June 20, 2026 · 10 min read · Updated for Buffett retirement
Warren Buffett retired as Berkshire Hathaway's CEO in 2026, ending a 60-year era. Greg Abel is now in charge. Berkshire's Q1 2026 13F revealed a portfolio worth over $290 billion — Apple remains the largest position, Occidental Petroleum is the quiet mega-bet, and a $325B cash pile reflects the discipline Buffett built and Abel now stewards.
Warren Buffett has retired as Berkshire Hathaway CEO
Buffett announced his retirement at the May 2025 annual meeting, effective January 1, 2026. Greg Abel — designated successor and former head of Berkshire Hathaway Energy — is now CEO. Buffett remains Chairman of the Board and continues to hold his Berkshire shares, but day-to-day operations and capital allocation decisions now belong to Abel.
This post covers both the Q1 2026 portfolio snapshot and what the CEO transition means for BRK.B investors.
Every quarter, Berkshire Hathaway files a 13F with the SEC disclosing its equity holdings. The Q1 2026 filing (released May 2026) shows the following top positions:
| Stock | Ticker | Est. Value | % of Portfolio | Shares Held |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple | AAPL | ~$72B | 25% | ~400M (after trimming) |
| American Express | AXP | ~$38B | 13% | ~151M |
| Bank of America | BAC | ~$32B | 11% | ~1.03B |
| Coca-Cola | KO | ~$25B | 9% | 400M (unchanged since 1994) |
| Chevron | CVX | ~$18B | 6% | ~118M |
| Occidental Petroleum | OXY | ~$15B | 5% | ~255M + warrants |
| Kraft Heinz | KHC | ~$11B | 4% | 325M |
| Moody's | MCO | ~$10B | 3.5% | ~24M |
| DaVita | DVA | ~$5B | 1.7% | ~36M |
| Citigroup | C | ~$3B | 1% | ~55M |
Apple peaked at over 50% of Berkshire's equity portfolio. Since late 2023, Buffett has been systematically reducing the position — selling roughly 600 million shares, cutting the holding by nearly 60% from its peak.
Buffett's stated reason: tax management. With Apple generating massive capital gains and corporate tax rates potentially rising, locking in gains at current rates made financial sense. He has also acknowledged that at 50%+ of the portfolio, Apple was simply too large a concentration for a company his size.
Importantly, Buffett has repeatedly said Apple remains one of the best businesses he has ever seen. The sales are position management, not a loss of conviction in the company. Apple still represents Berkshire's largest single equity holding.
Berkshire owns approximately 255 million OXY shares plus warrants to buy an additional 83.9 million shares at $59.62 — a stake that gives Berkshire the right (but not obligation) to acquire a controlling interest in OXY at any time.
This is widely interpreted as a long-term bet on oil prices, the Permian Basin, and Occidental's carbon capture technology. Berkshire also received regulatory approval to own up to 50% of OXY's voting stock — a signal that full acquisition remains possible.
Buffett has specifically praised OXY CEO Vicki Hollub's capital allocation discipline and the company's focus on returning cash to shareholders while investing in long-cycle assets.
Berkshire's cash, equivalents, and short-term Treasury holdings reached a record $325 billion by Q1 2026. To put that in context: Berkshire could buy nearly every company in the Dow Jones Industrial Average outside of the top 5 with that cash pile.
Buffett built up the cash position deliberately — he could not find large businesses at prices that made sense. In his 2025 annual letter (his last as CEO) he wrote: "There are moments when the market behaves more like a slot machine than a weighing machine. We prefer to wait." Greg Abel has inherited this philosophy and the war chest to execute it.
The cash is not idle: Berkshire earns roughly $15–18 billion per year in risk-free interest on its T-bill holdings. One open question under Abel's tenure: whether a significant acquisition — which Buffett never made in his final years — is more or less likely now that a new CEO may seek to put his own mark on the company.
Added or new positions:
Reduced or exited:
Berkshire Hathaway (BRK/B) is itself a compelling investment for many retail investors. It gives you exposure to Buffett's equity portfolio, plus Berkshire's massive wholly-owned operating businesses: BNSF Railway, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, GEICO, General Re, and dozens of industrial and consumer businesses.
The key advantages of owning BRK/B directly: no management fees, tax deferral (Berkshire pays no dividends so you control when you realize gains), and the "Buffett premium" — a team and culture built over 60 years that is difficult to replicate.
The key transition: succession has now happened. Charlie Munger passed in 2023. Warren Buffett (age 95) retired as CEO on January 1, 2026. Greg Abel is now running Berkshire. The market's reaction so far has been measured — BRK.B held near all-time highs through the transition — suggesting investors view Abel as a credible steward. But Abel has never been tested on the investment side at this scale; his track record is operational excellence, not stock-picking. Ted Weschler and Todd Combs continue to manage portions of the equity portfolio.
The practical impact for shareholders: Berkshire's wholly-owned businesses (BNSF, BHE, GEICO, manufacturing, retail) are operationally unchanged. The equity portfolio philosophy is publicly committed to continuity. The biggest unknown is whether Abel will make a large acquisition — the kind of elephant hunt Buffett famously sought and never landed in his final decade — which could either unlock value or destroy it depending on price paid.
For investors who want equity portfolio exposure with more index-like diversification, the combination of BRK/B + S&P 500 index funds covers most of the quality business universe. The transition is now the current reality, not a future overhang to worry about.
The transition from Buffett to Abel is the single most consequential event in Berkshire's history since Buffett took control in 1965. Here is what it likely means in practice:
The bottom line: Berkshire is not a one-man show — it never truly was. The operating businesses, investment portfolio, and culture are the durable assets. What changes is the investment celebrity that brought retail attention to BRK.B. For long-term investors, the thesis remains intact; the Buffett premium may simply be renamed the Berkshire discount over time.