribute, this four-and-a-half-hour meeting marked the passing of an individual legend to a system of shared beliefs—and a clash between solitary discipline and market noise. I. A staggering $400 billion cash hoard—“waiting for the bullet to fly” The ever-growing figure on Berkshire Hathaway’s balance sheet—$397 billion in cash reserves—has hit a new record high; the company now holds more short-term U.S. Treasury securities than the Federal Reserve does. This sum is large enough to acquire most S&P 500 component companies. So how should it be deployed? Buffett’s well-known valuation gauge—the ratio of total U.S. stock market capitalization to GDP—now exceeds 220%, nearing its historical peak. Around 2001, as the global equity markets teetered on the brink of the dot-com bubble, the “Buffett Indicator” breached 200%, followed by a deep market correction. In 2007, when the indicator peaked, global equities plunged. During a CNBC live interview held on the sidelines of the meeting, Buffett voiced concern about today’s speculative market atmosphere: “The things people talk about and worry about usually don’t happen; rather, it’s the sudden black swans that shake markets.” In a market where tech stocks soar and hype cycles rotate endlessly, while others scramble to prove they can’t afford to miss out, Berkshire sits still. If even Berkshire sees no margin of safety, ordinary investors should tread especially carefully. On stage, Abel left no room for ambiguity: Berkshire’s investment discipline remains unchanged—if the economic outlook ten years ahead is unclear, no investment will be made. Opportunities will always arise, but they must align with Berkshire’s investment principles, offer reasonable pricing, and entail manageable risk. Abel resumed share buybacks earlier this year. Put plainly: great companies exist outside Berkshire—but they’re too expensive. Rather than overpaying to acquire others, Berkshire prefers repurchasing its own shares at opportune moments. Over its six-decade history, Berkshire’s compound annual return has exceeded 19%. Yet if measured from 2000 to today, its compound annual return stands at nearly 10%—a gradual reversion toward the mean. I once asked Mr. Buffett whether sustained outperformance was still possible. He replied that, given Berkshire’s massive scale, matching past returns is no longer feasible—but still outperforming the S&P 500 remains achievable. What’s truly valuable is its stability: in a market rife with black swan events, holding Berkshire stock delivers far more value—and far more peace of mind—than holding cash alone. That’s steady, reliable happiness. II. AI and reality sharing the stage: a crystal-clear offense-defense strategy Though not on stage, Buffett appeared in the Q&A session via video—his first question. On the big screen, he played the role of an ordinary investor, speaking in his unmistakable voice: “Hi, I’m Warren from Omaha. I’m 95 years old—and aside from plenty of time and cherry Coke, I’ve got nothing.” He then asked Abel: “I’d like to know—why should shareholders hold Berkshire Hathaway stock for the long term?”

2026 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Live Stream: Buffett steps aside; Abel takes center stage for the first time

Abel: I’ve operated various businesses at Berkshire Hathaway Energy for many years, and later served as Vice Chairman of Non-Insurance Operations. Fortunately, Ajit and I have held these outstanding roles for the past eight years—now nine. But this has created a critically important opportunity for me to deeply understand these businesses. As I’ve already mentioned, we own exceptional businesses led by exceptional management teams—but opportunities remain. Still, this reminds me that I’ll spend dedicated time on these operations, ensuring capital is allocated appropriately, continuously assessing their risks, and encouraging operational excellence. Because, listen: as an insider, it’s easy to look only at internal metrics and convince yourself you’re doing well. You must look outward and ask: What do customers see? What do they feel? What are our competitors doing? I believe this outward perspective is precisely the value we bring to operations. I’ve mentioned assigning Adam Wright greater responsibilities—or expanding his role across Berkshire’s 32 operating businesses. He brings outstanding operational expertise. We also have our insurance team here. Now, turning to the stock portfolio and time allocation: There remains enormous opportunity in deploying capital from our balance sheet. I shared our current cash and U.S. Treasury holdings. Let me emphasize one point: if you examine our current equity portfolio—as outlined in my letter—it is highly concentrated. We refer to it as our ‘core’ portfolio, but the most accurate description is indeed a concentrated portfolio. We have what we call core, concentrated investments. In my letter, I highlighted our Japanese investments. Interestingly, if you look at the next tier of companies where we hold significant positions, I’d add that—for many of these—we may still be purchasing shares or fine-tuning position sizes within the portfolio. So the first group—I’ve emphasized this—is slightly under $200 billion, and we aim to keep it around that level. We currently hold roughly $100 billion—or $85 billion. Then, adding Berkshire’s other investments—such as Bank of America, Chevron, Google, and others—brings another $70 billion. This underscores how a very large portion of our total investment portfolio is highly concentrated across a limited set of holdings. Active management of these positions is, in fact, quite limited—a point I truly want to stress. We know these businesses intimately. We know their management teams. These remain matters Warren and I will absolutely continue to collaborate on and discuss. You don’t need to discuss them daily—but if anything arises within any of these businesses, we’ll address it that week or that month. Perhaps it’s about their strategic direction—or perhaps something new we’ve learned. Japanese companies just reported earnings within the past 48 hours—a topic of active discussion. Yesterday morning, Warren and I discussed their results and what we’re seeing there. So yes, these are our core holdings—but that doesn’t mean we set them aside or treat them as static assets. They remain actively monitored, concentrated investments we continually assess. Ted manages another $20 billion—or slightly less—but his responsibilities extend far beyond that.

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