By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-06-02 19:42:23 | Updated at 2026-06-09 07:43:35
6 days ago
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway has a brand new boss - and he just spent a cool $17 billion in a matter of days in a bold attempt to put his stamp on the company.
Berkshire CEO Greg Abel took the reins at the beginning of 2026, and the two megadeals announced this week help him satisfy investors who have demanded that he start spending down the company's giant $400 billion hoard of cash.
Experts note they are just the sort of moves Buffett himself would have made.
On Sunday, Berkshire announced a deal to buy homebuilder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion, expanding the company's beachhead in the US housing market.
Then on Monday, the company disclosed it would invest $10 billion in Alphabet, the tech juggernaut that owns Google and Waymo, and is angling to beat AI leaders Anthropic and OpenAI.
'Greg did that faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it, and I never talked to the CEO. He has launched.' Buffett told CNBC.
Abel's huge deals this week continue his strategy of overhauling Berkshire's approach, most recently seen in his move to sharply reduce the number of holdings in the company's legendary stock portfolio and doubling down on winners.
'Investors have been eagerly awaiting Greg's first merger move since succeeding Buffett as CEO,' CFRA analyst Catherine Seifert wrote.
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Greg Abel greets shareholders during the Berkshire Hathaway annual shareholders' meeting
Berkshire announced a deal to buy homebuilder Taylor Morrison for $6.8 billion, expanding the company's beachhead in the US housing market
Berkshire paid $72.50 a share in cash for Taylor Morrison, for a total price of $6.8 billion.
Housing has been a big part of the conglomerate's core business for decades: It owns Clayton Homes, the biggest manufactured housing company in the US, plus a real estate brokerage and companies involved in flooring, paint and insulation.
'Over time, we expect to unify our site-built homebuilding operations into a combined platform, enabling us to deliver the dream of homeownership to more Americans,' Abel said in a press release announcing the acquisition.
Analysts seized on the comment as a sign that Abel may depart from Buffett's longtime model of leaving Berkshire's operating companies alone after acquiring them.
But it's also a hallmark of Buffett's strategy: Buying companies that are more valuable inside the Berkshire than they would be on their own.
The Alphabet deal triples down on Berkshire's existing position in the tech giant, which likely stands at around $30 billion now - one of the largest positions in its stock portfolio
It disclosed its first position in the company last fall, reporting the purchase of 18 million shares in the third quarter of 2025 - then more than tripled its holding to almost 58 million shares in the of the first quarter of 2026.
Back in 2017, Buffett admitted he 'blew it' by not buying Google stock years before.
'Greg did that faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it, and I never talked to the CEO. He has launched.' Buffett told CNBC
Alphabet's Waymo has unveiled its massive new autonomous vehicle, called the Ojai, as the self-driving giant ramps up plans to flood US cities with robotaxis over the next year
Since the end of 2025, Berkshire's cash on hand has grown another 6 percent to $397 billion.
Some Wall Street analysts think Berkshire has been building cash reserves to prepare for a market meltdown.
At the annual meeting, Abel told shareholders that all the cash was 'dry powder' to ensure Berkshire is ready to jump on unbeatable investments at a moment's notice.
All in all, Abel oversaw $16 billion in purchases and $24 billion in sales in the first quarter of the year - sharply reducing the overall number of holdings - an unprecedented level of activity for Berkshire.
After the first-quarter adjustments, Berkshire now has a much more concentrated portfolio of 29 stocks, down from 41 before.
