Warren Buffett's Successor, Greg Abel, Started His Tenure With a Bang by Paring Down Bank of America and Making a Virtual Monopoly Berkshire's No. 3 Holding

Greg Abel opened his Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A, BRK.B) CEO tenure by reshaping the conglomerate's equity portfolio, slashing Bank of America (BAC) and elevating Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL) to the number-three position. Abel, who assumed the top role December 31, cut BAC across eight straight quarters for a cumulative 53% reduction, citing valuation concerns and interest-rate sensitivity.

Meanwhile, he pushed Berkshire's Alphabet stake to $17 billion by Q2, making the search giant the portfolio's third-largest holding. The aggressive accumulation reflects Abel's view on Google's dominant search market share and growth prospects in Google Cloud driven by AI tailwinds.

The moves mark a decisive shift from predecessor Warren Buffett's long-standing bank preference. BAC had been a core position, but Abel's methodical exit signals conviction that the stock's upside is limited in a higher-for-longer rate environment. The Alphabet build, by contrast, positions Berkshire to capture upside from artificial intelligence infrastructure spending and enterprise cloud adoption.