Berkshire Hathaway Builds $20 Billion Stake in Alphabet Under Greg Abel
Synopsis
Warren Buffett's successor Greg Abel has invested more than US$20 billion in Alphabet, signalling a major shift in how the conglomerate is deploying its substantial cash reserves.
Key Highlights
- CEO Greg Abel has built Berkshire Hathaway’s Alphabet stake to more than US$20 billion.
- Berkshire more than tripled its Alphabet position during the first quarter of 2026.
- The investment includes a US$10 billion private placement completed in June.
Berkshire Hathaway’s investment in Alphabet has grown to more than US$20 billion after CEO Greg Abel accelerated the company’s buying following his appointment at the end of 2025. Berkshire first purchased a small stake in Alphabet during the third quarter of 2025 while Warren Buffett was still CEO. By the first quarter of 2026, Berkshire had more than tripled its holding to around US$16.6 billion, making Alphabet its seventh-largest equity investment.
Berkshire Expands Alphabet Position
In June, Berkshire agreed to a US$10 billion private placement of Alphabet shares, purchasing approximately 28.6 million newly issued shares directly from the company. The acquisition was split evenly between Alphabet’s two publicly traded share classes at prices slightly below the market price at the time.
Combined, these investments mean Greg Abel has directed more than US$20 billion into Alphabet within just a few months. At the end of the first quarter, Berkshire held more than US$390 billion in cash and U.S. Treasury bills.
Google Cloud Supports Growth
Alphabet’s core advertising businesses, including Google Search and YouTube, continue to generate strong earnings. During the first quarter, Google Cloud revenue rose 63% year over year to about US$20 billion, while operating income nearly tripled to US$6.6 billion.
Alphabet’s cloud backlog also nearly doubled during the quarter to more than US$460 billion, reflecting strong contracted demand from customers reserving AI computing capacity. This version uses only the information you provided, without adding any extra context, analysis, or interpretation.
Source: Finance Yahoo
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