Berkshire’s Abel vows to use all his pay to buy firm’s stock

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chief Executive Officer Greg Abel said he will use all of his take-home pay to acquire the conglomerate’s stock for as long as he remains in the role, according to a Bloomberg report.To that end, Abel bought about $15.3 million of shares this week, according to a regulatory filing. He added that continuing this practice after the firm releases its annual results each year could amount to “hundreds of millions” of dollars in share purchases over the course of his career, according to the report.

“Absolute alignment with our shareholders, our partners, our owners is critical,” Abel said in an interview with CNBC Thursday. “I already have some shares, but the goal was to continue to demonstrate alignment with them.”
Berkshire also restarted share buybacks on Wednesday, with Abel saying the decision followed an internal determination that the “intrinsic value” of those shares exceeded their market price, according to Bloomberg. The announcement pushed Berkshire’s stock up as much as 2.3% in New York on Thursday, March 5.
“The repurchase announcement is a welcome sign both in recognition of the value in the shares as well as the opportunity to deploy capital as the firm generates significant operating earnings in ’26 and continues to manage a unique cash pile of $370 billion,” said Macrae Sykes, portfolio manager of the Gabelli Financial Opportunities Fund, according to Bloomberg.Abel, who assumed leadership of the Omaha, Nebraska-based conglomerate earlier this year, has pledged to uphold the principles and values that helped Warren Buffett build Berkshire into a $1 trillion conglomerate, according to Bloomberg. Christopher Davis, founding partner of Hudson Value Partners, said Abel’s annual personal investment commitment will help strengthen the bond with shareholders.

Despite the short-term positive sentiment, long-term growth in Berkshire’s share price will depend on Abel’s ability to improve the company’s underlying fundamentals, analysts said, according to Bloomberg. The firm’s shares had earlier fallen after fourth-quarter results showed a 30% decline in operating profit, driven by a 54% drop in insurance-underwriting earnings, according to Bloomberg report.

Also read: Berkshire falls on Buffett’s last day as CEO, gained 6,100,000% over 60 years

Abel has reaffirmed Berkshire’s shareholder-return policy in his first annual letter, largely ruling out a dividend. “We will retain a dollar if we see the opportunity to create more than a dollar for our shareholders — and that’s been the test,” he said.

He added that share repurchases will not impede other capital deployment opportunities, including acquisitions of companies or equities, according to the report.