Key Points
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Buffett guided the Berkshire Hathaway holding company to market-beating returns from 1965 to 2025.
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During his final years as CEO, he bought a whopping $77.8 billion worth of one stock that doesn't appear in Berkshire's portfolio.
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Berkshire's new CEO, Greg Abel, recently picked up where Buffett left off.
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Warren Buffett served as chief executive officer of the Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA)(NYSE: BRKB) investment company between 1965 and 2025. He turned it into a $1 trillion conglomerate with numerous wholly owned subsidiaries, a $350 billion stock portfolio, and more than $300 billion in cash.
That leaves some very big shoes to fill for Buffett's chosen successor, Greg Abel, who stepped into the CEO role at the beginning of 2026. But during the second quarter, he bought $4.2 billion worth of Buffett's all-time favorite stock, which is always a very popular move with the company's shareholders. Read on.
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Berkshire stock crushed the S&P 500 during Buffett's tenure
Berkshire was a struggling textiles manufacturer when Buffett acquired a controlling stake in 1965. After realizing its core business wasn't viable, he converted it into a holding company for his various investments.
Berkshire has since outright acquired a number of companies, which it manages privately. They include utilities, insurance providers, logistics giants, and even consumer brands, and they provide significant cash flow that Berkshire often uses to buy minority stakes in public companies.
Buffett often targeted companies with strong growth, steady profits, and experienced management teams, but he particularly liked those returning money to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks, because they compounded Berkshire's returns far more quickly.
Coca-Cola is one of the best examples. Buffett acquired 400 million shares in the beverage giant between 1988 and 1994, and Berkshire continues to hold every single one. The shares are worth $35 billion today and will pay Berkshire $858 million in dividends this year alone.
Then there is Buffett's famous Apple position. He invested a whopping $38 billion in the iPhone maker between 2016 and 2023, and the stake was worth over $170 billion by early 2024, accounting for half the value of Berkshire's entire portfolio. Berkshire sold 75% of its position by the end of 2025 to lock in some gains and reduce risk, cementing it as one of Buffett's greatest home runs.
Berkshire stock delivered a compound annual return of 19.7% during Buffett's 60-year tenure, handily beating the S&P 500, which gained 10.5% per year during the same period. The performance gap is more apparent in dollar terms: An investment of $1,000 in Berkshire stock in 1965 would have been worth $48.5 million at the end of 2025, whereas the same investment in the S&P 500 would have grown to just $399,702.
Buffett bought $77.8 billion worth of Berkshire stock between 2018 and 2024
In the years leading up to Buffett's retirement, Berkshire had become so large that he struggled to find new investment opportunities that could produce enough growth to move the needle. As a result, he chose to return some of the conglomerate's cash to shareholders instead.
Between 2018 and 2024, Buffett authorized a whopping $77.8 billion worth of stock buybacks, meaning Berkshire purchased its own shares on the open market. This reduced the number of shares in circulation and made each remaining share more valuable.
Buybacks give investors full control over when they realize their gains for tax purposes, so Buffett preferred them to alternatives like dividend payments, which are taxed almost immediately.
Since Buffett spent twice as much on buybacks as he did on Apple stock, he clearly believed Berkshire was a better investment than anything else on the market at the time. That's no surprise, given the returns I highlighted earlier.
Greg Abel restarted the buyback machine
Buffett didn't authorize any buybacks during his final year as CEO in 2025. I believe he wanted to leave that key decision to his successor, Greg Abel. Plus, he possibly believed leaving Abel with as much cash as possible would increase his chances of long-term success.
Abel is already taking some big swings, having invested more than $20 billion in Google parent Alphabet since taking the reins. But during the first quarter of 2026, he authorized $235 million worth of stock buybacks, followed by a further $4.2 billion in the second quarter.
Berkshire can repurchase its own shares at management's discretion, as long as the value of its cash and cash equivalents remains above $30 billion. The conglomerate has over $365 billion in dry powder right now, so Abel has plenty of room to up the ante.
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Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Apple, and Berkshire Hathaway. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.