Warren Buffett spent decades building his holding company Berkshire Hathaway. Within just two days, the new CEO spent billions.
According to Reuters, Berkshire’s CEO Greg Abel recently announced two deals totaling an eye-boggling $16.8 billion (1).
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First, Berkshire acquired Taylor Morrison Home Corp for $6.8 billion, suggesting Abel sees untapped value in the U.S. housing market. Second, Berkshire is going all-in on one of its largest tech bets with $10 billion in Google’s parent company Alphabet.
In an interview on CNBC, Buffett said these two investments show Abel has truly “launched” as the new leader of Berkshire (2). Buffett also praised Abel’s move to buy Taylor Morrison, claiming he finished the transaction “faster than I could have done it, smoother than I could have done it.”
Some Berkshire investors, like Steven Check of Check Capital Management, also have positive things to say about the initiative Abel showed. “Everyone has been waiting for Greg to do his thing, beyond Warren Buffett’s shadow, and we’re now seeing that,” said Check during an interview on Reuters (1).
In recent years, more investors have questioned whether Berkshire has been too conservative as it continues to stockpile billions of dollars rather than deploying that capital in the market. As of March 31, 2026, Berkshire holds $397.4 billion in cash (3), which is an increase of 6.5% from December 31, 2025.
As CNBC reported, the company committed only $234 million in Q1 of 2026 to repurchasing its own shares (4). CFRA Research analyst Cathy Seifer directly criticized this small commitment, telling CNBC, “If Berkshire isn’t buying back their stock, why should you?”
Are Buffett’s beliefs behind Abel’s acquisitions?
The speed and scale of Abel’s investments might seem a bit brash for Berkshire, especially in such a trendy sector like AI. However, after looking more closely at these investments, it’s clear there are many commonalities with Berkshire’s long-term value playbook.
Berkshire has long been known to favor companies with a competitive position tied to broad economic trends. Themes like AI infrastructure spending and U.S. housing demand clearly fit into that framework.
But of these two, it’s easier to see Taylor Morrison as a “classic” Berkshire buy.
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Unlike AI, the homebuilding sector is weak on Wall Street, making it a clear value opportunity. The widely tracked NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index now routinely reports monthly readings in the 30 to 40 range (5), below the 50 threshold that would signal greater confidence in the housing market.
For any investors who believe U.S. homebuying will rebound at some point, this would be a prime time to scoop up companies like Taylor Morrison while the market is undervalued.
By contrast, the Alphabet investment may seem like a departure from “business as usual” at Berkshire, given all the hype surrounding AI. However, Buffett long viewed Google as a tantalizing investment primarily for its reliable ad revenue. Back in 2019, Reuters reported that Buffett told the investing community that he “blew it” by not getting into Google sooner (1).
Even though AI stocks are at a premium, Alphabet has characteristics that fit many of Berkshire’s preferences — a dominant market position and strong balance sheet.
Plus, Abel was able to negotiate a “value” even at Google’s current share price. Instead of buying stock on the open market, CNBC reported that Berkshire received a 6.5% discount through a private placement (2).
As of March 2026, Berkshire already held 6.4% of its total portfolio in Alphabet, making it one of the firm’s top five holdings (3).
A preview of post-Buffett Berkshire
If these transactions give a taste for the “Abel era,” then the overall investment philosophy at Berkshire seems largely intact. While Abel is certainly more open to tech investing than his predecessor, the focus is still on durable businesses with strong competitive positions.
Abel’s purchases also suggest Berkshire could become extra opportunistic in the upcoming months.
Impressively, Berkshire has so much cash that these multi-billion-dollar deals haven’t really put a dent in its bank account. In percentage terms, that $16.8 billion only represents 4.2% of their total cash holdings.
Some argue Berkshire’s aversion to using all that cash has been the primary reason for its recent underperformance relative to benchmark indexes. At the time of writing, Berkshire’s Class B shares are down roughly 6% year-to-date (6). By contrast, the S&P 500 climbed about 10% in the same timeframe (7).
The true test of the Abel era might be how confidently management puts this cash to work, and whether it’s enough to make Berkshire shares more attractive than index funds.
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Reuters (1); CNBC (2), (3), (4); National Association of Home Builders (5); Google (6), (7)
This article originally appeared on Moneywise.com under the title: Warren Buffett praises Greg Abel’s $16.8 billion spending spree — including a $10 billion bet on Google
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
